Outcome measures answer the question of whether the treatment is working. The patient fills in the same questionnaire at the start of therapy and again along the way, and Heltio plots the change and tells you whether it is clinically meaningful or sits inside the noise.
This is not the same thing as patient reviews. That one measures satisfaction with the service, this one measures health. The two can move in opposite directions.
How to do it
Look inside the measure library
Settings → Outcomes Library opens the Outcome Measures Library screen with two tabs. System Measures is the ready-made set that Heltio ships and maintains — VAS, NPRS, ODI, RMDQ, NDI, DASH, QuickDASH, SPADI, KOOS, HOOS, WOMAC, LEFS, PSFS, TUG and the 6-minute walk test among others, plus PHQ-9, GAD-7 and EQ-5D-5L. You can inspect any of them with Preview measure; you cannot change one — System measures are read-only.
Add a custom measure if you need one
The Custom Measures tab and the Create Custom Measure button. You fill in Name, Abbreviation, Description, Category (Pain, Function, Disability, Quality of Life, Joint Specific, Region Specific, Psychological, Custom) and Measure Type — Numeric Scale, Questionnaire, Single Value or Composite.
Two fields decide how Heltio reads the score: direction (Lower is better or Higher is better) and MCID — the smallest change you accept as clinically meaningful. Without an MCID the chart still draws a curve, but it cannot tell you whether an improvement means anything.
Record an assessment in the patient record
Patient record → the Measurements tab → the Outcome Scores section. The Record Assessment button opens the Record Outcome Assessment dialog: Select a measure (the field has a search box), Fill Assessment, optional Notes, and finally Save Assessment.
Once saved, Heltio immediately gives you the Assessment Result and a Comparison to Baseline: Previous score, and under it either Clinically significant change or Change below MCID threshold. On the very first measurement you will see No baseline assessment on record. — which only means that you are creating the baseline right now.
Set a goal and read the chart
In the Outcome Goals section you set a target value for a measure. The goal card shows Baseline, Current and Target, the plan Phase it is pinned to, and an Achieved badge once the threshold is crossed. From the same card you can record the next measurement with Record Assessment.
The Outcome Scores chart draws the goal line and the MCID band around the baseline. Compare Measures mode overlays several scales at once. Under the chart sits a table with the columns Date, Score, vs. Previous, vs. Baseline, Significant and Assessor.
Ask the patient to fill it in
You do not have to fill the questionnaire in on the patient's behalf. The Request from Patient button opens the Request Patient Assessment dialog with a Message (optional) field — it reaches the patient as an instruction. You confirm with Send Request.
The patient sees the request in the portal, on the Health Records page, in the assessments section: an entry with its due date (Due today, Due in 3 days, Overdue by 2 days) and a Start Assessment button. After submitting they get their own score and — where the improvement crosses the threshold — the sentence This is a meaningful clinical improvement!
Keep an eye on overdue requests
Clinical → Assessments gathers requests from every plan in one place, in three tabs: Overdue, Pending, Completed this week. The table shows Patient, Measure, Plan / Phase, Requested by, Requested and Days outstanding. From the actions menu you can Send reminder, close the matter with Cancel request, or jump to the plan.
When something does not work
System measures are read-only.
What this means: An attempt to edit or delete a scale from the system set.
No baseline assessment on record.
What this means: This is the first measurement with this measure for this patient, so there is nothing to compare against yet.
No assessments recorded for this measure.
What this means: The measure is selected on the chart, but this patient has not a single record against it.
Already reminded within the last hour
What this means: Heltio sends at most one reminder per hour for the same request.
Failed to send reminder.
What this means: The request may have been completed or cancelled in the meantime.
Assessment not found or already completed.
What this means: A message on the patient's side: the request expired, was cancelled, or the patient opened it a second time on another device.
Who has access
Clinic Admin PractitionerThe measure library — adding, editing and deleting custom measures — is run by the clinic owner or administrator. Recording an assessment, setting a goal and sending a request are done by a practitioner, the owner or an administrator. Viewing the results is open to a wider circle of clinical roles, read-only access included.
Every recorded assessment, every goal and every request leaves a trace in the audit log together with the name of whoever recorded it. A questionnaire filled in by the patient is marked as patient-reported.
Related
- Baseline assessment — where to start measuring with a new patient.
- Treatment plans — assessment requests are pinned to a plan and a phase.
- Health profile in the portal — what the patient sees on their side.
Related features
Analytics — how the clinic is working
One page of numbers about your clinic over a chosen date range: appointment count, completion, cancellations, new patients, team workload and room utilization.
Treatment plans and phases
A course of therapy split into phases with advancement criteria, goals measured by outcome measures and a discharge at the end — run for one patient and visible to them in the portal.
Outcome measures and functional assessments
The measure library, recording assessments at a visit, the baseline and the goal, requests sent to the patient portal, and the queue of overdue assessments.
The patient's medical profile in the portal
Allergies, medication, chronic conditions, height, weight and an emergency contact — the data a patient fills in themselves on the My Profile tab, and which you see on their card.