HealthCore will collaborate with PCORnet, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network, on building a sustainable patient-centered outcomes research network to conduct real-world comparative effectiveness research as part of a funding award announced from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI).
The funding will support collaboration with the ADAPTABLE Aspirin Study, the first large pragmatic clinical trial comparing the daily dosing effectiveness of aspirin used to prevent heart attacks and strokes in people living with heart disease. The funding will also support longitudinal obesity studies through the integration of clinical data with administrative data.
PCORI made the award to HealthCore, the outcomes research subsidiary of Anthem, as part of a series of studies that will engage health plans with its PCORnet to generate insight to help health care decision-makers better understand patients’ health care experiences and assess their health care outcomes.
“Collaborations across PCORnet will establish the infrastructure to begin to close the gaps in data to obtain more complete patient information,” said Kevin Haynes, HealthCore’s principle investigator for the award. “This award will establish the collaborations necessary to build a patient-centered, real-world comparative effectiveness research network and will specifically address evidence gaps in heart disease and obesity.”
While PCORnet collects electronic health data and clinical details on patients, because most electronic health records are not yet connected outside individual healthcare systems, the network may not know if patients go to another hospital ER or are admitted to an ER outside of the existing network’s EHR system. Health plans have this information in the form of claims that are submitted by providers from a variety of health systems throughout the country. By combining clinical information from EHRs and registries with claims information, researchers will have a more complete longitudinal picture of the patient’s history.
“At HealthCore, we are always looking for ways to help accelerate evidence development, and our collaborations with PCORI and other Federal agencies have allowed us to be part of evidence development that ultimately informs decisions on some of the most pressing issues facing patients and providers within our health system, “ said Mark Cziraky, vice president of research at HealthCore. “We are very excited about this most recent award from PCORI and look forward to sharing the results upon its completion.”
The PCORI funding will build upon sustainable collaborations with PCORnet’s Clinical Data Research Networks and Patient-Powered Research Networks. HealthCore will collaborate with researchers from across the country to enhance real-world evidence and improve clinical care.
HealthCore’s funding award has been approved pending completion of a business and programmatic review by PCORI staff and issuance of a formal award contract.
PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress in 2010. Its mission is to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers, and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed healthcare decisions.
