May I Reintroduce Jean Slutsky, PCORI’s New Chief Engagement and Dissemination Officer

I’m pleased to tell you that Jean Slutsky, PA, MSPH, has been named as PCORI’s new Chief Engagement and Dissemination Officer, a position that seeks to marry two critical pieces of our mission and vision for helping patients and those who care for them make better health and healthcare decisions.

Jean joined our staff in February as the director of the Communication and Dissemination Research portfolio. She’ll continue to lead that work, as her role expands to lead our Engagement team and oversee the development of our research dissemination and implementation plan.

A Natural Evolution to Advance a Key Strategic Goal

One of our strategic goals is to speed the implementation of useful evidence resulting from the patient-centered comparative effectiveness research (CER) we fund. Bringing the science of communication and dissemination closer together with its practice in the real world is the PCORI way.

There are a lot of questions about how best to translate and deliver evidence-based information to patients and those who care for them. As our research portfolio begins to yield answers, we will adjust our practices to ensure we are delivering information patients can use to make timely, effective decisions about their care.

Jean is the right person to lead this important work for us. She is a nationally regarded leader in health research and implementation science and a pioneer in incorporating patient and other stakeholder experiences in the process.

For more than 10 years she directed the Center for Outcomes and Evidence at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), where she conceived and implemented an integrated program of research, stakeholder engagement, research training, and dissemination and implementation of comparative effectiveness research. She also served as AHRQ’s representative on the PCORI Methodology Committee and played an important role in helping to identify and develop the standards that are minimal best practices in the design and conduct of CER.

As a former physician assistant and long-time caregiver, Jean knows how crucial it is for patients and those who care for them to have clear, easily understandable information to make the best possible decisions for their individual circumstances.

A Wealth of Experience in Engagement and Patients’ Needs

Jean’s long tenure with AHRQ will help PCORI strengthen its relationship with the agency, which our authorizing legislation designates as our key dissemination partner. Her experience, knowledge and relationships will help ensure that our work is complementary, never duplicative and always focused on giving patients and other clinical care decision makers the information they need to make better informed decisions.

Perhaps equally important as Jean’s professional expertise is her personal experience. As a former physician assistant and long-time caregiver, she knows how crucial it is for patients and those who care for them to have clear, easily understandable information to make the best possible decisions for their individual circumstances.

It’s an optimal time for Jean to take this leading role with PCORI as we are in the first phase of our process for building a long-term dissemination plan. Effectively engaging patients and other stakeholders – whose support we need for effective dissemination – is critical to our mission.

With a robust engagement staff already in place, a commitment to engaging all stakeholders throughout our work, and Jean’s leadership, we look forward to accelerating our work to help patients and those who care for them achieve the highest quality outcomes.

Selby is PCORI’s Executive Director