Baylor Scott & White Health Institute and Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation researchers are participating with five other facilities in a nationwide, $12.7 million study to improve post-acute care for patients suffering traumatic brain injury. The project is funded by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, a nonprofit organization established by Congress that dedicates its research to enabling patients and clinicians to make better-informed healthcare decisions.
The traumatic brain injury study was selected through PCORI’s review process in which patients, caregivers, and stakeholders joined scientists to evaluate proposals. The $12.7 million award was given to fund the study over five years and will be led by University of Washington professors Dr. Jeanne Hoffman and Dr. Jesse Fan. According to Baylor Scott & White Health, 900 patients diagnosed with moderate to severe TBI at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, the University of Washington, Indiana University, The Ohio State University, Mount Sinai in New York, and Moss Rehabilitation in Philadelphia will be used for the study.
Patients will be randomly selected and put into two groups for data collection. One group will have standardized discharge care including advice and referral sources, while the other group will have standardized discharge care including a care manager to assess for unmet needs and provide telemedicine care for six months afterward. Baylor Scott & White Health and the other teams will “compare [the patient’s] functioning and quality of life at three, six, nine, and 12 months in these two groups.”
Dr. Simon Driver, director of rehabilitation research and the Ginger Murchison chair for traumatic brain injury research at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation, says the current poor outcomes after a TBI are caused in part by the challenges of transition from in-patient rehabilitation to out-patient care. “We look forward to working … on this important research initiative which we believe will significantly benefit our patients and families,” Driver said in a statement.
