Patient-Centered Outcomes Research through Clinical Decision Support

Health Care Access
Your Name
Subject and Section
Professor’s Name
Date
           It is a common principle in the field of health care that patients should always have a voice in their medical circumstances. This includes being informed of the present and the future benefits, risks, complications, as well as the costs of the treatments that are being offered to them (PCORI.Org, 2013). In line with the importance of these “Patient-centered outcomes” (PCOs), the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) provided a grant for researches that are aimed at improving the outcomes of the open interaction between the healthcare provider and the patient himself. While there are different views about the importance of PCOs, the author of this article believes that allocating resources for these kinds of research is cost-efficient as it could increase performance and decrease risks in health care organizations.
 
Mission and Budget
To address the need for constant improvement in the workflow within health care organizations, AHRQ has implemented its program from researching “Patient-Centered Outcomes Research findings through Clinical Decision Support (PCOR-CDS)”. On the one hand, PCOR deals with providing both the patients and their caregivers sufficient and precise information to help them make informed decisions (PCORI.Org, 2013). On the other hand, however, CDS refers to a system that generates reports and clinical decisions for both every stakeholder while considering every possible risks and benefit of such decisions (HealthIT.Gov, 2018). In an effort to combine both of these important concepts, AHRQ has implemented 4 main missions in their program, namely; (1) improve and disseminate the constructive advice and feedback mechanisms in the field of healthcare through the use of PCRO-CDS, (2) establish and conduct studies on the codification of PCOR-CDS guidelines, (3) develop an openly available resource center for these guidelines, and (4) test the initiative of healthcare providers for implementing guidelines (AHRQ.Gov, 2016). Accordingly, the organization provides grants for research applications for different organizations including higher-education institutions, non-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, and even the government itself. These grants cover software production projects that aim to establish an efficient, precise, and dynamic system that would aid in the improvement of workflow in healthcare providers.
 
Strategic Plan for the Program
           To continuously improve the system of healthcare in the most efficient manner possible, AHRQ’s strategic plan aims to build from existing PCOR and CDS resources (i.e., research and projects). For one, the organization required those who are planning to submit their proposals to build from existing software, tools, and information such as CDS Connect and PCCDS LN (NIH.Gov, 2018). Additionally, to maximize the probability of success, the organization has imposed strict guidelines when it comes to budgeting, review criteria, and the degree of innovation to name some.
 
Contr...