ISSUE: Patients with a physician-confirmed diagnosis are the ideal respondents for stated-preference research in healthcare/regulatory evaluation. However, there are logistical challenges associated with recruiting patients from clinical sites. Recruitment of patients with a physician-confirmed diagnosis may be associated with longer study duration and greater cost. It has been suggested that national panels of patients provide direct access to willing patient participants which can translate to lower expenses and shorter study timeframes. It is not clear if preference results elicited from a self-reporting cohort are similar to preferences from patients recruited directly from the clinic setting. Are panels a suitable substitute for clinical enrollment to elicit preferences? The answer to this methodological question would potentially lead to greater efficiencies and may encourage the conduct of health preference studies to inform regulatory decisions.

OVERVIEW: This panel will debate the pros and cons of a utilizing a self - reporting cohort to elicit patient preferences. Dr. Tarver will moderate the panel. She will pose questions for the panelists to discuss. Some questions are: Do preference surveys administered to respondents via panels and clinically diagnosed patients deliver similar results? Are samples similar in terms of demographics, disease severity, health literacy, numeracy, and other factors? Does this influence the results? How do vendors who manage panels request information on members’ medical conditions? What are recruitment rates for panel-derived vs. physician-recruited samples? What’s the recruitment duration difference (panel vs. physician diagnosed)? What measures can be taken to optimize the reliability of a self-reported diagnosis? Dr. Reed will discuss methodological considerations in comparing preferences between samples. Olufemi Babalola will present an example from the CDRH that compares preference results from a panel (self-reported) to a clinically diagnosed cohort in the case of fibroids. Lisa Kaiser will highlight best practices around the recruitment into and management of their panel.