PCORI Board Approves PCORnet Trial Award, New Demonstration Projects

For Immediate Release
Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute

WASHINGTON, DC (May 5, 2015) — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors, at its May 4 meeting, approved $14 million for the first demonstration project to be conducted using PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, as well as plans for two more PCORnet demonstration projects totaling up to $29.5 million in support.

The Board approved funding for a three-year clinical trial that will compare the benefits and harms of low-dose and regular-strength aspirin among patients to prevent heart attacks and strokes in patients diagnosed with heart disease. The trial will involve researchers, clinicians, and patients from six of PCORnet’s 11 Clinical Data Research Networks (CDRNs), and one of the 18 Patient-Powered Research Networks (PPRNs) will provide a secure patient portal for data collection.

The Board also approved development of a new funding announcement offering up to $7.5 million to support the participation of as many as three CDRNs in an ongoing multi-site study focused on diabetes care. The CDRNs will join five health systems participating in the Natural Experiments in Translation – for Diabetes (NEXT-D) trial funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health. The study is assessing variations in and among health systems’ policies and clinical interventions for preventing and managing diabetes.

In addition, PCORI will develop a funding announcement offering up to $22 million to support up to nine projects designed to demonstrate the PPRNs’ ability to conduct research that addresses the concerns of their patient communities. Proposed studies must address research questions generated and approved by patient members of the networks. PCORI will fund up to eight smaller projects at $2.5 million each in total costs over three years and one study engaging multiple PPRNs at $4 million over three years.

“The demonstration projects approved by our Board provide an excellent means to both develop PCORnet’s capacities and to support comparative clinical effectiveness research that answers important questions, such as which dose of aspirin is most effective and safest and how best health systems can manage patients’ diabetes,” said Rachael Fleurence, PhD, Director of PCORI’s CER Methods and Infrastructure Program. “These demonstration studies are an important step in our efforts to transition PCORnet from its development phase into a research-ready national resource.”

PCORI is developing PCORnet to enhance the nation’s capacity to conduct much-needed health outcomes studies more quickly and efficiently, less expensively, and with greater potential impact than is now possible. PCORI invested $93.5 million in December 2013 to support the development and expansion of 29 individual health data networks that make up PCORnet. These include 11 CDRNs, based in large health systems, and 18 PPRNs, based in a range of patient groups. PCORI has offered up to $150.7 million in additional funds to support further development of PCORnet.

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About PCORI

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work.