| Summary: | <p style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt; line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN">Point-of-care research (POCr) is part of a larger effort to advance the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) as a learning health system. It has the potential to improve health care outcomes and drive down costs of research by evaluating “in-use” medications and therapies. However, patients and physicians must be inclined to participate in this type of research. There is a need to assess patient and physician willingness, decision making, and methods of informed consent with respect to patient and physician participation in POCr. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">An exploratory study was conducted involving three focus groups, two with VA patients (n=8) and one with physicians (n=6) affiliated with a Midwestern VA Health Care System, to explore attitudes and preferences towards issues in POCr. Emerging themes were captured through qualitative content analysis. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Four primary themes emerged from the focus group data: (1) a qualified willingness to participate in POCr; (2) the doctor-patient relationship as a context for POCr; (3) transparency and choice in POCr participation; and (4) protecting patient confidentiality and privacy. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Our exploratory study among VA physicians and patients suggests that POCr may be perceived as intervening or undermining the physician-patient relationship in cases where randomization supplants doctor-patient decision making, or where a waiver of informed consent may diminish the need for </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN">physician</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">-patient interaction. Informed consent is important in POCr because it offers a way for patients and </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;" lang="EN">physicians </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">to establish rapport and trust, particularly in cases where randomization removes the need for clinical decision making.</span></p>
|
|---|
