Draft Definition of Patient Centered Outcomes Research

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Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (Working Definition)


Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) helps people make informed health care decisions and allows their voice to be heard in assessing the value of health care options. This research answers patient-focused questions:

1. “Given my personal characteristics, conditions and preferences, what should I expect will happen to me?”
2. “What are my options and what are the benefits and harms of those options?”
3. “What can I do to improve the outcomes that are most important to me?”
4. “How can the health care system improve my chances of achieving the outcomes I prefer?”

To answer these questions, PCOR:

• Assesses the benefits and harms of preventive, diagnostic, therapeutic, or health delivery system interventions to inform decision making, highlighting comparisons and outcomes that matter to people;

• Is inclusive of an individual's preferences, autonomy and needs, focusing on outcomes that people notice and care about such as survival, function, symptoms, and health-related quality of life;

• Incorporates a wide variety of settings and diversity of participants to address individual differences and barriers to implementation and dissemination; and
• Investigates (or may investigate) optimizing outcomes while addressing burden to individuals, resources, and other stakeholder perspectives.