A prospective observational cohort study of patient-reported outcomes after surgery using a digital health platform (PSHR)

Improving quality of perioperative care depends on reliable measurement of clinically important and patient-centred data, that will allow collaborative decision-making between patient and clinician. With virtual and online communication becoming a universal feature of modern life, there is a promising opportunity to engage patients and clinicians in perioperative data collection using digital health platforms.

The Perioperative Shared Health Record (PSHR), developed by Safe Surgery South Africa, provides the opportunity to capture standardised patient-centric postoperative outcomes measures, like Quality of Recovery (QOR), Health Related Quality of Life (HRQOL), the WHO Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS) and sharing the data between the surgical patient and his/her clinical team. 

A prospective observational cohort study aiming to recruit patients 18 years and older presenting for any surgical procedure at South African hospitals from July 2021 to June 2026. Data will be collected by patients using a digital platform, the Perioperative Shared Health Record (PSHR). De-identified data will be extracted from the database at predetermined intervals and made available to the principal investigator for analysis.

The PSHR will be updated to optimise health information exchange between the surgical patient and clinical team members during the study.