Recording of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) enables direct measurement of the experiences of patients with cancer. In the past decade, the use of PROs has become a prominent topic in health-care innovation; this trend highlights the role of the patient experience as a key measure of health-care quality. Historically, PROs were used solely in the context of research studies, but a growing body of literature supports the feasibility of electronic collection of PROs, yielding reliable data that are sometimes of better quality than clinician-reported data. The incorporation of electronic PRO (ePRO) assessments into standard health-care settings seems to improve the quality of care delivered to patients with cancer. Such efforts, however, have not been widely adopted, owing to the difficulties of integrating PRO-data collection into clinical workflows and electronic medical-record systems. The collection of ePRO data is expected to enhance the quality of care received by patients with cancer; however, for this approach to become routine practice, uniquely trained people, and appropriate policies and analytical solutions need to be implemented. In this Review, we discuss considerations regarding measurements of PROs, implementation challenges, as well as evidence of outcome improvements associated with the use of PROs, focusing on the centrality of PROs as part of 'big-data' initiatives in learning health-care systems.

记录患者报告的结局（PRO）可以直接测量癌症患者的经历。在过去的十年中，使用PRO成为医疗保健创新中的一个突出主题。这种趋势凸显了患者体验作为保健质量关键指标的作用。从历史上看，PRO仅在研究中使用，但是越来越多的文献支持以电子方式收集PRO的可行性，所产生的可靠数据有时质量优于临床医生报告的数据。将电子PRO（ePRO）评估纳入标准的医疗保健环境似乎可以改善为癌症患者提供的医疗服务质量。但是，这种努力尚未得到广泛采用，由于将PRO数据收集整合到临床工作流程和电子病历系统中存在困难。预计ePRO数据的收集将提高癌症患者获得的护理质量；但是，为了使这种方法成为常规做法，需要实施经过专门培训的人员以及适当的政策和分析解决方案。在本评论中，我们讨论有关PRO的度量，实施挑战以及与使用PRO相关的结果改善的证据的注意事项，重点是PRO的中心性，作为学习卫生保健系统中“大数据”计划的一部分。为了使这种方法成为常规做法，需要实施经过专门培训的人员以及适当的政策和分析解决方案。在本评论中，我们讨论有关PRO的度量，实施挑战以及与使用PRO相关的结果改善的证据的注意事项，重点是PRO的中心性，作为学习卫生保健系统中“大数据”计划的一部分。为了使这种方法成为常规做法，需要实施经过专门培训的人员以及适当的政策和分析解决方案。在本评论中，我们讨论有关PRO的度量，实施挑战以及与使用PRO相关的结果改善的证据的注意事项，重点是PRO的中心性，作为学习卫生保健系统中“大数据”计划的一部分。