This proposal requests support from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and secondary sponsorship from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and National Institute for Mental Health (NIMH) for the 18th and 19th annual HMO Research Network (HMORN) conferences in spring 2012 and 2013. The 2012 conference will be hosted by Group Health Research Institute (GHRI), April 29 to May 2, in Seattle, Washington, and the 2013 conference will be hosted by the Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC). The HMORN is a consortium of 16 nationally and internationally recognized research centers based in integrated health care delivery systems that focus on conducting non-proprietary clinical, epidemiologic, and health services research. The annual meeting nurtures ongoing collaborative research among HMO-based researchers and provides a venue that stimulates new and innovative research initiatives. Additionally, it provides a forum for dialogue among researchers, policy makers, payers and representatives of AHRQ, CDC, NCI, NHLBI, and other NIH institutes, facilitating the translation of innovative ideas from science to healthcare. The objectives of the conference are to: 1) Communicate and disseminate state-of-the-science research findings, with a specific emphasis on translational research-focused sessions;2) Present empirical findings that define the state-of-the-science and stimulate innovation across healthcare research, delivery and policy;3) Define emerging topics and methodologies related to healthcare research and delivery;and 4) Advance comparative effectiveness and implementation research via cluster randomized clinical trials, formation of collaborative research networks, virtual data warehouses, and inclusion of diverse populations. The theme of the 2012 meeting, Learning Healthcare Systems: Leading through Research, demonstrates the HMORN commitment to reach beyond the network and our traditional collaborators to share our experiences, discuss tools and technologies, and expand opportunities for productive public-private partnerships in cutting edge healthcare research and delivery. The 2012 conference theme and corresponding agenda are closely aligned with NCI's mission to support cancer research, research training, and to support cancer research networks.
The HMO Research Network's annual meetings support the collaborative work of 16 research centers. These research centers are all based in integrated healthcare systems and conduct clinical, epidemiologic, and health services research. These health plans provide the perfect environment for research with their stable populations, electronic medical records, and ability to focus on the whole population or a single patient. The Network's mission is to use its collective capabilities to conduct research that can be easily translated into medical care.
