Data collection process

1. Entry of patient data. Clinicians (or practice administrators) manually enter basic patient details (name, contact information and appointment time) at the point of booking. Alternatively, data can be automatically transferred from integrated Practice Management Software (PMS) systems via a secure API connection. This saves time for the clinician, reduces duplication of data entry and ensures consistency.
2. Patients automatically receive surveys (initial and three-month). Patients will then automatically receive a link to complete a brief digital survey:

• This is sent via text and email 48 hours before their scheduled appointment.
• A reminder is issued 30 minutes prior to the session if the survey remains incomplete.
• Completion time is typically between 3–5 minutes.

Those who respond to the initial survey will be automatically sent a follow-up at three months to assess their outcomes.

3. Clinician follow-up (three-month). At the three-month follow-up point, clinicians receive an automatic prompt to complete a concise six-question survey. This captures key clinical data including diagnosis and treatment provided. This adds context to patient-reported outcomes without requiring time-intensive note reviews.
4. Insight, analysis and reporting. The integration of both clinician and patient data enhances the reliability and impact of the findings. Outputs will include:

• Individualised reporting for practitioners and clinics.
• Benchmarking across the profession.
• Contributions to the national MSK database.

For a visual summary of the DfI data collection, please refer to Figure 1:

Figure 1. The new DfI data collection