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Thursday, January 24, 2013

PCORI Wants to Change Research to Focus on Patient Needs

by Nathaniel Weixel

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The Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the organization tasked by the health reform law with funding comparative effectiveness research projects, is in for a busy few years. I talked recently with Joe Selby, the Center’s director, to find out a little about their priorities for the coming year and how the research projects being funded will make an impact.

Selby said PCORI isn’t really about changing the definition of comparative effectiveness, so much as it is about asking the right questions. “Our breed of effectiveness research is centered around changing practices. Previous methods of effectiveness research didn’t meet that need. The questions weren’t getting at what patients need to know,” Selby said.

Ultimately, Selby said the goal of PCORI is to change the way comparative research is conducted to make it much more patient-centric. “The differences between comparative effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research are evaporating. Our ambition is to erase that line altogether,” Selby said.

To that end, the organization has been asking for submissions of potential projects to be funded in the coming years. Selby said the first series of announcements were deliberately broad, and were not focused on any particular topic. That’s going to change later this year, as 2013 “will be a year marked by … very targeted announcements” to make the research agenda much more focused.
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