Rheum4U is a web-based tool designed for use by patients and health care providers for capturing patient health information in real-time. Rheum4U supports patient care as well as collects data for research and quality improvement.
Consenting patients complete their medical questionnaires online before each consult. Providers have access to completed questionnaires for each consult (whether in-person or virtual) through our online platform. Providers can access current and historic questionnaires, including:
For each assessment, participants have the following disease activity measures automatically calculated by the Rheum4U platform:
Consenting patients complete the Clinical Health Assessment Questionnaire (ClinHAQ) within the week prior to each appointment. The questionnaire can be printed from the platform, removing the participant ID, and added to patient charts.
Data collected in Rheum4U is available for research and quality improvement purposes (with appropriate Research Ethics Board (REB) approval). Refer to the For Researchers page to find out more.
Participating physicians have the opportunity to access their own data collected through the Rheum4U platform. Physicians can undertake CME activities that are eligible for RCPSC MOC – Section 3 Practice-based Self-Assessment credits.
Patients have the ability to complete routine medical forms (such as ClinHAQ, BASDAI, health history) from home through the Rheum4U Platform before each clinic appointment. Current and historic forms are available to health providers online through the Rheum4U Platform.
Participating health providers contributing data to Rheum4U are acknowledged for their support in publications and scholarly work.
More than 1,000 patients have already chosen to participate in Rheum4U. If your patient is interested in participating contact the research coordinator at rheum4U@ucalgary.ca.
Benefits to your patients include the ability to:
…Ever thankful for the [Rheum4U Research Coordinator]; she makes one feel so at ease & comfortable! What a wonderful team I am truly blessed!
Rheum4U participant since 2016
I am grateful for the care I receive.
Rheum4U participant since 2018
Participating in Rheum4U requires minimal time commitment. Physicians help identify potential eligible participants. Research Coordinators assist in clinic and via phone/email with patient recruitment, data collection, and data quality assurance. For each visit, physicians complete:
Feel free to contact the Research Coordinator at rheum4U@ucalgary.ca or 403-210-7113 with further questions.
Video guides on using the Rheum4U platform will be added here soon.
The major research objectives of our registry are to address the following broad questions:
A) What factors better define phenotypic sub-types of inflammatory arthritis and predict disease progression and activity? Specific factors that have potential to help differentiate disease sub-types include:
i. biological factors (e.g. autoantibodies, immune cell sub-types and distributions, protein levels and distributions, genetic markers)
ii. clinical factors (e.g. disease activity scores, functional assessments, diagnostic imaging, disease duration, family history, co-morbidities, medication exposure)
iii. demographics (e.g. age, sex, ethnicity)
iv. environmental factors (e.g. smoking, alcohol, dietary, pollution, toxin, drug and infection exposures)
v. social factors (e.g. education, income level, cultural identity)
B) What factors predict how a patient will respond to existing therapies and, in responders, can be tapered or withdrawn?
C) Can the application of these factors in algorithmic form inform more effective therapeutic strategies for inflammatory arthritis?
D) Can protocolization of therapy for inflammatory arthritis be used to evaluate the effectiveness of existing treatment and test novel therapies?
E) Can new information acquired through the Registry contribute to care transformation initiatives that will improve disease trajectories for these patients?
F) Can new information acquired through the Registry contribute to improved quality of care within the recognized dimensions of acceptability, accessibility, appropriateness, effectiveness, efficiency, and safety for individuals with inflammatory arthritis?
Data collected in Rheum4U is available to support student research and quality improvement projects (with appropriate Research Ethics Board (REB) approval). See the For Researchers page to find out more.
