The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors has approved $56.7 million for four large patient-centered studies, and $9 million for PCORnet obesity studies.
The first four studies are of treatment options for appendicitis, ways to improve behavioral and mental health care, and options to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in patients getting hip and knee replacements. The four awards approved are the latest in PCORI's initiative to support “pragmatic clinical studies.” These are conducted in typical clinical settings, rather than in specialized research centers, and involve participants who more closely mirror typical patients.
The Board also approved $9 million for two studies on obesity, one on weight loss surgery and the other on weight gain that may be caused by antibiotic use among young children. These are the latest studies designed to demonstrate the capacity of PCORnet, the national clinical research network PCORI is developing to help the nation conduct studies faster and more efficiently than traditional research approaches.
In addition, the Board approved the development of new research funding announcements offering up to $60 million to support comparative clinical effectiveness (CER) studies on two important topics—use of new anticoagulant drugs and care for treatment-resistant depression.
The pragmatic studies PCORI is funding aim to produce results that are more relevant to a broad range of patients and care settings and easier to adopt in routine clinical practice. Each study will involve national advocacy organizations, major professional societies and associations, payers, and other key patient and stakeholder groups in their research design and implementation.
With these awards, PCORI has now approved or awarded nearly $1.08 billion for research projects and other initiatives that will help patients and those who care for them make better-informed healthcare choices.
“These studies will answer important patient-centered questions that matter to patients and those who care for them,” said PCORI executive director Joe Selby, M.D. "They will do so in a way that their results will be more immediately and directly relevant to all patients with these conditions and who need the information to make better-informed decisions about their healthcare options."
