PIPC Weekly Update - January 30, 2017

​In This Week’s Issue:
 
1. PIPC Save the Data: PCORI Advocacy 101 Webinar, see details below.
2. Tony Coelho in Huffington Post: ‘Patient Voices, Patient Value: Stepping Out of the Ivory Towers and into the Real World’, click here to view the article.
3. PCORI Names Kristin Carman as Director of Public and Patient Engagement, click here to view the press release.
4. GAO Announces Nomination Opportunity for Openings on MedPAC, click here to view the announcement.
5. Health Affairs Blog: Will Evidence Matter In 2017?, click here to view the article.
6. AMIA Seeks Improvements to PCORI Data Access, Exchange Policy, click here to view the article.
7. Video: Dr. Eleanor Perfetto Discusses the Role of Patient Engagement in Measuring Quality, click here to view the video.
8. ICER Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis, click here to view the press release.
9. ICER Review Releases Evidence Report on Disease-Modifying Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis, click here to view the press release.
10. Upcoming Events and Webinars, see details below.
11. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
12. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.

1. PIPC Save the Data: PCORI Advocacy 101 Webinar
 
On Wednesday, February 15th from 2:00-3:00pm ET, the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) invites PCORI ambassadors and patient advocates to an ‘Advocacy 101’ webinar to learn more about the Institute’s pending reauthorization and how stakeholders can support of patient-centered research. This informational webinar will include a background related to PCORI’s creation, the legislative process that we anticipate for reauthorization in 2019, and appropriate tactics for outreach to legislators to ensure they understand the personal impact that PCORI’s work has on patients and other stakeholders.
 
Kindly RSVP to: [email protected].
 
2. Tony Coelho in Huffington Post: ‘Patient Voices, Patient Value: Stepping Out of the Ivory Towers and into the Real World’
 
In a new article published in Huffington Post, PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho discusses the importance of recognizing “value” to the patient in the health reform debate. “While I may not concur with everything coming out of the new administration on health care, I agree broadly with the need for policymakers to get out of the ivory towers. Policymakers need to listen to real patients and embrace health care solutions that matter to patients, caregivers and people with disabilities. And frankly, in this drive to value-based health care, it hasn’t always been about us. It’s often about what is most cost effective for the ‘average patient’ and what is most cost effective for the payer. But I am not average. You are not average. We are the reason a health care system exists - our health and well-being, our treatment, our recovery… This administration can build bridges to the community of patients and people with disabilities by demonstrating they do not want a one-size-fits-all system of health care defined by people in lab coats. If this administration truly wants to get input from outside the establishment, then they should be looking to patients for insight as to how to improve the health care system.” Click here to view the article.
 
3. PCORI Names Kristin Carman as Director of Public and Patient Engagement
 
According to a recent press release, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has named Kristin Carman, MA, PhD, as its new Director of Public and Patient Engagement. According to the press release, “In this position, she will be responsible for leading and directing PCORI’s overall efforts to see that patients and other healthcare stakeholders are fully involved in and guide all aspects of PCORI’s work. Carman joins PCORI from the American Institutes for Research, where she served as Vice President and Director of the Center for Patient and Consumer Engagement, and a Co-Director of the Health Policy and Research Group, a team of more than 70 health-services research professionals. In that role, she helped conduct research on issues of public importance in healthcare quality, access, and financing; comparative effectiveness; patient and family engagement; health systems improvement; public deliberation; and health-related communications. She also led groundbreaking engagement projects funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).” Click here to view the press release.
 
4. GAO Announces Nomination Opportunity for Openings on MedPAC

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has announced it is now accepting letters of nomination to serve on the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC). Established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, MedPAC is a nonpartisan legislative branch agency that provides Congress with policy advice on the Medicare program. GAO is now accepting nominations for MedPAC appointments that will be effective May 1, 2017. Letters of nomination and resumes should be submitted no later than March 10, 2017 to [email protected].
 
