It is a government-sponsored organization charged with funding Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) that assists consumers, clinicians, purchasers, and policymakers to make informed decisions intended to improve health care at both the individual and population levels, according to the Institute of Medicine.

[2] PCORI is funded through the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund (PCORTF), which was authorized by the United States Congress as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010[3] and reauthorized through the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020.

[4] Its annual income comes from the general fund of the U.S. Treasury and a small fee assessed on Medicare, private health insurance, and self-insured plans.

The act mandates a $2 fee, adjusted for inflation, for each person covered on a group plan.

The institute's executive director is Nakela Cook,[14] and Russell M. Howerton is the head of the Board of Governors[15] Funding from PCORI enabled the development of PCORnet, a collaboration of several networks that support research using health data collected in the course of care through electronic health records, claims, and from patients.