Division of Patient-Centered Development

Who Are We?

DPCD includes social scientists, health economists, statisticians, clinical providers, and other experts committed to engaging with patients as partners and including the patients’ perspectives into medical device development and evaluation.

The Division of Patient-Centered Development (DPCD) provides strategic direction in patient science and engagement. DPCD is located within the Office of Equity and Innovative Development under the Office of Strategic Partnerships and Technology Innovation (OST). 

What Do We Do?

DPCD leads the Patient Engagement Advisory Committee as well as patient engagement activities focused on medical devices. We also help develop and evaluate tools that measure patient experiences and perspectives which include:

• Clinical outcome assessments
• Patient preference information
• Patient-generated data (such as that collected by consumer wearable devices ).

Patient Science and Engagement Initiatives at CDRH

• Patient Engagement Advisory Committee
• Patient Preference Information (PPI) in Medical Device Decision-Making
• Clinical Outcome Assessments (COAs) in Medical Device Decision-Making
• CDRH Patient and Caregiver Connection

What Is Our Mission?

The mission of the DPCD is to engage with patients, understand their perspectives, and proactively integrate the patients’ perspectives into the total product life cycle of medical devices to help protect and promote public health.

What Is Our Vision?

Our vision is that patients and caregivers in the United States have timely access to high-quality, safe, and effective medical devices that meet their needs and improve their quality of life.

Interacting with patients as partners to advance safe and effective device use over the total product life cycle is part of our daily business and leads to regulatory decisions and actions that consistently place the patient at the center of what we do.

Patient input in the development of clinical studies and the generation of science-based information assures studies evaluate what matters most to patients and that patients have access to useful, understandable information about medical devices that helps to inform their health care decision-making.

Contact Us

If you have questions about patient engagement opportunities at CDRH, email CDRH_PatientEngagement@fda.hhs.gov.