PCORI's Goals (2013)

As described in our 2013 strategic plan, PCORI has three goals. Each of the three Strategy Committees, made up of members of our Board and Methodology Committee, focused on one of these goals and the metrics and evaluation activities associated with them. Since 2013, PCORI has been using early and intermediate process and output measures as a way to monitor its progress toward its strategic goals.

Goal 1: Increase Useful Information

The Science Oversight Committee oversees work toward this goal.

Whether or not people use the information PCORI produces will be the ultimate test of its usefulness. We developed criteria to assess the potential usefulness of information from PCORI-funded studies and examined how well these criteria are reflected in all our processes, particularly those for determining which studies to fund.

To assess progress toward our first goal, we also examine our processes for planning and managing our portfolio and regularly examine its contents. We collect and analyze data on:

• Applicants’ understanding of our methodology standards and how well projects adhere to relevant standards
• Implementation of our topic prioritization and merit review processes and the results they are yielding
• Composition of our portfolio in terms of value to addressing critical questions
• Unique contribution of PCORI funding relative to other funders
• Project recruitment and retention success and timely completion  and the effectiveness our project management

Goal 2: Speed the Uptake and Use of Information

The Engagement, Dissemination, and Implementation Committee focuses on this goal.

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We have developed a broad spectrum of measures to assess the dissemination, uptake, and impact of information from PCORI-funded comparative clinical effectiveness studies when they are completed, beginning in a couple of years. This spectrum begins with measuring early indicators of the dissemination of results for all PCORI studies. It then progresses to indicators of uptake and use of results, to be measured for a substantial subset of PCORI studies. It ends with indicators of the impact of PCORI results on health decision making, healthcare quality, and health outcomes, which we plan to measure for a small set of studies.

Learn more about PCORI's work to provide and disseminate information about our funded research projects:

• PCORI in the Literature
• Highlights of PCORI-Funded Research Results

Goal 3: Influence Funded Research to Be More Patient-Centered

The Research Transformation Committee of the PCORI Board focuses on this goal. We expected that researchers and other funders would adopt PCORI practices, like ensuring patient-centeredness, once PCORI-funded study results started to become available.

To our surprise, we have found that PCORI has had an earlier influence than expected on clinical training and research practices. We have heard from many researchers and patient partners, for example, that they have been influenced by observing our work or through involvement with PCORI programs, conferences, and merit review. We are collecting examples of this influence, and regular reports we present to the Board feature some of those examples.

Tracking PCORI's Influence

To track our influence, we measure:

• Endorsement, promotion, and dissemination of PCORI work
• Use of PCORI Methodology Standards
• Use of PCORI-funded methods research
• Use of PCORI stakeholder-engaged approaches in research and in funding application review and research topic prioritization
• Use of PCORI-supported curricula or training
• Collaborations/co-funding with other funders
• Establishment of policies and programs to promote PCOR
• Development of infrastructure to support PCOR
• Use and support of PCORnet^®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network
• Use of secondary data from PCORI-funded studies
• Use of CER and PCOR terminology
• PCOR funding provided by funders other than PCORI

Influencing the Culture of Research: View Examples

Posted: December 20, 2017; Updated: September 20, 2022