Question

Please develop a relationship diagram for the National Institute of health (NIH) that identifies how the NIH relates to its external stakeholders and/ or customers, including other entities in the broad health care community.

Answer 1

Before we understand, the stakeholder relationship for NIH, it is important to understand what exactly is National institute of Health.

National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s premier medical research institution, supporting more than 200,000 scientists at over 2,700 research universities, medical schools, teaching hospitals, independent research institutions and industrial organizations throughout the United States. It is comprised of 27 distinct institutes and centers, nearly all of which are located in Bethesda, Maryland.

To ensure a successful trial, engaging stakeholders is of paramount importance for NIH.

Pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) are designed to answer questions that are relevant to patients, clinicians, payers, policy-makers, and other healthcare decision-makers and to identify generalizable, sustainable ways to improve health and care delivery. Engagement of key stakeholder groups throughout the research process is a core feature of comparative effectiveness research and particularly important in the context of PCTs. Stakeholder input helps to ensure that PCTs are designed to answer questions important to them, that they are feasible to conduct with minimal clinical disruption, and that results are interpreted and shared appropriately.

A stakeholder in this context is defined as : An individual or group who is responsible for or affected by health- and healthcare-related decisions that can be informed by research evidence

And enagement is defined as : A bi-directional relationship between the stakeholder and researcher that results in informed decision-making about the selection, conduct, and use of research

There are multiple methods of stakeholder engagement, and decisions about which method or methods to employ should be based on factors such as the stage of research, engagement objective, number and diversity of stakeholders, geographic dispersion, and resources. One method for facilitating engagement is to establish an advisory board or steering committee with members from different stakeholder groups. It may be helpful to build on previous collaborations (e.g., quality improvement champions) or to begin partnerships through a pilot study. Face-to-face meetings are ideal for establishing relationships and trust, but are not always feasible. Although phone and web-based conferences can be a reasonable substitute, special effort is required to facilitate active participation by stakeholders. For some types of input, one-on-one interviews or survey techniques may be more appropriate. The frequency of engagement may also vary over the course of a study. For example, more frequent engagement may be beneficial during the early stages of planning and implementation and once results from the study are available, while less frequent interaction may suffice during the enrollment and follow-up period. Regardless of the method or frequency of engagement, it is necessary to ensure that all stakeholders are fully prepared to participate and are fairly compensated for their time and effort

Stakeholder	Description
Patients, caregivers, and consumer advocacy groups	Current and potential consumers of healthcare, their caregivers, families, and patient and consumer advocacy groups
Clinicians	Physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, pharmacists, paramedics, and other providers of care and support services
Healthcare delivery organization leaders	Chief executive officers, chief financial officers, chief operations officers, chief medical officers, directors, and other executive-level leaders or senior management within health systems, hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, and other healthcare delivery organizations
Operational personnel	Operational managers, IT, billing, compliance, and other business operations staff
Payers and purchasers	Private insurers, Medicare, Medicaid, employers, the self-insured, and state, government, and other entities responsible for reimbursing or underwriting the costs of healthcare
Policy-makers and regulators	Department of Health and Human Services (e.g., US Food and Drug Administration, Office for Human Research Protections), Congress, the White House, states, professional associations, and other regulating or policy-making entities and their intermediaries
Research funders	Government and private funders of research
Researcher	Academic, industry, clinical, or patient investigator with a question
Product manufacturers	Manufacturers of drugs and medical devices, electronic health record vendors