# Integrating Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes into Discharge Planning

> **NIH NIH K08** · SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH · 2024 · $210,014

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
A prolonged hospital stay after cancer surgery is a common but potentially avoidable problem that negatively
impacts quality of care. Goal-directed pathways for discharge are widely used in surgical oncology to avoid
unnecessary extended lengths of stay, but discharge milestones are maintained by the clinical team without
patient input. The resultant discharge pathways are rigid, with little or no personalization, and the necessary
steps in the process are often unclear to patients. These gaps in communication and mismatch in expectations
between clinical care team members, patients, and caregivers contribute to excessive lengths of stay.
Integration of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) into clinical care is one strategy shown to improve
communication and align expectations. There may be great opportunity to use transition-of-care–focused
PROs items in the hospital setting to align patient and clinical team members during discharge planning to
prevent prolonged hospital stays. Hypothesis: A discharge-focused electronic PROs tool for surgical oncology
patients will decrease the length of stay after elective surgery. PROs including readiness for discharge and
activation will also be measured. Jennifer Cracchiolo, MD, has developed an electronic PROs tool, “Goals to
Discharge” (G2D), for oncology patients focused on discharge planning to augment currently established
discharge pathways. While the G2D tool has been successfully employed during hospitalization and patients
have responded, there have been challenges to implementing this technology, including helping patients
navigate the digital tool; devising strategies to increase response rates and ensure inclusivity; optimizing the
content; and developing PROs-prompted clinical decision support for clinicians. In the proposed project, Dr.
Cracchiolo will refine the library of actionable PROs items that measure domains relevant to inpatients and
their readiness for hospital discharge. She will include patients from surgical oncology (colorectal, thoracic, and
gynecologic surgery) at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, with the goal of actively engaging patients
during the discharge process. Aim 1: Refine content for the G2D tool with PROs-based clinical decision
support. Aim 2: Systematically plan for broad clinical adoption of G2D using an implementation mapping
approach. Aim 3: Pilot test the effectiveness of the G2D tool compared with usual care. Results will lead to
better quality of care, better informed patients, and better outcomes. This research, along with the career
development plan for training in advanced qualitative methods, implementation science, and clinical trial study
design by her multidisciplinary mentors, Deborah Schrag, MD, MPH; Jamie Ostroff, PhD; Andrew Vickers,
PhD; and Thomas Atkinson, PhD, will provide Dr. Cracchiolo with the infrastructure needed to grow in her
career and facilitate her progress toward independence as a researcher in clinical integratio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10886331
- **Project number:** 1K08CA283306-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** SLOAN-KETTERING INST CAN RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** Jennifer R Cracchiolo
- **Activity code:** K08 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $210,014
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-07-01 → 2029-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10886331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10886331, Integrating Electronic Patient-Reported Outcomes into Discharge Planning (1K08CA283306-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10886331. Licensed CC0.

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