1. PCORI Board Approves $54.8 Million in Funding for Patient-Centered Comparative Effectiveness Research Projects, click here to view the press release.
2. PCORnet: In the News: Large Data Networks Important for Public Health and Research Needs, click here to view the post.
3. AJMC: First, Do No Harm: AJMC Commentary Calls for New Framework for Comparative Effectiveness Research, click here to view the release.
4. Morning Consult: PCORI's Efforts Could Leave Obamacare Boosters Stressed Out, click here to view the article.
5. HemOnc Today: Experts: Big Data Need Big Direction, click here to view the article.
According to a press release last week, “the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $54.8 million in funding to support 33 new patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) projects that will study health conditions and concerns that affect millions of Americans… the approved proposals include studies of ways to improve outcomes for people experiencing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic pain, mental health conditions, nervous system disorders, kidney disease, multiple chronic conditions, and cancer...With this latest round of awards, PCORI has approved nearly $549 million in support of a total of 313 research projects and initiatives since it began funding research in 2012. PCORI expects to award roughly $1 billion in research support over the two-year period from 2014 through 2015.” Click here to view the press release.
2. PCORnet: In the News: Large Data Networks Important for Public Health and Research Needs
On the PCORnet website, administrators commented on the current landscape of health care data acquisition and its use in clinical trials. “Electronic health data captured during clinical care and generated for reimbursement can provide evidence on effectiveness and outcomes, and can support public health surveillance.[…] PCORnet will support high-quality, observational, comparative effectiveness research and clinical trials that are embedded in clinical care settings.” Click here to view the post.
3. AJMC: First, Do No Harm: AJMC Commentary Calls for New Framework for Comparative Effectiveness Research
The American Journal of Managed Care released a press statement last week about their call for changes to CER. “Jennifer S. Graff, PharmD and her co-authors call for a new framework for comparative effectiveness research, or CER, which evaluates which treatments work for which patients under which circumstances. Graff, who is director of CER for the National Pharmaceutical Council, seeks a framework that offers a balance between population-based approaches and individualized decision-making…. The framework calls for offering the greatest flexibility when failure to do so could cause irreversible harm to the patient, and the authors include examples. In some therapeutic areas, such as certain allergies, a patient who is asked to use a less expensive drug before switching might suffer itchy eyes or a runny nose, but these symptoms are not life-threatening. In treating schizophrenia or severe depression, however, patients who only respond to a specific drug and are denied access could suffer serious consequences, such as a relapse or suicide attempt.” Click here to view the release.
4. Morning Consult: PCORI's Efforts Could Leave Obamacare Boosters Stressed Out
In an article published last week for the Morning Consult, former FDA official Scott Gottlieb comments, “The architects of Obamacare promised studies that would yield definitive answers to nagging clinical questions where doctors have a hard time selecting between competing treatment options. But these clinical questions persist precisely because studies to rigorously compare active treatments aren't cheap, or easy. They need to be very large and long to discern what are usually small differences in outcomes. Then there's the question of whether the answers have any clinical relevance.” Click here to view the article.
5. HemOnc Today: Experts: Big Data Need Big Direction
Shirley Pulawski of HemOnc Today reviewed a recent report by Duke and linked to PCORI. “Researchers at Duke University and Duke Clinical Research Institute conclude that patient-reported data can enhance comparative effective research and provide better outcomes for patients if the data are aggregated and available...[Amy Abernethy, MD, PhD is] optimistic about the future integration of patient-reported data into the larger system of health care reporting. She said she is involved with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), which has funded PCORnet.” Click here to view the article.