Keywords: Fibromyalgia;Patient education;Digital transformation Purpose: Fibromyalgia is a long-term condition that is multitudinous and difficult to manage. Many patients are referred to rheumatology in secondary care for an opinion and are subsequently diagnosed with fibromyalgia. With increasing numbers of patients and limited resources, alongside the EULAR revised recommendations for the management of fibromyalgia published in 2017, our approach in managing people with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia needed to evolve. Patient education became the mainstay of treatment. Further transformations in service delivery to accommodate for Covid-19 took place to ensure patient care continued throughout the pandemic. Methods: The current service for people with a new diagnosis with fibromyalgia was reviewed. Standard practice was either to discharge back to the GP or refer to physiotherapy. Patient education is recommended as the first step in treatment [1]. Structured patient education was not currently available within our service. Following consultation and patient involvement with Fibromyalgia UK, we set up group face to face education covering a variety of topics that was important to people at diagnosis. Due to Covid-19, service delivery was changed to telemedicine. Telemedicine allowed for the group education to continue whilst online pre-recorded presentations were set up. The online sessions are available to patients via a link sent by email. The presentations are viewable in a PowerPoint presentation format alongside the presenter, as it would be delivered live. Patients are booked for a telephone follow up consultation with the advanced physiotherapy practitioner in rheumatology two months after receiving the education to continue individualised care. Results: Following referral from Consultant Rheumatologists, people with a new diagnosis of fibromyalgia are triaged to attend the fibromyalgia education session. Initially this was virtual before evolving to telemedicine and then online. All sessions have been well attended with no apparent difference in the level of non-attendance. This has stopped patients from being discharged without any intervention. The service is now meeting the EULAR recommendations. Conclusion(s): The current fibromyalgia service is following the recommendations of delivering patient education for people with fibromyalgia. Patient involvement in the early stages of service development ensured the education contains topics that people with fibromyalgia want to know more about at diagnosis. The delivery of face to face, telemedicine and online education have been well attended. The next step is to evaluate the current online service of pre-recorded presentations. Impact: The change in service delivery has enabled people with newly diagnosed fibromyalgia to access the education and support they require. This has become more accessible despite the pandemic. Funding acknowledgements: This service evaluation was conducted unfunded.
Fibromyalgia patient education – An evolving service