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New professor systematises patient data

Niels Henrik Hjøllund has been appointed professor at Aarhus University and the Regional Hospital West Jutland. In his professorship he will continue to develop a system that collects the data reported by patients themselves.

Since 2004 medical specialist in public health Niels Henrik Hjøllund has followed a number of patient groups via Patient Reported Outcome (PRO), which is data that patients themselves report. This gives doctors the opportunity to monitor patient groups from a distance over a long period of time. These groups include patients with breast cancer, prostate cancer, heart disease and apoplexy.

Niels Henrik Hjøllund is developing a new system for the clinical utilisation of PRO, called AmbuFlex. This is the system that he will continue developing in his professorship at the Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University and the Department of Occupational Medicine, the Regional Hospital West Jutland.

"The professorship gives me the opportunity to further develop and document the method behind AmbuFlex. There are major research opportunities for contributing with something new – also globally – which will benefit patients, doctors and society in general," says Niels Henrik Hjøllund.

The Regional Hospital West Jutland has contributed to the professorship.

PRO has potential for patients

PRO data is collected via questionnaires, telephone interviews and over the internet. Doctors make use of patient data to describe the prognosis for self-assessed health and functional capacity and quality of life, as well as any wishes and need for contact with the hospital. The use of PRO has potential in relation to various factors including the quality of treatment, patient involvement, the distribution of resources in accordance with patient needs and collection of data for quality improvement for patient groups.

"Clinical use of PRO has so far been unsystematic or limited to specific diagnostic groups. AmbuFlex is a generic, diagnosis-specific system for clinical utilisation of the data that patients give us via the PRO system. I have developed it based on methods and experience of data collection and it is being introduced within a wide range of diagnostic groups," explains Niels Henrik Hjøllund.

The method behind AmbuFlex is new and its methods and results will be continuously documented.

Further information

Medical Specialist in Public Health Niels Henrik Hjøllund
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Regional Hospital West Jutland, Department of Occupational Medicine - University Clinic
niehjo@rm.dk