What is the difference between patients and other stakeholders?

PCORI defines “patients” as a) persons with a current, past illness or injury diagnosis, or at high risk for a condition (for studies focused on prevention), b) family members or people who provide support as unpaid caregivers, or c) members of advocacy organizations representing patients or caregivers. These are the stakeholders who bring lived experience to the research table. PCORI uses the terms patients, patient stakeholder, and patient partners interchangeably. Other stakeholder partners are professional representatives of the health ecosystem. They include clinicians/clinical staff, purchasers, payers, industry, hospitals and health systems, policy makers, and training institutions as well as other organizations or sectors appropriate for a particular topic and/or population. Learn more here.