Deadline: 31-May-23
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) has announced the second cycle of the Implementation Awards in order to move evidence developed with PCORI-funded research toward practical use in improving health care and health outcomes.
PCORI will fund projects that aim to implement patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) results obtained from PCORI-funded research in real-world practice settings, and, in selected cases, projects that focus on the dissemination of these findings.
Funding Information
- Total Direct Costs
- Up to $2.5 million in total direct costs for Implementation Projects
- Maximum Project Period: Up to 36 months for Implementation Projects and Dissemination Projects
Proposing Implementation Projects
- PCORI seeks to fund implementation projects incorporating active strategies that will lead to uptake and integration of evidence into real-world practice among the targeted end users and settings. Responsive applications will propose projects to implement findings from PCORI-funded CER studies that tested a research hypothesis and evaluated comparative clinical effectiveness of two or more comparators.
- Proposed implementation projects should represent a logical and feasible next step for implementing clinically meaningful CER finding(s) in ways that will significantly increase the reach (i.e., the total number of individuals expected to be reached through the proposed dissemination or implementation project), generalizability (i.e., the applicability of the intervention across different groups, systems, or settings), uptake (i.e., the use and adoption among more systems, settings, or sites), and overall impact of the evidence proposed for implementation.
- Examples of appropriate implementation project activities include, among others, efforts to do the following:
- Adapt the content, format, or vehicle for delivering CER evidence to improve its penetration and use at the policy, health system, clinical practice, caregiver, and patient levels.
- Incorporate results of PCORI-funded research into decision-making settings for patients, providers, policy makers, and other stakeholders.
- Demonstrate the capacity and ability to take CER research evidence to scale, thus promoting broader uptake in diverse settings and populations.
- De-implement or reduce the use of interventions that are not evidence based, have been widely adopted prematurely, or are harmful or wasteful.
Specific Requirements
Applicants proposing implementation projects are expected to do the following:
- Describe the evidence from PCORI-funded research proposed for implementation:
- Restate the hypotheses from the original PCORI-funded research study and describe the study design and PICOTs—population, intervention, comparators, outcomes, and timeline—associated with the study. Then clearly describe the key findings you aim to implement, supported by the required tables and figures.
- Describe the strength of the results being proposed for implementation, including their clinical meaningfulness and statistical significance. Indicate whether the findings implemented in this project have been published in a peer-reviewed journal.
- Discuss how the study findings relate to the body of evidence in the existing literature. A single finding seldom warrants implementation independent from other research findings. Explain how the findings being implemented support, augment, or differ from related evidence—and how they improve on currently available information.
- Identify the decision-making context in which the research findings are relevant, beyond the study setting. The findings must be applicable and generalizable to this context.
- Demonstrate comprehensive and meaningful stakeholder engagement and buy-in:
- Describe how the relevant frontline staff, care providers, and leadership of host delivery settings informed the proposal’s development.
- Demonstrate how personnel at the implementation sites have demonstrated their interest in, as well as commitment to use, the intervention at the level of frontline staff responsible for delivering the intervention or directly supporting the project activities. Did these staff provide input on, or endorse, the activities they will undertake during the proposed project, and will they continue to provide input throughout the proposed project? How so?
- Demonstrate that the leadership—specifically, the relevant decision makers—at the healthcare systems and settings in which implementation will occur are committed to the project goals and have the organizational influence and authority to ensure immediate and long-term implementation success.
- Propose a well-justified and feasible implementation plan for improving the uptake and impact of the PCORI-funded research findings among the targeted end users and settings:
- Describe the implementation framework or conceptual model that will be used to anchor and inform the project design, outcomes, and evaluation plan. Consider including a logic pathway that shows how the proposed implementation approach is likely to lead to meaningful changes in knowledge, behavior, and practice.
- Describe the specific sites and settings where implementation will occur:
- Propose implementation sites and settings that have a demonstrated commitment to improving healthcare quality and a willingness to invest in the proposed strategy, such that they provide a supportive context and culture for undertaking the proposed project.
- Propose implementation in diverse geographical and practice settings, including, but not limited to, networks of primary care, specialty care, acute care, and communitybased care settings.
- Include a rigorous evaluation plan that focuses on an appropriate balance of measurable outcomes. Evaluation activities should start at the beginning of the project and document both of the following:
- The successful performance of implementation activities in getting the intervention into practice (i.e., reach, adoption, and fidelity)
- The impact of these activities on end users in the immediate and longer term, as feasible and appropriate within the project scope (i.e., changes in knowledge, behavior, healthcare utilization, and health outcomes)
Eligibility Criteria
- Recipients of PCORI-funded research awards, including Broad PCORI awards, Pilot Projects Program awards, Targeted PCORI awards, Pragmatic Clinical Study awards, and PCORI-funded demonstration projects occurring within PCORnet®, the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network infrastructure (e.g., ADAPTABLE and obesity trials), are eligible to respond to this PFA. Additionally:
- Applicants proposing Implementation Projects must have a draft final research report (DFRR) pertaining to the original PCORI-funded research award accepted for entry into PCORI’s peer-review process by the Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline.
For more information, visit PCORI.