DENVER, Colo. (May 22, 2012) — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today released its first primary research funding announcements to support comparative clinical effectiveness research that will give patients and those who care for them the ability to make better-informed health care decisions.

PCORI will award $120 million this year for innovative projects that effectively incorporate patients and stakeholders in research teams and address the areas of focus of PCORI’s National Priorities for Research and Research Agenda. PCORI previously announced the approval of 50 Pilot Project Program awards, totaling $30 million over two years, to researchers in 24 states and the District of Columbia.

“Today marks a major milestone in our work as we build a portfolio of patient-centered research that will provide patients and those who care for them better information about health care decisions they face,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, M.D., M.P.H. “Our funding announcements reflect PCORI’s commitment to a patient-centered research agenda, emphasizing the inclusion of patients and caregivers at all stages of the research.”

The PCORI Funding Announcements (PFAs) make clear that successful applicants must have research teams with patients, caregivers, and practicing clinicians actively engaged throughout the process, from generating research questions to conducting research and using the results to understand and address patient needs. This requirement helps ensure that the research remains true to the interests of the patient populations that will be affected by it.

Applications will be evaluated for alignment with eight PCORI review criteria that arise from PCORI’s authorizing legislation. These include: impact or burden of the condition(s) being studied; innovativeness of the research proposal and its potential to impact care practices and improve outcomes; inclusiveness of different populations; patient-centeredness of the research question, choices of outcomes, and strategies for inclusion of patients and stakeholders in the research; potential for the research to improve the efficiency of health care; use of rigorous study design and analytic methods; composition and experience of the research team; and efficient use of research resources.

“Our priorities and agenda capture the broad areas where more research is needed,” said PCORI Board Chair Eugene Washington, M.D., M.Sc. “We look forward to continuing our work with patients and stakeholders to refine and define our areas of focus to make the agenda more specific over time.”

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About PCORI

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is an independent, non-profit organization created 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 health care decisions. PCORI is committed to continuously seeking input from a broad range of stakeholders to guide its work. More information is available at www.pcori.org.

The Limits Page has been replaced by an easy-to-use Filters Sidebar. Similar to the way Limits worked, Filters will remain in effect, once selected, until they are cleared. The Filters Sidebar will not be visible until the search results are displayed, so this will require a slight change in searching habits for some. A new tutorial about Filters has been published on YouTube.

Another recent change to PubMed is the ability to click on an author name in a citation to execute a more relevant search. PubMed will search for the same author by comparing metadata for more precise results.

Your feedback on these and other changes to PubMed is welcome! Please use the “Write to the Help Desk” link at the bottom of every PubMed screen.

“Ensuring that all Americans have access to reliable broadband is a key part of the Obama Administration’s effort to help create jobs and expand economic opportunities in rural areas,” Vilsack said. “These grants not only are critical for businesses and residents, they also help first responders, educators and health care professionals by providing them with access to broadband service.”

Information on available funding and application requirements are published on page 26241 of the May 3, 2012 Federal Register. More information on Community Connect Grants, including the application guide, can be viewed from the USDA Rural Development website. Applications must be received by June 18, 2012.

A PDF of the discussion paper is available free of charge.

• Better understand health literacy as an organizational/systems problem that includes the skills of health care professionals and health care consumers
• Identify the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and systems changes currently employed, and needed to, improve health literacy at the individual and organizational level
• Identify audience-specific health literacy competencies and the curriculum content needed to address those competencies
• Write measurable health literacy learning objectives and an evaluation plan for improvement
• Outline a health literacy curriculum for use with health professional or adult learners based on sound adult learning theory and effective teaching strategies

For more information contact Sabrina Kurtz-Rossi, M.Ed., Course Director: sabrina.kurtz_rossi@tufts.edu.

Software developers can learn how to tap into free data covering drugs, medical literature, clinical trials, consumer health information, molecular biology and much more during a webinar on April 10, 2012 from 11am – 12:30pm Pacific time (noon Mountain, 10am Alaska). The free webinar is sponsored by the National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health.

