The goals of the proposed research are to advance quality improvement and practice based research in Neurology using the electronic medical record (EMR). The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) has published evidence-based guidelines, quality improvement measures, and resources for several neurological disorders. However, the AAN guidelines and measures have not been implemented routinely and benchmark data are lacking. There are few EMR tools available to standardize neurology office visits according to Best Practices, to provide alerts when neurological care is deviating from AAN guidelines, to capture data regarding adherence to AAN or other quality parameters, to measure the effects of compliance with guidelines on outcomes, or to share longitudinal data and to compare effectiveness of care across neurological practices. The Department of Neurology at NorthShore University HealthSystem (NorthShore) has built into its commercial EMR Epic structured clinical documentation support (SCDS) and clinical decision support (CDS) tools that standardize care, write progress notes, and capture up to 1,000 discreet and cascading fields of neurological data per office visit. However, these EMR tools have not been disseminated for use by other Neurology practices or for data sharing, and presently do not support clinical trials. Pragmatic trials using EMRs would enable comparisons of treatments at the point of care. To address gaps in quality improvement and practice based research in Neurology, we are proposing to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) a project with the specific aims: 1) To create a Neurology Practice Based Research Network (NPBRN). The NorthShore site will share SCDS and CDS tools for 10 common neurological disorders (brain tumors, epilepsy, migraine, mild cognitive impairment, mild traumatic brain injury, multiple sclerosis, neuropathy, Parkinson's disease, restless legs syndrome, and stroke) with seven other Department of Neurology that also use the Epic EMR platform (eight sites total). 2) To conduct at NorthShore pragmatic trials using the EMR for 10 common neurological disorders. We will demonstrate the feasibility of subgroup based adaptive assignment of treatments, electronic consenting, and outcomes data capture at the point of care using the EMR. We will identify the most effective treatments for common neurological disorders and seek replication by the NPBRN.
Our aims are innovative because we will use the EMR to hardwire quality and outcomes research in Neurology. We will individualize medicine at the point of care by conducting pragmatic trials using subgroup based adaptive designs, comparing the effectiveness of available treatments for common neurological disorders.
Our aims are significant because we are studying several neurological disorders, a leading cause of healthcare burden worldwide. We will create a national practice based network to improve health care quality by accelerating implementation of patient-centered outcomes research in Neurology using the EMR, and evidence to make health care safer and to improve health care efficiency.

Public Health Relevance

The proposed project has public health significance because we are studying several neurological disorders, recognized as a leading cause of healthcare burden worldwide. We will create a national network for quality improvement and practice based patient-centered outcomes research in Neurology using the electronic medical record (EMR) to make health care safer and to improve healthcare efficiency, in keeping with the mission and priority areas of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. We will conduct pragmatic trials using the EMR and subgroup-based adaptive design tools that determine which treatments are most effective for specific patients, individualizing medicine at the point of care.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01HS024057-02
Application #
9101955
Study Section
Healthcare Information Technology Research (HITR)
Program Officer
Eldridge, Noel
Project Start
2015-07-01
Project End
2020-04-30
Budget Start
2016-05-01
Budget End
2017-04-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Northshore University Healthsystem
Department
Type
DUNS #
069490621
City
Evanston
State
IL
Country
United States
Zip Code
60201
Simon, Kelly Claire; Tideman, Samuel; Hillman, Laura et al. (2018) Design and implementation of pragmatic clinical trials using the electronic medical record and an adaptive design. JAMIA Open 1:99-106
Rasmussen, Emmaline; Fosnacht Morgan, Anne Marie; Munson, Richard et al. (2018) Use of an Electronic Medical Record to Track Adherence to the Mediterranean Diet in a US Neurology Clinical Practice. Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes 2:49-59
Narayanan, Jaishree; Dobrin, Sofia; Choi, Janet et al. (2017) Structured clinical documentation in the electronic medical record to improve quality and to support practice-based research in epilepsy. Epilepsia 58:68-76
Fosnacht, A M; Patel, S; Yucus, C et al. (2017) From Brain Disease to Brain Health: Primary Prevention of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders in a Health System Using an Electronic Medical Record-Based Approach. J Prev Alzheimers Dis 4:157-164
Biernacka, Joanna M; Chung, Sun Ju; Armasu, Sebastian M et al. (2016) Genome-wide gene-environment interaction analysis of pesticide exposure and risk of Parkinson's disease. Parkinsonism Relat Disord 32:25-30
Maraganore, Demetrius M; Frigerio, Roberta; Kazmi, Nazia et al. (2015) Quality improvement and practice-based research in neurology using the electronic medical record. Neurol Clin Pract 5:419-429