Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Initiative on Integrating Patient-reported Outcomes in Hospice & Palliative Care Practices

The Outcomes Research Branch provides support for a research initiative, "Integrating Patient-Reported Outcomes in Hospice and Palliative Care Practices." This initiative is part of the Multimedia Technology and Health Communication Grants for Small Businesses program, administered by the Health Communication and Informatics Research Branch (HCIRB) in the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS). This Program aims to foster the development, commercialization, and dissemination of media technology-based cancer communication products for primary care professionals, researchers, patients and their families, and the general public.

"Integrating Patient-Reported Outcomes in Hospice and Palliative Care Practices" is an SBIR initiative that uses innovative health information technologies to improve the assessment and management of symptoms and other patient-reported outcomes in the growing number of cancer patients who are cared for in hospice and palliative care practice settings. The goal of this project is to develop a state-of-the-art symptom measurement and information system that specifically addresses the unique challenges raised in pain and symptom management and the care of seriously ill and dying patients, and meets the needs of health care professionals in the various settings where these patients receive care.