As a healthcare patient or provider, is there an issue, question, or decision impacting your care or practice that you wish you could ask the government to research? The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) recently announced an opportunity to submit a patient-centered research question via their website. This opportunity affords patients, providers, researchers, and caregivers with an opportunity to voice concerns over everyday health care challenges. This input will be used to refine PCORI’s research agenda.

PCORI was created in 2010 as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, health reform legislation). PCORI is tasked with conducting research on the relative health outcomes, clinical effectiveness, and appropriateness of medical treatments in order to give patients and providers a better understanding of the various healthcare options available – for prevention, treatment, and care – and the science behind those options.

PCORI’s National Priorities and Research Agenda prioritized five research areas – the assessment of prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options; improving healthcare systems; communication and dissemination research; addressing disparities; accelerating patient-centered outcomes research and methodological research. The Agenda is available at: http://www.pcori.org/what-we-do/priorities-agenda/.

To submit a question, visit http://www.pcori.org/get-involved/suggest-a-patient-centered-research-question-survey/. The form asks for the following information:

• Is your question about a certain disease, behavior, or health condition?
• What is your question?
• What kinds of patients would this research help?
• If you would like to, please tell us why this question is important.
• Which of the following categories best describes you? (patient, patient advocate, patient/caregiver advocacy organization, clinician, research, etc.)

Your contact information (optional, PCORI would use if there were questions regarding your submission).