Published May 24, 2016

Washington, DC—May 24, 2016—The International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 21st Annual International Meeting Workshop 13—Patients as Partners in Research—Making It a Reality—was held this afternoon in Washington, DC, USA. The Workshop discussion leaders included:

• Rachel Harrington, PhD, Senior Research Alliances Manager, Health Economics and Clinical Outcomes Research, Astellas Medical Affairs Americas, Northbrook, IL, USA
• Alfonso Aguarón, Project Manager, Myeloma Patients Europe, Madrid, Spain
• Robert N. McBurney, PhD, Chief Executive Officer, Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis, Waltham, MA, USA
• Holly Peay, PhD, MS, CGC, Principal Investigator, DuchenneConnect Network, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, and Research Scientist, RTI International, Research Triangle Park, NC, USA

Including the perspective of patients and their representatives in all stages of the research and decision making process has become increasingly important. This type of patient engagement has been cited by researchers, government agencies, and patient advocates as an essential step to improve health care delivery and outcomes. The discussion leaders provided an overview of the key components that are essential for patient engagement and collaboration in clinical research studies and in health care decision making. Engagement components range from low-level interaction through consultation to higher level collaboration through partnership and shared leadership. Presentations and slide decks from the ISPOR 21st Annual International meeting can be found here. Interested parties can follow news and developments from the meeting on social media using the hashtag #ISPORDC. ###