PCORI Grants $23M to Support Telehealth Effectiveness Studies

The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Board of Governors has approved $49.5 million in research awards, $23.5 million of which will go toward supporting three research studies that focus on mHealth and telehealth effectiveness.

The studies’ goals include understanding telehealth’s impact on treatment for pain relief, smoking cessation, and mental health.

“With the explosion of telehealth, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, studies assessing how well telehealth strategies work in different contexts are highly relevant for many Americans, and we look forward to the insights gleaned from these studies as well as all the other newly approved research projects,” Nakela Cook, MD, executive director of PCORI, stated in the press release.

The first study receiving funding will focus on mHealth technology and its effectiveness in smoking cessation.

One study pool will use an mHealth tool called iCanQuit which leverages cognitive behavioral therapy to help individuals quit smoking. Another group of individuals will use the mHealth resource in combination with another technology tool, Motiv8, which offers automatic financial rewards if individuals show proof of smoking cessation.

Researchers will compare the outcomes of the mHealth groups with the outcomes of individuals who access telephone counseling for smoking cessation through quitlines.

The study aims to understand if mHealth approaches see more success than traditional quitlines and if a combination of mHealth tools helps patients better reach their goal. The study will also seek to inform healthcare payers about the value of mHealth technologies.

Another study that will benefit from the PCORI funds will focus on chronic pain relief. Researchers will compare the results from a single two-hour online class to results from the usual eight sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy delivered online as well.

Individuals may struggle to attend the series of classes due to time constraints. If the two-hour online class—called Empowered Relief—yields successful results, it could significantly boost access to pain relief treatment, researchers said.

By monitoring patient satisfaction, pain outcomes, and post-treatment effects and behaviors, the study seeks to understand if the less time-consuming online option can help patients manage their chronic pain.

The last telehealth study that will receive funding focuses on treating depression through remote yoga classes.

Depression is commonly treated with psychotherapies or medications, but some individuals do not respond to this type of treatment, or they do not prefer it.

Researchers plan to compare results between patients with depression symptoms who attend remote real-time yoga programs to patients who receive behavioral activation therapy via videoconferencing or a telephone call.

The results may help the researchers and payers understand the benefits of using yoga to treat depression.

The PCORI funding will also benefit a handful of other studies which focus on a range of topics including post-surgery pain relief, maternal and racial health disparities, and youths with intellectual and developmental difficulties.

Additionally, the PCORI Board of Governors approved a three-year, $1.8 billion funding commitment plan.

“This plan includes $1.5 billion for research studies, $180 million for dissemination and implementation projects, and $160 million for projects related to infrastructure and accelerating patient-centered outcomes research,” the press release stated.

The plan also includes two funding opportunities in 2022 to support studies that center on preventing and treating alcohol use among youths and research that will help prevent, detect, and treat delirium in older adults.

This is not the first time PCORI has supported telehealth use research. In August 2020, the institute issued more than $22 million in grants to seven projects that would analyze how telehealth was used during the coronavirus pandemic.