Electronic collection of patient-reported outcomes (e-PROM) allows accurate recording of data. They also enable the visualization of longitudinal trends in domain-specific scores for a patient, and may improve patient-physician communication. Several commercial offerings are available but deploying them in countries like India is challenging due to language barriers and literacy levels. Additionally, costs involved remain a major problem. We propose to develop an open-source tool to serve the same purpose.

After an exhaustive requirement analysis for a minimum viable product, we decided to proceed with developing the system using an open-source content management system. Additional contributed modules like Webform and Media were used to provide additional functionality. Three tiers of user roles with role-specific privileges were defined. A preliminary user experience testing was done for the patient role.

All requirements identified in the requirement analysis section have been met. The system allows users with a patient role to fill in questionnaires presented to them. To ensure that diverse groups of patients can be accommodated, patients are grouped according to disease groups. Health care workers can visualize the results of the questionnaire as well as develop new questionnaires using a graphical interface. Initial user experience testing shows that 93.5% of the users (playing the role of patients) were able to use the website without additional help. 

An open-source system to collect electronic PROM has been developed with localization in Indian languages. We aim to continue developing, validating and extending the system in the future.