5. Health Affairs Blog: Will Evidence Matter In 2017?
 
Dr. Lisa Simpson, the president and chief executive officer of AcademyHealth, comments in a recent Health Affairs Blog post that “while uncertainty abounds when contemplating coverage, the move from ‘volume to value’ is a safer bet...Right now, most of these value-based payment models focus on clinical services and specifically on the needs and outcomes of a particular health care provider's patients, a health plan's enrollees, or the purchaser's employee subscribers. However, a number of efforts are examining how financing sources can pay for population health-based services focused on the social determinants of health and the barriers to realizing lasting, meaningful change.” Click here to view the article.
 
6. AMIA Seeks Improvements to PCORI Data Access, Exchange Policy
 
As reported in EHR Intelligence, the American Medical Informatics Association is seeking four key changes to PCORI’s request on its Data Access and Data Sharing Policy. “’Requiring a pre-award description of intended data sharing of federally-funded research could address fundamental deficiencies in biomedical and clinical research,’ the [AMIA writes]. ‘We commend PCORI for requiring a data sharing plan post-award, but we believe PCORI could play a leading role in helping improve the data sharing stance of clinical research by asking investigators to think about data sharing in the earliest stages of design.’” Click here to view the article.
 
7. Video: Dr Eleanor Perfetto Discusses the Role of Patient Engagement in Measuring Quality
 
In a video published by The American Journal of Managed Care, Dr. Eleanor Perfetto says that “patients are becoming more engaged in their own healthcare, meaning they have more input in the quality measurement process and can even help develop quality measures for the future.” Click here to view the video.
 
8. ICER Releases Draft Evidence Report on Treatments for Rheumatoid Arthritis
 
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released a Draft Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of 11 treatments for rheumatoid arthritis. The report, as well as accompanying draft voting questions, is now open to public comment for four weeks. The Draft Evidence Report, as well as the accompanying voting questions, will be open to public comment until February 17, 2017 at 5PM ET. All stakeholders are invited to submit formal comments by email to [email protected]. Guidelines for submitting public comments, including formatting specifications, are available on the ICER website. Click here to view the press release.
 
9. ICER Review Releases Evidence Report on Disease-Modifying Therapies for Multiple Sclerosis, including Daclizumab and Ocrelizumab
 
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has released an Evidence Report assessing the comparative clinical effectiveness and value of 15 disease-modifying therapies (DMTs) for treatment of relapsing-remitting and primary-progressive multiple sclerosis. This Evidence Report will be the subject of the upcoming public meeting of the California Technology Assessment Forum (CTAF) on February 16, 2017.” Click here to view the press release.
 
10. Upcoming Events and Webinars
 
2017 National Health Policy Conference
January 30 - 31, 2017, Marriott, Marquis, Washington D.C.
Click here for details.
 
PCORI: Community Engagement in Research: Practical Tips for Researchers and Community-based Organizations
February 23, 2017
Click here for details.
 
National Value-Based Payment and Pay for Performance Summit
March 8, 2017, San Francisco, CA
Click here for details.
 
Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS III) Conference
March 20-21, 2017, New York, NY
Click here for details.
 
11. Medical Journal Articles
 
Comparative Effectiveness Research Around the Globe: A Valuable Tool for Achieving and Sustaining Universal Healthcare, click here to view.
 
Editorial: The Comparative Effectiveness of Antiretroviral Therapies for HIV: Evidence to Inform Precision Public Health, click here to view.
 
Publication in 2005 Recommended the Prototype for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, click here to view.
 
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research: Brave New World Meets Old Institutional Policies, click here to view.
 
Comparative Effectiveness of Recommended Versus Less Intensive Drug Combinations in Secondary Prevention of Acute Coronary Syndrome, click here to view.
 
12. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
 
Prioritization and Selection of Harms for Inclusion in Systematic Reviews, click here to view.
 
Assessing the Risk of Bias of Individual Studies in Systematic Reviews of Health Care Interventions: An Update, click here to view.