In response to a recent letter from the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC), along with over 70 individual patients and patient organizations—themselves representing millions of patients nationwide—the Department of Health and Human (HHS) services issued a letter affirming that "patient engagement will be critical to the success of meeting our goals." The letter was issued in response to comments from a leading group of patient stakeholders, who recently issued a call for patient engagement in the Department's Better, Smarter, Healthier initiative and in the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network.
In his letter, Dr. Conway, the Acting Principal Deputy Administrator of CMS, states his appreciation for our recommendation that HHS review the patient engagement methodologies developed by the FDA and by PCORI, and states that "we will consider these patient engagement strategies and other bast practices across HHS." PIPC looks forward to continuing to engage with HHS on this issue, and urge all PIPC members to join the Network at http://innovationgov.force.com/hcplan and to seek leadership positions for patients among its committees as they are being established.
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