Jefferson Health Awarded $2.4 Million in PCORI Funding

Jefferson Health has been awarded $2.4 million by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to implement evidence-based patient education and coaching programs for weight loss across Jefferson Primary Care. 

U.S. adult obesity rates have risen to over 40% in the past two decades, increasing risks of diabetes, heart disease and premature death. Led by Baligh Yehia, MD, MPP, MSHP, President of Jefferson Health, this project will implement sustainable health education programs that support patients in creating healthy lifestyles that meet their goals for well-being and longevity.

“This PCORI funding award will enable Jefferson to implement an evidence-based obesity treatment program within primary care,” says PCORI Executive Director Nakela L. Cook, MD, MPH. “This project exemplifies PCORI’s commitment to advancing the uptake of evidence into health care delivery settings to enable patients and clinicians to make informed health care decisions and improve care delivery and health outcomes. We look forward to following the project’s progress and collaborating with Jefferson to share its results.”

Jefferson Primary Care is the largest provider of primary care services in the Philadelphia region, with approximately 560,000 people in ongoing care. This includes the region’s largest network of community-based practices in low-income neighborhoods.  The project furthers Jefferson’s commitment to ensure access to comprehensive, high-quality care across all the communities, by consistently implementing models of care that support that goal. All adult patients with elevated body mass index will be offered access to the program.

“Every community that we serve deserves the best in health care,” says project co-principal investigator Anna Flattau, MD, Enterprise Chief of Primary Care at Jefferson Health and Chair of Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University.  “In collaboration with our on-the-ground providers, advisory groups, and our colleagues at the Jefferson Collaborative for Health Equity, we will ensure that this program meets the needs of Jefferson’s diverse patient population..”

Under the leadership of Amy Cunningham, PhD, Associate Professor of Family and Community Medicine, the program will roll out a curriculum that includes nutrition, physical activity, and social support. In addition to the group curriculum, each participant will receive individualized guidance and linkages to other relevant Jefferson programs.  The project incorporates numerous partners including Jefferson Medicine Group leadership, medical weight management, bariatric surgery, OBGYN and women’s health, the College of Population Health, and clinical and operational advisors from throughout the organization.

Jefferson is a participant in PCORI’s Health Systems Implementation Initiative (HSII) and was selected for funding through a PCORI funding opportunity, recruiting HSII participants to promote evidence-based practice, based on findings generated from PCORI-funded patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research (CER) study. HSII aims to reduce the estimated 17-year gap between evidence publication and clinical application. This initiative recognizes health systems’ practical experience and real-world insights are crucial for sustainable, large-scale implementation of practice-changing findings in clinical care.

Jefferson’s funding award has been approved pending completion of PCORI’s business and programmatic review and issuance of a formal award contract.

PCORI is an independent, nonprofit organization authorized by Congress with a mission to fund patient-centered comparative clinical effectiveness research that provides patients, their caregivers and clinicians with the evidence-based information they need to make better-informed health and health care decisions.  

Media Contact: Edyta Zielinska, 267-234-3553, edyta.zielinska@jefferson.edu