Can PCORI Make Evidence Count in US Medicine?

The Affordable Care Act established the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to promote research on the comparative effectiveness of treatment options and reduce wasteful spending by identifying low-value treatments. Three major challenges emerged during PCORI’s first decade of operation: overcoming controversy surrounding its creation and escaping early termination, shaping medical practice, and establishing relevance in the eyes of the public. Although PCORI has attained reauthorization, it has yet to make a significant impact on clinician or payer decisions. PCORI’s future success will hinge upon being its efforts being seen as an attempt to improve quality and uphold medical professionalism rather than rationing care to cut costs. Read the full article here.

(Source: Patashnik EM. Comparatively Ineffective? PCORI and the Uphill Battle to Make Evidence Count in US Medicine. J Health Polit Policy Law (2020) 45 (5): 787–800.)