On Contracts: An Update on Our Funding Cycles, Resubmission Policy, Review Process, and More

As PCORI’s Board of Governors prepares to consider approving funding for our latest set of research proposals on December 17, we thought we’d remind you of some of the ways we’ve been updating and improving our funding and contracts management processes in recent months. We based many of these changes on your feedback; we hope you find them as helpful as we mean for them to be. 

New Funding Cycles

To accommodate our steadily growing portfolio of patient-centered outcomes research, we are moving from three rounds of funding per year to four, corresponding to the four seasons. We made this switch a few weeks back, announcing that our December 2013 funding cycle had been renamed Winter 2014 and moving the application deadline from December 16, 2013, to January 21, 2014. We’ll soon be announcing specific deadlines for both Letters of Intent (LOIs) and applications for the rest of our 2014 cycles. In addition, as part of our ongoing effort to improve the way we manage our funding process, we’re adjusting when we’ll accept applications in response to our five standing broad PCORI Funding Announcements (PFAs) and the growing number of targeted PFAs we’ll be issuing.

Starting in Spring 2014, we’ll be accepting applications under the broad PFAs only twice a year, during our Spring and Fall cycles (applications due May and November). We’ll issue and accept applications for targeted PFAs primarily in our Winter and Summer cycles.

We’ve also updated our policy to eliminate restrictions on when or how often an application can be resubmitted. Just as PCORI considers itself a learning organization, we very much want to help applicants submit their best work for us to consider funding—even if it takes more than one try. To support that process, we strongly encourage applicants, when making a determination whether an application should be resubmitted, to consider the reviewer critiques we provide. That approach seems to be working; during the last funding cycle, resubmitted applications made up almost half of the total number of awards funded; 29 percent of the resubmitted applications were funded, compared to an overall 13 percent success rate.

In addition, as part of our new funding calendar, we’re decreasing the time between when applications are due and when they are reviewed. Beginning with our Spring 2014 cycle, merit reviews will take place approximately 90 days after the application deadline.

Updated Application Processes

As we’ve gained experience and solicited feedback from researchers and others across the healthcare community, we’ve made a series of adjustments to our application processes, all designed to improve the efficiency of the application process. These include:

• Developing separate guidelines for the PFAs for Improving Methods for Conducting Patient-Centered Outcomes Research;
• Streamlining instructions and adding a comprehensive application checklist;
• Revising application templates in response to applicant survey feedback;
• Expanding definitions of allowable costs and greater clarity on how to apply institutional indirect costs;
• Altering budget requirements for our broad PFAs (from a per annum cap to an overall project-period cap) to provide greater flexibility in planning for the study’s financial needs;
• Creating user manuals for submitting both LOIs and full applications through the PCORI Online Application system;
• Condensing merit review criteria (five instead of eight), making them clearer and simplifying our submission and review process;
• Providing a series of sample engagement plans to help applicants meet this unique PCORI proposal requirement; and
• Informing applicants in advance of the Board of Governors vote that their proposals are being recommended for funding.

More Help for Those Who Need It

We’ve also taken to heart the feedback we received from applicants seeking more support as they try to determine the most appropriate PFA under which to submit a proposal or technical support as they finalize their applications.

We’ve now set up a process through which applicants can arrange a call with a Program Officer to discuss their research and seek guidance on which of our funding announcements might be the best fit for their proposal. Calls can be scheduled online or by phoning (202) 627-1884. Given the volume of requests, we encourage applicants to schedule a call well in advance of application submission deadlines. We’ve also expanded our help-desk services to include telephone support; applicants can call (202) 627-1885 beginning one week before the application due date to speak to a PCORI staffer about issues related to application submission or administrative issues.

As we noted earlier, many of these improvements in our funding procedures are based on input we’ve received from applicants, potential applicants, and other stakeholders across the healthcare community. We make it a point to regularly survey these and other audiences interested in our work so that we can continue to do a better job over time. So please let us know what you think about these latest changes and feel free to suggest additional ways that we can advance our mission to build a robust portfolio of comparative effectiveness research that answers questions most important to patients.