Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago receives $1.79 million to study communication

Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago received $1.79 million over a three year period to study ways to improve the quality of communication and care coordination in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). The award is from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), an independent, non-profit organization authorized by Congress to fund research that will provide patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information needed to make better-informed health care decisions.

"Each year approximately 16,000 children die in PICUs across the country, forcing parents and clinicians to make challenging end-of-life decisions in what can be a very chaotic environment," said lead investigator Kelly Michelson, MD, attending physician in Lurie Children's PICU and associate professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. "Even parents of children who return home often face serious life-changing decisions in the PICU. These experiences are unforgettable. We need to create an environment that enables parents to make the best decisions possible for their child."

Lurie Children's is the largest PICU in the State of Illinois supporting advanced therapies such as extracorporeal life support and innovative ventilator strategies. Last year Lurie Children's PICU experienced more than 1600 admissions, 6180 ventilator days and an average length of stay of 7.6 days.

"PCORI funded this project on its scientific merit and its potential to fill an important gap on enabling patient-families to make a more fully informed decision about their child's care," said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. "The project reflects PCORI's commitment to support patient-centered comparative effectiveness research, a new approach to health research that emphasizes the inclusion of patients and caregivers at all stages of the study process."

Lurie Children's PICU study is one of 71 projects totaling more than $114 million approved for funding by PCORI's Board of Governors. The awards were a mix of projects that included the first made to studies specifically targeting improvement of research methods. All were selected through a highly competitive review process in which scientists, patients, caregivers, and other stakeholders helped to evaluate more than 570 proposals that responded to five PCORI funding announcements.

Proposals were evaluated on the basis of scientific merit, how well they engage patients and other stakeholders, their methodological rigor, and how well they fit within PCORI's national research priorities. Through previous funding cycles, including a round of pilot projects, and other initiatives, PCORI has committed a total of $304 million since 2012 to support patient-centered comparative effectiveness research.

Provided by Children's Memorial Hospital