Tag Archives: Stakeholder engagement

Minimizing the Burden of Practical Research: Case Studies from the NIH Collaboratory

Pragmatic clinical trials, Research tools, , ,

In a forthcoming article in Healthcare, Dr. Eric Larson and colleagues present practical advice based on case studies from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory. Physician–scientists, health services researchers, and delivery system leaders provide insight from their experience launching a pragmatic clinical trial (PCT) as part of the Collaboratory.

The authors make 5 recommendations:

  • Establish a partnership from the get-go
  • Do a pilot project
  • Take advantage of existing hospital and health system infrastructure
  • Minimize the impact on clinical workflow
  • Remember that even high-priority research questions must be balanced with the systems’ greatest priority: providing good healthcare to patients.

The authors note that researchers need to be flexible and prepared to adjust the study design to the workflow and culture of the system.

Reference: Larson E, Tachibana C, Thompson E, et al. Trials without tribulations: Minimizing the burden of pragmatic research on healthcare systems. Healthcare. 2015; in press. doi:10.1016/j.hjdsi.2015.07.005

Watch Dr. Larson’s Grand Rounds Presentation from June 2013: Trials, Not Tribulations: Minimizing the Burden of Research on Health Care Systems

Systematic Review on Stakeholder Engagement in Comparative Effectiveness and Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

Comparative Effectiveness Research, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, , , ,

This month’s issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine features a systematic review of stakeholder engagement in comparative effectiveness research and patient-centered outcomes research. Thomas W. Concannon, PhD, and coauthors identified 70 peer-reviewed articles since 2003 that reported on this topic.

Key results included:

  • Patients were the most commonly engaged group, followed by modest engagement of clinicians, and infrequent engagement of other stakeholders across the healthcare system.
  • Stakeholders were more often engaged in earlier stages of research (evidence prioritization and generation) than in later activities such as evidence interpretation and application.

Overall, reporting of stakeholder activities and the effects of engagement were highly variable in the literature. To address this, the authors developed a 7-item questionnaire for the reporting of stakeholder engagement in research. A suggested plan for future research on stakeholder engagement is also outlined.