Harmonized Registry Developed for Atrial Fibrillation Patients

AHRQ-funded researchers seeking to standardize information gleaned from patient registries for atrial fibrillation were able to consolidate more than 100 outcomes measures into 20 measures, according to a new AHRQ report. The measures, found in 13 existing atrial fibrillation registries, were categorized by survival, clinical response, events of interest, resource utilization and patient-reported outcomes. The consolidation was an important step forward in the effort to standardize atrial fibrillation registries, which have used different outcome measures that are difficult to compare. This project builds on prior AHRQ-funded work to develop an Outcome Measures Framework that classifies outcomes across most conditions. Researchers recommended pilot testing of the harmonized measures and acknowledged that a major barrier in using them entailed mapping existing data to the new measures and updating registry infrastructure. They also said more work was needed to improve data collection of the patient’s perspective through patient-reported outcomes. Access AHRQ’s report and the abstract to an article in HeartRhythm.

Standardized Library of Atrial Fibrillation Outcome Measures | Effective Health Care Program