PCORI To Dole Out $1B for Comparative Effectiveness Research

On Monday, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's board of governors approved a plan to disburse more than $1 billion over the next two years to fund comparative effectiveness research, Modern Healthcare reports (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 11/18).

Last year, PCORI -- which was created under the Affordable Care Act -- sought proposals for projects that would:

• Assess different treatment or prevention methods for the same condition;
• Improve health care systems;
• Communicate and distribute the results from a PCORI-funded project; and
• Eliminate or reduce ethnic and racial disparities (Adams, CQ HealthBeat, 9/17/12).

In December 2012, PCORI announced the first round of 25 grant awards totaling more than $40 million over three years. In May, the organization announced another round of grants totaling $88.6 million to fund 51 research projects (McKinney, Modern Healthcare, 5/7).

Details of Comparative Research Funding

The latest round of funding grants -- for 2014 and 2015 -- marks a significant increase from the nearly $400 million in grants that the organization planned to award by the end of this year.

According to Modern Healthcare, the new funding includes an estimated $528 million for research in 2014 and an operating budget of $182 million for next year.

At the board meeting Monday, PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby suggested the organization allocate its funds -- $3.5 billion through 2019 -- at higher levels over the next three years and gradually reduce funding in subsequent years. He said doing so would help ensure funding for more comparative effectiveness research projects and produce results more quickly.

Also at the meeting, the board approved a revised version of its methodology report -- which includes 47 standards for conducting comparative effectiveness research -- as well as advisory panels on rare diseases and clinical trials (Modern Healthcare, 11/18).