The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced grants totaling $208 million in support of comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER), as well as $2 million to promote the uptake of evidence on mental health care for people on dialysis.

The grants will support 17 new CER studies, including four that take on particularly complex or challenging healthcare dilemmas. One such study will compare the treatment of coronary artery disease with either open-heart surgery or less invasive stent placement, with a focus on women and individuals from traditionally underserved groups, and another will explore the delivery of palliative care led by specialists versus trained general care practitioners to seriously ill hospitalized patients. Other research projects approved in this funding cycle include three studies comparing telehealth strategies to improve management of multiple chronic conditions in primary care settings focused on concurrent chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and sleep apnea, obesity and asthma in children, and care for medically fragile children; and two studies comparing approaches to improving older adults’ functional outcomes, one focused on individuals with co-occurring pain and early cognitive decline and the other on cancer survivors and their caregivers.

In addition, the organization awarded $2 million in support of efforts to make two treatments shown in a PCORI-funded study to be effective for managing depression among patients undergoing dialysis available in dozens of dialysis units across the United States. The studies include development of a medication and a cognitive behavioral therapy program delivered via telehealth.

“These awards present significant opportunities to address urgent health challenges and empower patients and their families with actionable information about their healthcare choices,” said PCORI executive director Nakela L. Cook. “Facing a complex healthcare system and many care options, patients, caregivers, clinicians, and other health decision makers need reliable information to help them understand which care options will best meet individual patient needs and circumstances. PCORI-supported evidence will improve health care and outcomes for people across the nation.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Srdjan)