NLM API Showcase will highlight the following NLM resources:

• E-utilities (providing access to PubMed/MEDLINE, genetic sequences and more)
• MedlinePlus, MedlinePlus Connect
• UMLS
• RXNorm
• ClinicalTrials.gov
• ChemSpell, DIRLINE, Pillbox
• Metamap, a medical text indexer

To learn how to attend via Adobe Connect webcast or video webcast visit http://www.nlm.nih.gov/news/api_webinar.html

This webinar will highlight how health information technology (IT) can be used in safety net provider settings to increase patient safety. Each year it is estimated that 100,000 patients die from medical errors. The presenters will showcase their use of health IT to decrease drug errors through medication reconciliation, prevent adverse drug events, and increase patient safety through care coordination across settings.

Presenters include:

• James B. Battles, Ph.D. Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality
• Senior Service Fellow for Patient Safety and Medical Errors
• Eric G. Gayle, MD F.A.A.F.P, Institute of Family Health
• Dr. Steven Chen, University Southern California Associate Professor at the USC School of Pharmacy

To register: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=24836367

“Overview of Meaningful Use Stage 2 NPRM for Safety Net Providers,” Friday March 30, 2012, 2:00 pm (ET)

In February 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed criteria for Stage 2 of the CMS Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program.

This exclusive webinar will feature lead staff from CMS who will provide an overview of the Meaningful Use Stage II Proposed Rule, released in February with comments due in April. Staff will also be available to address specific questions from safety net providers. HRSA encourages all safety net providers to participate in this call to learn more about this proposed rule.

To register: http://webcast.streamlogics.com/audience/index.asp?eventid=71352785

The webinars are sponsored by the Health Resources and Services Administration, Office of Health Information Technology and Quality.

Questions can be emailed to healthit@hrsa.gov

All HRSA Health IT and Quality Webinars can be found at http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit

NLM Information Resource Grants to Reduce Health Disparities (G08)

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) solicits resource grant applications for projects that will bring useful, usable health information to health disparity populations and the health care providers who care for those populations. Access to useful, usable, understandable health information is an important factor during health decisions. Proposed projects should exploit the capabilities of computer and information technology and health sciences libraries to bring health-related information to consumers and their health care providers. Preference will be given to applications that show strong involvement of health science libraries. Because this FOA focuses on providing health information to health disparity populations, institutions with demonstrated commitment to the needs of health disparity communities (including Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCU), Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU), Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) and other institutions in rural and socially disadvantaged areas) are encouraged to apply.

NIHSeniorHealth, the premier government website for older adults, will soon have a fresh look and enhanced features.  The redesigned site will include longer pages, more  menu choices, and a search feature – all presented in an inviting, colorful, and still easy-to-use format.  The updated look reflects input from visitors to the website as well as testing with older adults.  Watch for the new NIHSeniorHealth, launching in late March.

WISER (Wireless Information System for Emergency Responders) is a mobile application from the National Library of Medicine designed to assist first responders in hazardous material incidents.

The second release for WISER for iPhone/iPod touch is now available.  Investigate what’s new in this updated release:

WISER’s Help Identify Chemical capability is now available on the iOS platform. Identify and validate an unknown chemical based on the following criteria:

• physical properties of the substance gathered by observation or sensors
• signs and symptoms of victims of exposure
• the ability to categorize a substance, such as a substance used in a meth lab or a flammable substance
• hazard values from NFPA 704 placards
• transportation identification, including DOT placards, type of road trailer, and type of rail car

Use WISER’s protective distance mapping feature on your iPhone or iPod touch. Visualize the areas likely to be affected during the first 30 minutes after a substance is spilled or released on a live map. The Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook is the source of WISER’s protective distance data.

WISER for iPhone/iPod touch can be downloaded and installed directly from the Apple App Store.

Reviews are always appreciated.  If you’d like to let us know what you think of the latest WISER enhancements, please consider leaving a comment on the App store. You can read more about our privacy policy on Third-Party Web Sites and Applications here. 

WebWISER Update

WebWISER has been updated to include protective distance mapping.  Visualize a protective distance map directly within your web browser.

Coming Soon

Look for these exciting additions in the coming months:

• Universal iOS (iPad) support
• WISER for Android 2.0, which adds Help Identify Chemical and protective distance mapping to this popular platform