PCORI Board Approves $54 Million to Support Comparative Effectiveness Research

From EurekAlert!:

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors today approved $54 million to fund 12 new studies comparing how well different treatments work in improving care for a range of conditions that impose high burdens on patients, caregivers and the healthcare system.

“These newest studies will help to answer important individual and system-level treatment questions that matter to patients and those who care for them,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “These studies can help to fill major evidence gaps in our knowledge about these conditions and have the potential to change practice and improve patient care and outcomes.”

The newly approved awards include:

$11.2 million for a University of Pennsylvania study of four different smoking cessation strategies to help underserved patients who undergo lung cancer screenings. One method is the standard approach, which provides referrals to resources such as smoking cessation classes. Another combines this approach with free access to nicotine replacement therapy. The third approach includes all those resources plus an app that reminds patients of the future health and financial benefits of quitting, and the fourth combines all the resources of the third method and a financial incentive for successfully quitting.