
Peer Review Done Differently
We began to engage patients and other stakeholders in our peer-review process in 2016, with a workshop at a conference on patient-focused healthcare issues. We tested reviewer materials to be sure that patients found them useful and clear, and that the patients’ work would meaningfully complement traditional scientific review. Our team then developed and refined online training materials for patient reviewers and outlines of questions that patients were best equipped to answer.
During PCORI’s 2017 Annual Meeting, we hosted another workshop for patient peer reviewers, in which we gathered feedback on the process, heard how their efforts have affected the way awardees’ final research reports summarize their projects and results, and brainstormed how to improve on emerging best practices. (See box below, Gaining a Seat at the Table) In the next year, we will be exploring improvements to peer review to benefit patient reviewers, including the opportunity to serve on an editorial board for peer review, and establishing a buddy system so that experienced reviewers can mentor new reviewers.
PCORI’s mission to incorporate patients throughout the research process is evident in the inclusion of several types of patient representatives—those with lived experience, caregivers, family members, and advocates from organizations that represent a disease or specific population. Peer review is no different.

Patients and caregivers who participate in PCORI peer review attend a workshop on peer review at the 2017 PCORI Annual Meeting.
Want to Have an Impact? Become a Patient Peer Reviewer
PCORI is constantly seeking patients and other healthcare stakeholders with experiences and expertise to help us do a better job of assessing the importance of the studies we fund. Capturing the insights of a diverse group of patients is vital to providing a more holistic picture of healthcare choices.
PCORI encourages patients, family caregivers, and representatives of health-focused communities to apply to serve as PCORI peer reviewers. We’ll provide training and ongoing assistance to reviewers. For more information and to apply to become a PCORI peer reviewer, please visit our website. We look forward to welcoming more people to the growing community of patients and other stakeholders helping to support PCORI’s efforts to advance research done differently.
PCORI has offered a way for caregivers, including siblings like myself, to have a seat at the table.

I was initially drawn to PCORI’s peer-review process because a member of my family has autism, and I have often served as a caregiver. That experience exposed me to the need for more patient-centered health care. Had my family known more about shared decision making and had easier access to information about evidence-based treatments for autism, my family could have been better engaged, which would have alleviated some of our emotional and spiritual distress.
So far, being a peer reviewer has been a constructive way for me to contribute toward creating a better healthcare system. I found the PCORI workshop I attended in 2017 very valuable in generating ideas that will lead to meaningful improvements in PCORI’s peer-review process. I left with a better idea of how to more skillfully contribute to the review process.
Being a part of PCORI's peer-review process has been a fulfilling experience. Siblings of people with disabilities and other chronic conditions are traditionally overlooked in health care. But over the course of their lifetime, siblings gather a wealth of knowledge and wisdom regarding what their brothers and sisters are experiencing.
Family members of people with chronic conditions can be critical partners in deciding how to best care for those we love and playing a role in shaping the research that will make that care more effective and patient centered. We are an untapped resource. PCORI has offered a way for caregivers, including siblings like myself, to have a seat at the table. (Back to top)
The views expressed here are those of the authors and not necessarily those of PCORI.
Comments
I suggest that you use the
I suggest that you use the complete name PCORI
(Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute) at least once in each article. Strive for clarity. Avoid repetitive use of certain words if they can be expressed in different terms.
Hi Ronald, thank you very
Hi Ronald, thank you very much for your comment. It has been shared with our editorial team.
Patients reviewers are
Patients reviewers are currently used within most of the research funding vehicles. They have proven to be able to provide invaluable insight within the review and even in the writing of the applications themselves. In todays research environment, not having a patient reviewer has the potential to lessen both the effectiveness and the impact of the application
Hi Sandra, we appreciate your
Hi Sandra, we appreciate your comment. Thanks so much.
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