PCORI adopts National Priorities for Health to guide patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research funding

WASHINGTON, DC—Today, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors adopted five National Priorities for Health, which serve as ambitious long-term goals to guide PCORI’s funding of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) and other engagement, dissemination and implementation, and research infrastructure initiatives.

The priorities reflect detailed input from numerous stakeholders, including patients and the broader health care community, advisors and experts, and advance PCORI’s congressional mandate. Designed to be mutually reinforcing with complementary elements to create synergy for progress, the National Priorities for Health are:

• Achieve Health Equity
• Increase Evidence for Existing Interventions and Emerging Innovations in Health
• Enhance Infrastructure to Accelerate Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
• Advance the Science of Dissemination, Implementation, and Health Communication
• Accelerate Progress Toward an Integrated Learning Health System

“The National Priorities for Health provide the foundation for PCORI’s strategy to fulfill its mandate as the nation’s primary funder of patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research,” said Board Chairperson Christine Goertz, Ph.D. “PCORI’s Board of Governors is deeply committed to pursuing these critically important goals through PCORI’s research funding and other strategic initiatives.”

An extensive process to gather and consider stakeholder input preceded the Board of Governors’ adoption of the National Priorities for Health. This process included a 60-day public comment period and several meetings and events that generated vital feedback reflected in the priorities, which are now available on PCORI's website.

“Hearing from our stakeholders was essential to ensure that the National Priorities for Health address pressing national health issues and reflect outcomes important to patients,” said PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, M.D., M.P.H. “This approach affirmed robust support for PCORI’s unique role in the health research enterprise and provided incredibly valuable guidance that strengthened the resulting priorities.”

Today, PCORI’s Board of Governors also participated in a discussion to develop the Research Agenda that will provide a framework for achieving progress on the National Priorities for Health, specifically through the strategy of funding CER. PCORI’s Board of Governors expects to invite public comment on a proposed Research Agenda beginning in December.