Preferred method of contact

The preferred method of contact determines how patients complete ePRO forms, how you contact them, and how reimbursement is provided. During patient enrollment, ePRO patients select a preferred method of contact: on the study website, by phone, or on paper. You record this selection and a preferred contact time on the Patient Profile page.

Based on the preferred method of contact, patients interact with the Call Center in different ways to complete an ePRO survey.

• Web-based patient—After email notification, the patient signs in and fills out the survey on the study website. If a web-based patient fails to complete the survey within the web completion window, the patient appears on the Call Center List page and Call Center staff contact the patient, assisting the patient in completing the survey, if necessary. After the patient completes a survey, if the study is designed to award eCodes, the patient receives an eCode by email.
• Phone-based patient—The application prompts the Call Center user to call the patient and help the patient complete the survey. If the Call Center reaches the maximum number of notification attempts, the application removes the patient from the call queue until the next survey completion window opens. After a survey is completed, if the study is designed to award eCodes, the patient receives an eCode by email, or if the patient's email address is not in the system, the Call Center user reads the eCode to the patient.
• Paper-based patient—The patient fills out paper surveys sent by the site and mails or faxes them to the site. The patient does not sign into the OutcomeLogix application, and the Call Center does not contact the patient directly. Windows for completion of surveys do not apply to a paper-based patient, and you cannot assign eCodes to a paper-based patient.

  Paper-based patients, however, can contact the Call Center for assistance in filling out their surveys, or to report a major medical event. Using an override option, a Call Center staff member completes the survey with the patient or helps the patient enter a major medical event.

Note: If a site opts out of allowing ePRO forms, existing patients automatically become paper-based. Paper is the only method of contact available to patients assigned to sites that do not allow ePRO forms.

At any time during the study, a patient assigned to a site allowing ePRO forms can change to a different preferred method of contact. For more information, see Call Center Patient Details page.