One of PCORI's core values is a commitment to evidence. As noted in our Strategic Plan, “…we evaluate our work to improve its reliability and utility.” We are committed to functioning as a learning organization and strive to study and continuously improve upon all aspects of our work. Transparency is another of our core values; we hold ourselves accountable to all of our many passionate stakeholders.
In our effort to function as a learning organization and be effective in reaching our goals, we pursue a wide range of evaluation activities. These are organized into a framework, which flows from our strategic and operational plans and incorporates our stakeholders’ perspectives and priorities. Our Evaluation and Analysis (E&A) program in the Office of the Executive Director is home to these activities. It also integrates the work of the two scientific program areas, which align with our national research priorities, and coordinates scientific activities across other teams. The program focuses on two areas.
Strategic Portfolio Analysis
The E&A program coordinates the reporting and analysis of the research we fund and works with all PCORI staff to ensure that the research projects are meeting identified needs. Within E&A, Strategic Portfolio Analysis (SPA) produces timely, actionable information about PCORI-funded projects to enable strategic decision making about future funding. SPA also coordinates both our repository of research funding ideas submitted by the public and the vetting and prioritization of the topics by staff and the PCORI Advisory Panels.
Evaluation and Survey Research
The E&A program evaluates our work, including patient and other stakeholder engagement in the research we fund. E&A tracks our progress against PCORI’s strategic goals: increasing availability of useful information to inform health decisions, speeding the implementation of research results, and enhancing the spread of patient-centered research. E&A reviews feedback about our processes and suggestions for improvement collected from funding applicants, merit reviewers, and others. This feedback has led to substantial changes to our processes. The program also strives to identify and spread best practices for engagement in research. E&A examines how our unique merit review system affects the research we fund. It also plans and conducts surveys to learn about patient, clinician, researcher, and other stakeholder attitudes and behaviors related to comparative effectiveness research and engagement in research.
Posted: September 10, 2014; Updated: September 25, 2015