Overview of the musculoskeletal triage flow

We can divide the musculoskeletal triage flow into 2 phases:

1. Level of function (disability) in activities of daily living
2. Push information to your systems

Level of disability in activities of daily living

At the start of the flow, the patient is asked to fill in the Oswestry questionnaire. The Oswestry Disability Index is patient-completed questionnaire which gives a subjective percentage score of level of function (disability) in activities of daily living in those rehabilitating from low back pain. You have the  flexibility to decide when you want to send this questionnaire to your patient. We can easily connect with your scheduling and for example, automatically send the questionnaire to your patient 1 week before the actual consultation. Besides, you also can decide in which way you send the PHQ-9 to your patient. It can be embedded on a landing page, via email, via a text message or via your application.  

Once the patient filled in the PHQ-9, the Awell system will automatically calculate the PHQ-9 total score. Based on this score, the patient is notified of their current depression severity. The following results are possible:

1. 0% to 20%: minimal disability: The patient can cope with most living activities. Usually no treatment is indicated apart from advice on lifting sitting and exercise.
2. 21%-40%: moderate disability: The patient experiences more pain and difficulty with sitting, lifting and standing. Travel and social life are more difficult and they may be disabled from work. Personal care, sexual activity and sleeping are not grossly affected and the patient can usually be managed by conservative means.
3. 41%-60%: severe disability: Pain remains the main problem in this group but activities of daily living are affected. These patients require a detailed investigation.
4. 61%-80%: crippled: Back pain impinges on all aspects of the patient's life. Positive intervention is required.

Push information to your system

After our system automatically calculated the PHQ-9 result, the Awell system will  send the results of the questionnaire and calculation to your systems EMR. Besides, you also have the flexibility to use the data collected in the questionnaire for other systems (e.g scheduling, medical billing, online pharmacy & fulfilment, e-prescribing, insurance eligibility....)

Benefits

The musculoskeletal triage flow offers numerous benefits that will increase efficiency on the one hand and improve the quality of care for both patient and provider on the other.

• Automatic calculation of the Oswestry
• Integrated with your systems (Electronic Medical Record, scheduling, medical billing, online pharmacy & fulfilment, e-prescribing, insurance eligibility....)
• Decreased administrative burden for the care team