Question 1

What is PAM (Patient Activation Measure)?

Accepted Answer

PAM (Patient Activation Measure) is an evidence-based clinical performance scoring system that scores your knowledge, skills and confidence in managing your own health and healthcare.

NowPatient uses this score to determine how often and to what extent we provide tailored health information and education. We base this on your knowledge and your confidence in managing your own health, and your existing use of self-management behaviours.

Question 2

How do I obtain my PAM Score?

Accepted Answer

Navigate to the ‘Performance Trackers’ Section and select the ‘PAM Graph’ Service Card on the account homepage.

If you have not used the PAM score before, the card will be locked. Click the ‘Unlock’ icon to be taken to a page where you will need to complete a series of 13 short questions.

Question 3

What happens after I complete the PAM assessment?

Accepted Answer

After you have completed the series of short questions, you will be given an activation score, which is ranked between 0 and 100.

Question 4

What do the PAM scores mean?

Accepted Answer

Depending on your activation score, you will be classified as Level 1, Level 2, Level 3 or Level 4.

The highest score is Level 4. The lowest score is Level 1. The higher the score, the less likely you need support. The lower the score, the more likely you are to benefit from more targeted support around your health condition.

Based on your score, we will adjust the frequency and methods we use to proactively engage with you.

We use this score to work out how active we need to be in terms of providing you with health education and resources. This allows us to efficiently target our clinical resources to benefit you.

Question 5

What happens after I receive my PAM score?

Accepted Answer

After you have received your score, you will have the option to return to the account homepage, where you will be able to see your ‘PAM Graph’. This allows you to track how you are progressing with your health self-management. The graph is updated after every 3 months following a reassessment.

Question 6

How does my PAM score update on the PAM Graph?

Accepted Answer

Because PAM is a dynamic measure, we require users to resubmit the questionnaire once every 3 months. Every three months, you will see an ‘Update Required’ prompt on the ‘PAM Graph’ and also a notification, which is viewable in the ‘Notifications’ Section of the account homepage. You can click on the button on the ‘PAM Graph’, after which you will be taken to the reassessment page. After the reassessment, you will receive a new score. This will then update your graph so you can visually track how you are progressing.

It also allows us to make sure that you are receiving the right frequency of health information, education, and most importantly, support.

Question 7

How do I know if PAM is actually useful?

Accepted Answer

PAM has been extensively researched and has been shown to be a valid measure of patient activation. Studies have shown that higher PAM level scores are associated with healthier behaviours, better health outcomes, and lower healthcare costs.

Question 8

Give me an example of how you tailor engagement with me?

Accepted Answer

NowPatient continuously assesses your health profile and your PAM score. We use this information to predict which resources we believe may be beneficial to you and at what frequency. For example, if you have Heart Disease and a lower PAM score, we will publish Heart Disease-related content and educational resources into the account homepage through a smart feed. We may also recommend community forum rooms that focus on Heart Disease so you can get peer support.

Question 9

Can I trust the information you supply me with?

Accepted Answer

We have partnered with Drug Companies, Health Charities, and the NHS to bring you various health information resources. This includes information about Healthy Living, Medicines A-Z, and Conditions A-Z. This authoritative content comes from a known source and can be trusted, unlike some other information found on the internet.

We also have a comprehensive list of health-related articles covering many conditions that are written by our in-house team of clinicians. Our editorial process sets out the standards of the content we produce for you.