Patient Centered Outcomes Research Highlighted at the SLEEP 2015 Meeting in Seattle, WA

There were several presentations of patient centered outcomes research, PCORI, PCORnet (the network MyApnea.Org is part of) and MyApnea.Org.

As part of a post-graduate course on novel methods in sleep research, I presented a talk on the role of patient-centered outcomes research in addressing gaps in our health care system and as a means for generating better evidence for patients and doctors to make decisions. Clinicians, researchers and members from tech companies were there and expressed interest in working with MyApnea to help us grow our community and improve its impact.

Dr. Vishesh Kapur, a member of the MyApnea.Org Steering Committee, presented models for collecting and sharing information in a symposium discussing the Electronic Health Record and ways to improve the information in clinical and research informatics systems for improving sleep diagnosis and management. Dr. Kapur's talk was very informative and led to further discussions with a number of stakeholders.

Dr. Redline chaired a symposium entitled the "Emerging Role of Patient Centered Outcomes Research". In addition to a presentation on MyApnea.Org, Dr. Terri Weaver from University of Illinois provided an overview of comparative effectiveness research; Dr. S Parthasarathy from University of Arizona discussed a peer-coaching program for improving CPAP adherence; and Dr. Clete Kushida from Stanford University presented a PCORI-funded project called SMARTDOCS which provides a portal for integrating health data in the daily care of patients with sleep disorders.

All of these projects were supported by PCORI-the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute-and showcase the sleep community's involvement in new kinds of research.

Let us know if you are interesting in learning more about these programs!