The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced grants totaling $71.5 million in support of comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) and additional grants totaling nearly $9 million for projects to facilitate uptake of PCORI-funded research findings.

The latest funding will support 12 new CER studies, including one on maternal health that will compare ways to improve early detection and management of postpartum complications and another that seeks to determine whether the medications most often prescribed for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder are as effective for children who also have a diagnosis of autism as they are for children without an autism diagnosis. In addition, three CER studies will compare how well nonsurgical interventions alleviate urinary incontinence (UI).

Three projects to facilitate uptake of PCORI-funded research results will focus on using a health system’s electronic health records and a self-treatment program to virtually reach and treat women affected by UI; optimizing sickle cell disease care by deploying an infusion center implementation toolkit and accelerating the implementation of these specialized centers through a facilitation network; and implementing a program that matches patients with therapists based on patients’ primary mental health concerns and therapists’ strengths.

“These latest funding awards reflect PCORI’s commitment to address our nation’s most critical health issues by funding research that aims to improve healthcare delivery and health outcomes in real-world settings,” said PCORI executive director Nakela L. Cook. “The robust data generated through these and other PCORI-funded studies will support patients and those who care for them in making more informed decisions about their care and inform the national dialogue about patient-centered health and health care.”

(Photo credit: Getty Images/Nicholas)