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Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute will help find health care outcomes that WAPO op-ed writers seek

Submitted by Tony Coelho on Wed, 06/02/2010 - 19:06 | Posted in:

On Saturday, May 22, The Washington Post published my letter to the editor on the opportunity we have in CER to answer the full range of questions that are important to improving patient care and health care quality. The letter responded to a commentary from physicians Jim Yong Kim and James N. Weinstein, who called for a research program to help us learn about what works best in health care delivery and patient management.  

This is just one of the important strengths of the comparative effectiveness research (CER) provisions of the healthcare reform law.  

We at the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) look forward to the creation of the Patient Centered Outcomes Institute.  The institute will be run by a variety of stakeholders including patients, and will oversee government-funded CER on health tests and treatments and on “protocols for treatment, care management and delivery.”

The creation of this institute creates an unprecedented opportunity to answer the full range of questions that are important to better patient care. As a result, if appropriately implemented, it can be an answer to the call that Drs. Kim and Weinstein issued in their commentary.