Overview of the PRN
The Health Outcomes Practice and Research Network (PRN) was recognized as a PRN by the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) in 1994. At that time, the PRN was called the Outcomes and Economics PRN and had 337 members. The PRN adopted its current name in 2007 to be more inclusive and to reflect the evolution of health outcomes in clinical pharmacy. The Health Outcomes PRN currently has 174 members and the following goals:
- Facilitate communication between ACCP members regarding developments in the application of outcomes and economics techniques in clinical practice, research, and educational environments; and
- Enhance the knowledge of ACCP members in the field of outcomes and economics.
Opportunities and Resources
The Health Outcomes PRN annually sponsors or co-sponsors a focus session at the ACCP Annual Meeting. The Health Outcomes PRN also routinely sponsors three travel awards to the Annual Meeting. New this year, the Health Outcomes PRN is also sponsoring a paper of the year award and plans to have research educational sessions throughout the year to educate the membership on relevant topics as well as provide a space for members to discuss ongoing research and collaboration opportunities.
Current Clinical Issues
Although randomized trials are often considered the “gold standard” for clinical research evidence, trials are often difficult, expensive, or unethical to conduct. Real-world evidence is often more feasible to collect and may better reflect the true effectiveness of an intervention; however, it is often susceptible to biases that may mislead. To educate the membership of the Health Outcomes PRN and the ACCP membership at-large on these issues, the Health Outcomes PRN sponsored a focus session at the ACCP 2020 Annual Meeting titled “A Primer on Real-World Evidence: What Pharmacists Need to Know.” In this session, Drs. Joseph E. Biskupiak and Daniel R. Touchette defined real-world evidence, described sources of real-world evidence (e.g., electronic health record data, claims data, patient registries, social media), reviewed examples of studies using real-world evidence and how to assess them for quality, and discussed the strengths and limitations of real-world evidence and how pharmacists can use real-world evidence in their daily practice. To further educate the membership of the Health Outcomes PRN, the business meeting featured presentations by Dr. Karen Rascati, author of Essentials of Pharmacoeconomics and professor at the University of Texas, titled “Use of Real-World Data,” and Zufan Yegezu, a Pharm.D. candidate at the University of Arizona and recipient of the 2020 Health Outcomes travel award, on her research titled “Health-Related Risk Behaviors Among Myocardial Infarction Survivors in the United States: A Propensity Score Matched Study.” Yegezu’s study was published in Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy in February and can be found here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32360124/.