We employ two approaches to identifying research questions to study. We issue broad calls for research proposals based on investigators’ best ideas in our priority areas. We also issue targeted funding announcements to address questions selected through our topic generation and research prioritization process. Much of this targeted research is conducted as pragmatic clinical studies, which usually are larger-scale, set in real-life care situations, and include more diverse patient groups than traditional trials. Our National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda is the roadmap guiding all of our work.

We primarily fund comparative clinical effectiveness research, or CER, studies that compare the benefits and harms of two or more approaches to health care. The particular type of CER we support, patient-centered outcomes research, or PCOR, focuses on outcomes that patients tell us are important. Our awardees use various models of research in carrying out their studies.

Another crucial part of our work is developing and improving methods of patient-centered CER. As part of that effort, PCORI’s Methodology Committee has developed a set of standards for all of the research we fund. These standards represent baseline practices in planning, design, and conducting studies, ensuring patient-centeredness, and engaging patients throughout the research process.

We encourage collaboration with other research funders as a way to influence others to support patient-centered outcomes studies. Collaboration also can leverage expertise across the research community to maximize the impact of PCORI investments.

As proponents of evidence-based practice, we’re eager to learn what works best to ensure that the research we fund produces useful information that leads to improved health outcomes. Learn how we are monitoring our progress toward our goals. Through our evaluation activities, we also discover how we can improve our work and assess the impact of our patient-centered approach.