In this blog, we introduce you to the PROTEUS Consortium, and announce a funding opportunity to support research addressing the value of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in clinical practice.
Did you say "funding opportunity"?
Check out more details at the end of the blog. First, let us introduce you to PROTEUS!
What is the PROTEUS Consortium?
PROTEUS stands for Patient Reported Outcomes Tools: Engaging Users and Stakeholders. The Consortium is a group of international organizations with a common interest in improving the use of PROs in both clinical practice and in clinical trials. Organizations with PROTEUS participants include clinician groups (ASTRO, ASCO and others), patient advocacy groups, research organizations, regulatory agencies, clinical trials groups and health systems.
Why focus on PROs? And what does the PROTEUS Consortium do about PROs?
As radiation oncologists involved in health services research and promoting quality of care, we believe that understanding patients’ experience is critical for providing truly patient-centered clinical care for all health care professionals within a radiation oncology program. It is also essential to include patient-reported outcomes in the conduct of high-quality clinical trials. This understanding forms the basis for obtaining patients’ perspectives about their symptoms, functioning and well-being using PROs. To facilitate this, the PROTEUS Consortium was created to help clinicians, researchers and administrators navigate the use of PROs in clinical trials and clinical practice.
PROTEUS aims to promote better and more patient-centered care by supporting the best possible use of PROs in clinical trials (PROTEUS-Trials) and in clinical practice (PROTEUS-Practice). PROTEUS provides a carefully curated collection of PRO resources and materials available free for use on the PROTEUS website.
All educational resources and tools on the PROTEUS website are carefully reviewed, non-commercial and nonpartisan. We invite you to explore these resources and see how they can benefit your work.
Other roles of the PROTEUS Consortium
The PROTEUS Consortium also plays an important role in the field by continuing to foster consensus about best practices, building the knowledge base, and championing broader and more effective uptake of PROs in both trials and practice. Furthermore, PROTEUS serves as a mentor and guide for colleagues in the use of PROs and offers thought leadership to the field.
PROTEUS website: Trials and practice
Trialists and clinicians use PROs in markedly different ways, and the PROTEUS website is continuing to evolve to meet these diverse needs. The PROTEUS resources and materials are presented in two main sections: PROTEUS-Trials and PROTEUS-Practice. They can also be found by searching the Navigating PROTEUS resource library.
On the website, you will find:
For clinical trials:
- Key methodologic tools to help you understand the fundamentals and adhere to best practices of PRO design, analysis, reporting, interpretation and application at each step in the process.
- Original materials designed to support your processes and workflow, including teaching videos by PROs experts, step-by-step checklists and supplementary reading.
For clinical practice:
- PROTEUS-Practice resources center around the new PROTEUS Guide to Implementing PROs in Clinical Practice. The PROTEUS-Practice Guide walks step by step through designing, implementing and managing PRO systems, including integrating them with the electronic health record. Talking tools for conveying the value of PROs to key stakeholders (e.g., patients, clinicians, administrators, staff) will be added soon.
About the funding opportunity: Request for applications on the value of PROs
Coming back to our funding announcement, PROTEUS is pleased to collaborate with Pfizer to offer a grant funding opportunity to investigate the value of patient-reported outcome measures in individual patient care in U.S. oncology clinical practice. Grants are for up to $100k/project. The request for proposals (RFP) is open and only U.S. applicants are eligible. Letters of intent are due April 25. A summary of the RFP is available on the PROTEUS website.
We encourage you to learn more about PROTEUS:
- Explore our website at www.theproteusconsortium.org
- Join our email list to receive our PRO-cisely PROTEUS newsletter and other updates
- Follow PROTEUS on social media:
- LinkedIn: @theproteusconsortium
- X (formerly Twitter): @proteuspros
- YouTube: @proteuspros
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