National Pharmaceutical Council Statement on PCORI's Draft Methodology Report
For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrea Hofelich, 202-827-2078, [email protected]
Washington, DC (June 5, 2012)—The National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) today commented on the release of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute’s (PCORI) preliminary draft methodology report, which is intended to set the groundwork for the standards and types of research methods that can be used to develop comparative effectiveness research (CER).
“With the billions of dollars in public and private funds being spent on research, particularly comparative effectiveness research, it’s imperative for us to ensure that this research is designed, conducted, and analyzed appropriately so that it can be utilized effectively in health care decision making. Good research methods should bring meaningful results. Patients and their providers need these meaningful results to make informed decisions about their health care treatments,” said NPC President Dan Leonard.
“NPC looks forward to reading through PCORI’s report in greater detail and to offering feedback during the public comment period,” Leonard said.
NPC has been working with other research organizations to improve the quality of evidence that is generated by researchers and used by decision makers. Collaborative projects include the GRACE Principles, which are rigorous, generally agreed upon methods and standards intended to reduce bias in observational studies. GRACE collaborators also are developing a checklist that can serve as a validated tool for the assessment of observational CER quality and usefulness for decision making. In addition, NPC is working with the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy and the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research on a toolkit that payers can use to determine the validity and applicability of an observational study to answer the research question at hand.
About the National Pharmaceutical Council
The National Pharmaceutical Council is a health policy research organization dedicated to the advancement of good evidence and science, and to fostering an environment in the United States that supports medical innovation. Founded in 1953 and supported by the nation’s major research-based pharmaceutical companies, NPC focuses on research development, information dissemination, and education on the critical issues of evidence, innovation and the value of medicines for patients. For more information, visit www.npcnow.org and follow NPC on Twitter @npcnow.
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