Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) helps patients and their families make better health care decisions.

PREP-IT Team Defines Patient-Centered Outcomes Research

Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR), at its best, is hard to define. It may look different in every study. In this video, PREP-IT stakeholders, such as patient advisors, research coordinators, and surgeons, define PCOR and how it affects the PREP-IT study.

What is patient-centered outcomes research?

Patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) means that patients are equal members of the research team at every step of the process from ideas through dissemination. It means patient partners work with academic researchers to co-develop research. They create and finalize research aims together. 

PCOR focuses on the treatment outcomes that patients care about, such as survival and quality of life. It looks at care given in a wide variety of settings among a wide variety of participants to address patients’ differences and barriers to care.

Why engage patients and caregivers in research?

  • To make research more patient-centered, relevant, and useful 
  • To establish trust  
  • To encourage successful uptake and use of research results by patients and community members 

For more information about PCOR, please visit the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) website.