Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) Releases Poll on Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER)

July 30, 2013 - PRLog -- According to the results of a wide-ranging, statistically significant poll commissioned by PIPC, Americans generally like their healthcare today and trust their doctors more than the government when it comes to determining their care. Further, Americans believe that an independently-run CER institute, such as the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), has great potential to benefit their lives by providing science-based, accurate, and transparent information to their doctors and the public at large. But while Americans expressed favor for a comparative effectiveness institute focused on providing information to physicians and patients, the poll findings also revealed a general consensus that research findings should not be used to influence coverage decisions.

Other takeaways from the poll, which is publicly available at PIPCpatients.org (http://pipcpatients.org/pipc-admin/pdf/516f71_PIPC%20June%202013%20Poll.pdf), include:      

•  Americans treasure their access to personalized, quality care and fear the potential misuse of information to make coverage decisions and limit their access to the best care.

•  A significant part of PCORI’s success will be getting information to the end-user, the patient and doctor, in a manner that is perceived as valuable to their health care decision-making, as opposed to being implemented in a manner that limits their choices.

•  Voters favor a comparative effectiveness institute focused on providing information, not making coverage decisions.  The public remains very supportive of an Institute like PCORI to provide good information to support patient and physician decision-making - despite skepticism about government in general and ACA in particular. This would suggest that, to the extent PCORI remains true to the mission and structure created by Congress, it will enjoy continued support.

•  In setting goals for communicating research findings, voters prioritize accuracy, transparency and improving access to personalized and high-quality care.  By very wide margins, people want good information communicated in a manner that makes it relevant to their individual health needs.  

According to PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho, "These poll results reinforce the mission of PIPC to help PCORI stay focused on its patient-centered mission, and to continue to emphasize the importance of transparency, good science, and a commitment to improving the communication of useful data to practitioners and individual patients alike." Chairman Coelho continued, "A significant part of PCORI's success will be getting informaiton to the end user, the patient and the doctor, in a manner that is perceived as valuable to their healthcare decision-making, as opposed to being implemented in a manner that limits their choices."

The poll was conducted by a leading bipartisan polling firm.

PIPC's Steering Committee is comprised of the following organizations: The Alliance for Aging Research, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, the American Gastroenterological Association, BIO, Easter Seals, the Epilepsy Foundation, HealthHIV, the National Association for Hispanic Health, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, PhRMA, and the American Association for Cancer Research. PIPC can also be followed on Facebook and Twitter at @pipcpatients.