As we all know, comparative effectiveness research is smokin’ hot right now. We are all anxious to see what PCORI funding produces in the upcoming years. In December they unveiled PCOR-net, a highly innovative, clinical data sharing network. In a recent blog post, Dr. Francis Collins (who sits on PCORI Board of Governors) stated, “This initiative will provide an unprecedented opportunity to streamline clinical trials, empower patients, and build a solid foundation for personalized medicine.” He goes on:
“PCORnet will be made up of two types of data networks: Clinical Data Research Networks (CDRNs) and Patient-Powered Research Networks (PPRNs). CDRNs include academic health centers, community hospitals, health plans, inpatient and outpatient hospitals and providers, Veterans’ Administration clinics, pediatric hospitals and providers, private electronic health record companies, and many other health care groups. Utilizing electronic medical records, all of these organizations will build patient databases and a clinical trial infrastructure that can be accessed by researchers from many different organizations (including NIH), while protecting patient privacy and confidentiality.
“As the name suggests, PPRNs are patient-oriented groups united by a certain disease or condition. The successful groups receive support from PCORnet, and are charged with outreach, expanding networks of patients, and collecting standard patient data—all of which are critical for researchers looking to recruit volunteers for a clinical trial.”
In December, PCORI distributed $93.5 million to 11 CDRNs and 18 PPRNs who will conduct pilot studies on data models over the next 18 months.
If successful, this single, overarching network has the potential to include over 100 million people across the US of all ages, ethnicities, and SES who have agreed to participate in clinical research.
Read the complete blog post here.
