In mid-September, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) released for public comment a proposal on the process for peer review and public release of its primary research findings.

You may recall that PCORI was established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) as a congressionally chartered nonprofit "to improve the quality and relevance of evidence available to help patients, caregivers, clinicians, employers, insurers, and policymakers make informed health decisions."

Operating under its mission and mandate, PCORI created a proposed process for conducting peer review of the primary research it funds and making the findings publicly available within a specific timeframe. As stated in a PCORI press release, "The effort is part of a broader 'open science' framework that PCORI is developing to promote transparency and data sharing within the research community and the general public."

On behalf of its membership and the field of health services research, AcademyHealth provided official comments on the proposed process given the importance of patient-centered outcomes research and the dissemination of its findings to our community. Specifically, AcademyHealth commented on the areas most aligned with its mission and policy priorities and those that best reflect researchers' interests.

At their most rudimentary level, AcademyHealth's comments supported the proposed process and offered suggestions for improvement in the registration of PCOR studies; the review, reproducibility, presentation, and reconciliation of research findings; and the ongoing evaluation of the peer-review process.

Read AcademyHealth's full comment submission here.

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