A Special Message from PCORI

Dear Colleague:

As the Executive Director at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, I know there may be some uncertainty within the research community about PCORI’s finances given that our main funding source, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Trust Fund, must be reauthorized if it is to continue beyond Sept. 30, 2019. So, I am writing today to assure you that PCORI is fully “open for business” and welcomes funding applications from your institution and its investigators.

PCORI carefully manages the funds available to us via the PCOR Trust Fund so that we will be able to fulfill our statutory mandates and commitments to both the researchers and institutions we have funded. Drawing from a trust fund rather than annual appropriations, PCORI is able to secure the full amounts required for multi-year commitments at the time of the awards. It also is unaffected by government shut-downs or other uncertainties.  

Of course, all public and private research funding sources carry some degree of uncertainty. But it is clear that the surest way that researchers and their institutions won’t secure PCORI funding is if they do not apply.

PCORI continues to develop and release new funding opportunities based on our stakeholder-guided topic prioritization process, and to seek researchers’ best ideas for studies that fulfill clearly defined patient-centered needs. And although we cannot speculate about future Congressional actions, there is growing recognition by PCORI’s stakeholders of the value of what we do, and more of them are saying so publicly, including speaking in favor of reauthorization of the PCOR Trust Fund. This support is coming from across the political spectrum and stakeholder groups across the healthcare community.

PCORI’s staff and leadership look forward to continuing to work closely with you and your institutions and will make every effort to keep you updated on new developments or on changes that may affect current or future funding opportunities.  In the meantime, I look forward to seeing your investigators submit their best ideas for patient-centered CER to PCORI.

If you wish to discuss any of this further, please feel free to contact Yen-pin Chiang, PhD, PCORI’s Chief Program Support Officer, at ychiang@pcori.org.