Seeks to Replace Outgoing Board Member Who Represented Research Community
For Immediate Release
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
Contact: Christine Stencel, Associate Director of Media Relations (202-570-9275 or cstencel@pcori.org)
Washington, D.C. (July 24, 2014) – The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a call for nominations to fill a seat on the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors recently vacated by Arnold Epstein, MD.
Epstein became ineligible to continue on the Board after joining the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as the new Deputy Assistant Secretary and head of the Office of Health Policy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation. Previously, he had been the John H. Foster Professor and Chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management at Harvard University School of Public Health and a practicing internist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which authorized PCORI’s establishment, assigns the Comptroller General of the United States responsibility for appointing the members of PCORI’s Board. Under the legislation, Board members represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including patients and healthcare consumers. GAO’s call for nominations focuses specifically on candidates who can bring the perspectives of quality improvement or health services researchers, the area that Epstein represented.
“Dr. Epstein has been a tremendous asset to PCORI since our inception nearly four years ago, bringing valuable insights from his experiences as a researcher as well as a practicing clinician to the Board’s work,” said PCORI Board Chair Grayson Norquist, MD, MSPH. “We greatly appreciate his many contributions to our endeavors.”
“PCORI has benefited greatly from Dr. Epstein’s ideas and guidance as we framed our research priorities and built our infrastructure to support research,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “In this case, our country’s gain in having his service is our loss, but we are very appreciative of the contributions he made during his tenure with us.”
GAO will accept letters of nomination and resumes submitted via either email or mail by Friday, Aug. 15, 2014. Information is available on this website.
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About PCORI
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.