The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced funding awards totaling $225 million, including $207 million in support of 20 new patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies.

Four awards will support large patient-centered CER studies in which community organizations and research institutions as coequal partners will tackle clinical and social factors that contribute to inequities in maternal morbidity and mortality. The funding also includes support for CER studies researching ways to optimally use brief interventions to prevent alcohol use among adolescents; ways to prevent delirium among hospitalized patients, a particular concern for older adults and their families; strategies to achieve better blood pressure control; and ways to enhance use of cancer screening and treatment of depression. Several studies specifically aim to address questions about how to optimize the use of therapies and care delivery approaches to achieve greater equity in care access and outcomes among historically underserved populations, and other studies will evaluate optimal approaches for use of telehealth, such as apps and remote care via video.

Recognizing that generating evidence is not the end of the process of improving outcomes, PCORI supports projects designed to assess and expand ways to promote the uptake of PCORI-funded CER findings in clinical practice. To that end, PCORI approved about $10 million in funding awards for four implementation projects. In addition, PCORI awarded $4 million in support of four studies to improve methods for conducting CER and nearly $3 million for two studies that will strengthen the evidence base on engaging patients and other healthcare decision makers in designing and conducting CER.

“It takes rigorously designed and conducted research using evidence-based approaches to generate reliable results, which is why PCORI invests in studies focused on methodology and the science of engagement,” said Harv Feldman, PCORI’s deputy executive director for Patient-Centered Research Programs. “PCORI also recognizes the need for comparative clinical effectiveness research findings to reach those whom they can help the most, which is why the organization funds projects to proactively disseminate and implement useful evidence, so it can be adopted faster in every day clinical care.”

For a complete list of the latest recipients, see the PCORI website.

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