CMTP Publishes Patient-Reported Outcomes Guidance for Adult Cancer Trials

"Patient-centered stakeholder input on guidance document for designing clinical studies…"

BALTIMORE, June 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) published its official Effectiveness Guidance Document for how to better incorporate patient-reported outcomes into studies that enroll adult cancer patients.  This guidance was developed in collaboration with Dr. Ethan Basch, of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Amy Abernethy, MD, of Duke Cancer institute, and an expert working group of patient advocates, oncologists, researchers and life sciences and other experts.

"Effectiveness Guidance Documents provide specific recommendations to researchers on the design of studies that are intended to give decision makers – such as patients, clinicians and payers – a reasonable level of confidence that the intervention studied will improve health outcomes," said Dr. Sean Tunis, President and CEO of CMTP. "EGD recommendations are developed through several rounds of multi-stakeholder consultation and aim to reflect an acceptable balance of internal validity, generalizability, relevance and feasibility."

At CMTP, integrating the patient perspective into comparative effectiveness research is an integral component for improving health care and health decisions. "The patient perspective is an essential part of cancer research," says Dr. Basch, an oncologist, policy researcher and committee member of PCORI's methodology committee. "All too often, we don't understand the impact of a treatment on people. This guidance offers a path for how to make studies more patient-centered."  The EGD, titled "Recommendations for Incorporating Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) into Clinical Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) in Adult Oncology", can be found online here http://www.cmtpnet.org/effectiveness-guidance-documents/oncology-pro/.

CMTP is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that works to improve the quality, relevance, and efficiency of health care research. CMTP provides a trusted forum in which a broad range of stakeholders can collaborate to identify important research questions, design appropriate studies, and develop innovative partnerships to implement these studies. CMTP's mission is to improve public health through knowledge and innovation.

SOURCE Center for Medical Technology Policy