A network of children's hospitals, data partners, and specialty networks led by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was recently approved for an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to develop and expand its work as part of PCORnet: the National Patient-Centered National Clinical Research Network. PEDSnet, A National Pediatric Learning Health System, was one of 28 multi-institutional and patient-powered research networks approved for a total of $93.5 million from PCORI on December 17 to form this new national resource that aims to boost the efficiency of health research.
PEDSnet combines a clinical data research network — including eight of the nation's largest children's hospital systems — with three condition-specific networks and two national data partners. Led by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, PEDSnet is also comprised of Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Children's Hospital Colorado, Nemour's Children's Health System, Nationwide Children's Hospital, St. Louis Children's Hospital, Seattle Children's Hospital, and Boston Children's Hospital. The specialty networks include the National Pediatric Cardiology Improvement Collaborative and ImproveCareNow, as well as a new childhood obesity network. The data partners are Express Scripts and the health analytics company IMS Health.
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's Christopher Forrest, M.D., Ph.D., serves as the principal investigator of PEDSnet, which is set to combine its efforts with 10 other clinical data research networks in PCORI's new PCORnet. Focused on comparative effectiveness research (CER), PCORI is "is authorized by Congress to conduct research to provide information about the best available evidence to help patients and their health care providers make more informed decisions," according to the PCORI website. Since it began funding CER in 2012, PCORI has awarded a total of $464.4 million.