PCORI Board of Governors approve $12.2 million to find ways to treat different health conditions

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $12.2 million to fund four studies comparing the most effective ways to treat a range of health conditions that impose high burdens on patients, their families and the healthcare system.

The Board approved $4.2 million in funding for a University of California, Davis project testing strategies to improve pediatric trauma care, including a phone consultation with a pediatric trauma specialist, or a new model of care which uses a virtual pediatric trauma center incorporating live video or teleconference. The newer model may reduce unnecessary and financially burdensome transfers for families who don't live near a pediatric trauma center. Injury among children results in over 9 million emergency department visits annually and is the leading cause of death and disability among children in the United States.

The Board also approved two studies focused on older populations. One provides $2.6 million for a Duke University study comparing the benefits of two hearing aids versus a single hearing aid for people over 50 diagnosed with mild to moderate hearing loss. The second award provides $1.6 million to support a University of South Florida project testing peer support and transitional care to reduce unplanned readmissions for racial and ethnic minority adults over age 60 diagnosed with chronic illness.

Finally, the Board approved $3.7 million for a University of Pittsburgh Medical Center study comparing strategies for reducing readmissions for individuals with sepsis or pneumonia. The study compares different ways to monitor patients at home to intervene before they get sick enough that they must go back to the hospital.

Each of these new research studies can provide much needed evidence to help patients, their families and their providers make better-informed decisions about what kind of care will work best for them. We're very excited about the important patient-centered questions that these studies seek to answer.

PCORI Interim Executive Director Josephine P. Briggs, MD

Details of all projects approved for funding by the Board are on PCORI's website. All were approved pending a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of formal award contracts.

With these latest awards, PCORI has invested nearly $2.6 billion to fund more than 750 patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) studies and to support other projects designed to enhance CER methods and the infrastructure necessary to conduct CER rigorously and efficiently.