PCORI Launches Healthcare Innovation Collaborative with 42 Health Systems

The Health Systems Implementation Initiative features a wide range of healthcare organizations that will be adopting comparative clinical research strategies supported by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

More than 40 health systems have joined a new program aimed at adopting innovative practices and technologies to improve clinical outcomes.

The organizations have joined the Health Systems Implementation Initiative (HSII), a $50 million effort being shepherded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The HSII aims to advance the adoption of comparative clinical effectiveness research results that PCORI has supported over the years.

“Comparative clinical effectiveness research produces actionable information that helps people make informed healthcare choices and improve their outcomes, but even the best evidence only works if clinicians and health systems are aware of it and can use it,” PCORI Executive Director Nakela Cook, MD, MPH, said in a March 2 press release. “Leveraging health systems’ on-the-ground knowledge and experience in care delivery will enhance PCORI’s efforts to implement practice-changing findings in clinical care and accelerate sustainable and scalable efforts to support lasting changes.”

The 42 health systems joining HSII, representing 800 hospitals serving 79 million patients, will also be candidates for funding awards from PCORI to advance capacity-building programs. Each participating health system can earn up to $500,000, with awards being announced this summer. Future funding announcements for health systems that launch programs supported by PCORI research could range from $500,000 to $5 million.

Officials said the participating health systems will not only be part of a collaborative network sharing best practices, metrics and other resources, but will also help PCORI develop new topics for future research.

“HSII provides a unique opportunity for participant health systems with a wide range of capacities and patient populations to adopt evidence-based, care-transforming approaches,” Harv Feldman, MD, MSCE, PCORI’s deputy executive director for patient-centered research programs, said in the press release. “The vital financial and peer support provided through HSII will not only facilitate the uptake of useful evidence that can improve patient outcomes, but also lay the groundwork for future, nationwide scale-up of successful implementation approaches.”

Health systems joining the HSII are:

• Ascension Health
• Atrium Health
• Children's Healthcare of Atlanta
• Cincinnati Hospital Children's Medical Center
• Cleveland Clinic
• CommonSpirit Health
• Corewell Health
• Duke University Health System
• Geisinger Clinic
• Harris Health System
• HonorHealth
• Inova Health Care Services
• Intermountain Health
• Iowa City VA Medical Center
• Jefferson Health
• Kaiser Permanente Southern California
• MedStar Health
• Mercy Health
• Montefiore Health System
• OSF Healthcare System
• Phoenix Children's Hospital
• Saint Luke's Health System
• San Francisco Health Network
• Stanford Medicine
• Temple University Health System
• The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
• The Nebraska Medical Center
• The Queen's Medical Center
• The University of Chicago Medicine
• The University of Missouri Health Care System
• The University of Wisconsin-Madison Health
• University Hospitals Health System
• University of California San Francisco Health
• University of Florida Health System
• UPMC
• Valleywise Health
• Vanderbilt University Medical Center
• WellSpan Health.