New harmonised outcome measures for atrial fibrillation (AF) have been published in HeartRhythm. The work was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) through an interagency agreement with the Office of the Secretary Patient Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund.
A press release explains that AF patient registries are an important source of data for addressing new research questions and improving patient outcomes, but differences in the way registries define and capture outcome measures limits the utility of these resources.
The AF harmonisation effort brought together patient registries, clinical experts, professional associations, health systems, quality measurement organisations, regulatory agencies, patient advocacy groups, and other stakeholders to develop a minimum set of standardised outcome measures that could be captured in all AF patient registries. The minimum measure set, published today in HeartRhythm, is relevant across treatment pathways and is appropriate for use in research and clinical practice settings. Narrative definitions were translated into standardised terminologies to facilitate consistent implementation and capture of the outcome measures in electronic health systems; these resources can be found on the AHRQ website and in the Outcome Measures Repository.
Supported by the Office of the Secretary Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund, the harmonisation effort builds on prior AHRQ-funded efforts to develop the Outcome Measures Framework (OMF), a conceptual model for classifying outcomes that are relevant to patients and providers across most conditions.
