Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute Names Johns Hopkins Professor and CMS Advisor to Head Program on Improving Healthcare Systems

Latest addition to science team overseeing PCORI's patient-centered approach to research

WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Chad Boult, M.D., MPH, MBA, an internationally recognized authority on caring for patients with chronic conditions, has been named to head the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's program on Improving Healthcare Systems.

Dr. Boult's appointment is the latest as PCORI builds a team overseeing a portfolio of rigorous research to help patients and those who care for them make better-informed health and healthcare decisions. He will run one of the five core research programs corresponding to PCORI's five National Priorities for Research. Recently named to run two of the others are Romana Hasnain-Wynia, Ph.D. (Health Disparities Research), and David Hickam, M.D., MPH (Comparative Assessment of Options). PCORI is still seeking program leads for Communication and Dissemination Research and Research Infrastructure.

"PCORI is privileged to be able to name a clinician and researcher of Chad Boult's stature to lead our Improving Healthcare Systems team," said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, M.D., MPH.  "His background and expertise will be critical to our efforts to bring the patients' voice to comparative effectiveness research and the role healthcare systems play in this field."

Dr. Boult joins PCORI after serving as a senior adviser for Geriatrics and Long-Term Care for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation. Previously, he was the Eugene and Mildred Lipitz Professor of Public Health and director of the Roger C. Lipitz Center for Integrated Health Care at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Boult's research has focused on ways to improve the care and health of people with chronic conditions. His achievements include the development and testing of a model of comprehensive primary care for people with multiple chronic conditions ("guided care") and a widely-used brief questionnaire (the "Pra") that identifies older people at high risk for requiring hospital care.

About PCORI
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.

SOURCE Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute