Dr Clark along with his staff, Lisa Shuler, MA & Lacy Tippett, MA have been collecting outcome data since February 8, 2016. They now have over 400 patient’s that have completed the “QuickDASH” questionnaire. The questionnaire asks the patient how pain affects their daily activities. The questionnaire is a tool used in “person centered care” which provides feedback from patients to help health care providers make more effective clinical decisions. Dr. Clark will ask the patients to complete this brief questionnaire at each visit to evaluate their pain level. Dr Clark states, “(get a quote from him please ie. by monitoring the patient’s pain level at every visit, I will have a more accurate evaluation of the patient’s pain level. I can use this information to determine if our treatment plan is working and modify care to help the patient to feel better quicker”
Debbie Waldrop, MSN, RN, CCRC, the Director of Research, states that many facilities are collecting patient questionnaires to provide outcome data. Patient care outcomes are documented and tracked to evaluate the impact of healthcare on patients. Waldrop states, “collecting this data on every visit will provide the information we need to monitor the progress of that patient’s pain level to promote optimal wellness with a goal of improving the patient’s quality of life. This is “Evidence Based Medicine”, which guide’s the practice of health care professionals. It tells them what works and what doesn’t work for their patients. Our results to date show that patient outcomes are improving with the care our health care professionals provide. This tells us we are providing excellent care here at Azalea Orthopedics by using the best evidenced based practices.