PCORI Moves to Advance New CER-Centered Agenda

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Center (PCORI) announced in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) its impending focus on five areas of clinical effectiveness research (CER).

In two spate articles in the 18 April issue of JAMA, PCORI said it was looking to establish a "new, methodologically rigorous focus on patients' needs in CER."

"Such an approach, along with more actively engaging clinicians and other stakeholders in all aspects of the research process, can improve clinical decision-making and ultimately patient outcomes," wrote PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby in an accompanying explanation in JAMA.

The organization will focus on five different areas of research, reports Med Page Today:

• consideration of various options for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment to help improve decision making
• provide improvements in systems of healthcare to eliminate barriers to new information
• limit disparities in access to and usage of healthcare, particularly among vulnerable populations
• encourage communication between patients and clinicians and disseminate research findings
• heighten the patient-centered focus of research through training for all involved

All of these projects are geared towards not only developing better methods of CER, but also making sure such evidence is distributed throughout the healthcare system in a way that informs patients choices, explained Selby.

"New evidence is unlikely to be rapidly adopted unless the systems in which patients and clinicians make decisions are improved, removing barriers to acting on the new information," wrote Selby. "Better communication methods for making CER results available and for communication about those results between patients and their clinicians are needed." 

PCORI said it would make funding announcements based on the five research areas in May, reports Modern Healthcare.

Read more:

PCORI Outlines a Patient-Centered Vision for Research and Methodology in JAMA Theme Issue on Comparative Effectiveness Research

Med Page Today - Federal Research Agenda Targets Patient Care