NLM Director’s Comments

Transcript Pragmatic Research

from PCORI: 04/21/2014

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Cactus flower, Huntington Library,
Art Collections & Botanical Gardens, Pasadena, CA.
Photo by Robert A. Logan, used by permission.

Greetings from the National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus.gov

Regards to all our listeners!

I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Here is what's new this week in MedlinePlus.

I’m Rob Logan, Ph.D., senior staff, U.S. National Library of Medicine, for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the National Library of Medicine.

Here is what’s new this week in MedlinePlus.

An overview of innovative research that compares the clinical effectiveness of procedures that impact patient care, knowledge, and safety recently was published in a perspective by the New England Journal of Medicine. The new research is part of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) that was founded three years ago and initiated by the ratification of the Affordable Care Act in 2010.

Since its inception in 2011, the perspective’s two authors note PCORI funds have supported pragmatic research focused on patient-centered outcomes, knowledge, and safety. More specifically, the authors report some PCORI research attempts to: improve clinical prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options; enhance health care systems; boost the communication of research findings; address care disparities; and assist researchers who focus on patient-centered outcomes.

To better assess prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options, for example, one PCORI project compares the effectiveness of intravenous versus oral antibiotic treatments for serious bacterial infections. One current project to improve health care systems assesses the effectiveness of telehealth (using interactive video) to provide mental health and other services for children in medically underserved areas.

One of the projects to improve the communication of research findings assesses how to better explain chemotherapy to seniors and their caregivers.

A PCORI project that addresses clinical disparities evaluates the use of technology to provide comprehensive care to Parkinson’s disease patients in their homes.

Also, the authors, who are members of PCORI’s board of governors, explain PCORI underwrites an informational tool kit to assist persons interested in doing patient-centered outcomes research.

The authors explain PCORI additionally supports pragmatic, comparative effectiveness research about a range of diseases and conditions. For instance, the authors note 162 comparative effectiveness research studies (which all began in the past three years) focus on cancer, mental health, heart disease, diabetes, and endocrine system diseases.

The authors add the success of PCORI’s patient-centered outcomes and comparative effectiveness research partially turns on patient and community involvement. The authors suggest one of PCORI’s innovations is to involve patients and communities in all aspects of relevant research. The authors write (and we quote): ‘PCORI has found stakeholder communities ready and able to engage in research. Patient-centered questions come from multiple sources, and innovative partnerships are emerging’ (end of quote).

The authors conclude (and we quote): ‘ultimately, our (PCORI’s) aim is to make research more useful and more likely to be included in health care decision making’ (end of quote).

In addition to improving patient care and knowledge, the perspective’s authors suggest one of the underlying goals of PCORI’s comparative effectiveness and patient-centered outcomes research is to enhance patient safety. Ten tips you can use now to be a safer patient (provided by the Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention) are available in the ‘overviews’ section of MedlinePlus.gov’s patient safety health topic page.

The ‘overviews’ section also features links to common questions to ask your doctor (from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) and what you can do to make health care safer (from the National Patient Safety Foundation).

A link to a website (from the Joint Commission) that helps parents speak up and prevent errors in a child’s care is available in the ‘children’ section of MedlinePlus.gov’s patient safety health topic page.

MedlinePlus.gov’s patient safety health topic page also provides links to the latest pertinent journal research articles, which are available in the ‘journal articles’ section. Links to related clinical trials that may be occurring in your area are available in the ‘clinical trials’ section. You can sign up to receive updates about patient safety as they become available on MedlinePlus.gov.

To find MedlinePlus.gov’s patient safety health topic page type ‘patient safety’ in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov’s home page. Then, click on ‘patient safety (National Library of Medicine).’ MedlinePlus.gov also has health topic pages on personal health issues, and talking with your doctor.

Our fingers are crossed PCORI elevates the evidence patients and health care providers have to make health decisions and provides some practical, previously unavailable insights that attempt to improve patient safety, knowledge, and health care. After just three years, the perspective’s authors suggest PCORI means pragmatism and progress.

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It was nice to be with you. I look forward to meeting you here next week.