The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (via New Eng Jour of Med)

[pinto]

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute — Promoting Better Information, Decisions, and Health

A. Eugene Washington, M.D., and Steven H. Lipstein, M.H.A.
September 28, 2011

Within the 2000 pages of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) is a short section authorizing the creation of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) — a research organization dedicated to the support and promotion of comparative clinical effectiveness research. The establishment of PCORI represents the culmination of long-standing interest in comparative effectiveness research, a lengthy legislative gestation, and compromise among varied congressional perspectives and priorities.1 PCORI responds to a widespread concern that, in many cases, patients and their health care providers, families, and caregivers do not have the information they need to make choices aligned with their desired health outcomes.

PCORI funding is set at a total of $210 million for the first 3 years and increases to approximately $350 million in 2013 and $500 million annually from 2014 through 2019. With more than $3 billion to spend between now and the end of the decade, PCORI will support many studies encompassing a broad range of study designs and outcomes that are relevant to patients, aiming to assist people in making choices that are consistent with their values, preferences, and goals.

By statute, PCORI is an independent, not-for-profit, private entity. Its independence and governance structure are meant to ensure that it represents the perspectives of the broader health care community, operates with predictable funding, and establishes itself as a credible, trusted source of information for patients, caregivers, and providers. To facilitate efficient use of the new funding, Congress directed PCORI to collaborate with existing federal agencies that engage in outcomes research, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

<more at>

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1109407?query=TOC

[Mojorabbit]

1. My worry is that they will

try and standardize treatment to an extent where going outside the box will be penalized. Medicine is an art as much as a science and treatment is not one size fits all. I can visualize medicine being treated much like education has been with the same disatrous results.

[sam11111]

2. "private"...so it will be Corp. controlled not gov agency i assume

Skeptical. Very.

[pinto]

3. It's not a regulatory body, it would have a targeted health care advisory function.

PCORI will support many studies encompassing a broad range of study designs and outcomes that are relevant to patients, aiming to assist people in making choices that are consistent with their values, preferences, and goals.

Congress directed PCORI to collaborate with existing federal agencies that engage in outcomes research, particularly the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

(on edit) If I read it right. :hi: