NIH Funds New Research Projects in Health Care Settings

The National Institutes of Health yesterday awarded grants to five new projects through its Health Care Systems Research Collaboratory, which conducts clinical trials in the health care settings where patients normally receive their care. The new projects will assess the impact of a primary palliative care intervention on emergency department visits for older adults with serious life-limiting conditions; electronic health record tool to help ED physicians initiate and refer treatment for patients with opioid use disorder; parental guidance and education program to help adolescents in pediatric primary care make good choices; text messaging and chat bots to improve medication adherence and clinical outcomes in patients with chronic cardiovascular conditions; and advance care planning program for older patients with advanced cancer. “The collaboratory program pioneered efforts at NIH to conduct large-scale clinical trials within health care systems, and we are excited about expanding this initiative,” said David Shurtleff, acting director of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, which administers the program with the National Institute on Aging.