If the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) Findings Are Incorporated into Shared Decision Making, It'll Succeed.

Dr. Smith* was well known among the hospital’s medical directors. Thanks to his superb training and busy clinical practice, this busy physician was convinced, thank you very much, that he had all the knowledge necessary to manage his patient population.

Summary quality reports, feedback and best practice advice he did not need.  He also loved pointing out that he wasn’t being adequately reimbursed to deal with administrative hassles, many national Clinical Guidelines were based on faulty research, his patients were not “average,” and his duty to his patients was to “first do no harm.”  He believed in patient education but resented administrators’ meddling.

The medical directors weren’t about to use a “stick” and “de”credential Dr. Smith and kick him out of the network. The “carrot” financial P4P incentives they offered for quality measures were modest and comprised a only a small percentage of the physician’s income.  They. Were. Stuck.

Enter the Affordable Care Act’s Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Writing in the latest issue of Health Affairs, RAND researchers Justin Timble, Eric Schneider, Kristin Van Busum and Steven Fox reassure frustrated medical directors everywhere that PCORI will come to their rescue by ushering in a new dawn of clinical trial research.  The studies will be so good that Dr. Smith will change his passive-aggressive ways.

Dr. Timble et al point out that the reluctance of physicians like Dr. Smith to change their clinical practice is not surprising.  Payment mechanisms incent questionable treatments, much of the published medical science is riddled with ambiguities, even expert scientists succumb to a host of biases when they interpret study results and doctors are more interested in avoiding the risky downsides versus the upside benefit of new medical advances.  Last but not least, clinic-based electronic record decision support never fails to disappoint.

Fortunately, says these RAND authors, the PCORI is on it. Its sponsored research will transparently solicit stakeholder input and investigate all meaningful outcomes, including side effects.  When this high octane knowledge is combined with a dollop of rigorous guideline development, more gigabytes of information tech decision support and the luster of Obamacare’s payment reforms, uncooperative Dr. Smith will be transformed into compliant Dr. Smith.

Sounds good, but the DMCB doubts that sprinkling PCORI pixie dust on docs is the cure to what ails the health care system. In its estimation, the RAND authors and the editors of Health Affairs are only telling half the story.

The DMCB to the rescue.

Despite the authors’ enthusiasm, PCORI’s well-meaning stakeholders will have to make real-world compromises on study scope, data collection and completeness. Their research methods and findings will never be completely immunized against healthy skepticism.  And while RAND scientists and the readers of Health Affairs are professionally invested in PCORI, how well it competes for the attention of practicing docs like Dr. Smith remains to be seen.

Financial carrots and sticks can be used to change physician behavior, but Dr. Smith will ultimately stay in the driver’s seat thanks to a) a looming physician shortage and b) the prospect that total physician reimbursement will go down, leaving no room for incentives. While integrated delivery systems, accountable care organizations and physician-hospital alliances may (or maybe not) wring some dollars out of PCORI-based efficiency and quality studies, it remains to be seen how these big capital-intense organizations will share any precious leftover dollars with their docs.

The population health management (PHM) service community has a better answer.

While high quality research conducted under the supervision of an expert professional class has its place, they know it’s ultimately up to the informed patient to make decision.  A considerable body of research, much of which would pass PCORI muster, has shown that shared decision making using a personal physician’s advice is remarkably adept at reconciling imperfect research with patient values and preferences.  This, in turn, increases quality and reduces unnecessary costs.

The DMCB has seen countless physicians like Dr. Smith welcome the help of team-based nurses who can help his patients. He may call it “education,” but they’re engaging patients in science based decision-making and taking a lot of work off of Dr. Smith’s hands.