We seek category-I funding to develop a primary care practice-based research network (PBRN) at Cambridge Health Alliance with the following specific aims: 1) to study the health care needs of a diverse population of minority and low-income patients served by community health centers; 2) to develop research ideas from a cohesive, mission-driven group of practicing primary care providers and from the communities they serve; 3) to use electronic data collection to aggregate practice-derived data; 4) to develop systems to facilitate the translation of research findings into practice; 5) to implement and study rapid cycle quality improvement projects; and 6) to identify potential external sources of funding support. We will garner support for the PBRN and will solicit research and quality improvement ideas from practicing primary care providers by conducting site visits to every Cambridge Health Alliance-affiliated neighborhood health center. We will also conduct focus groups with primary care providers, and will create an e-mail list-serve to discuss research ideas as well as to disseminate new research findings. We will form a committee charged with identifying research developments that are relevant to our community health center patient population. To ensure a patient voice in the research process, we will actively involve a community advisory board. Our PBRN will involve trainees, residents, and general medicine fellows. We will also draw upon the resources of the greater Harvard medical community by creating a research advisory board comprising senior general internal medicine faculty, and will consult with well-established PBRN network directors for technical assistance. The principal investigator will receive training in how to query EPIC, the ambulatory electronic medical record, and in how to transform data into a SQL structure for SAS reporting. The principal investigator and co-network director will work with primary care providers to create templates in the electronic medical record that facilitate data aggregation for quality improvement efforts and for research.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
Type
Exploratory/Developmental Grants (R21)
Project #
1R21HS013559-01
Application #
6593510
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZHS1-HSR-W (01))
Program Officer
Lanier, David
Project Start
2002-09-30
Project End
2004-09-29
Budget Start
2002-09-30
Budget End
2003-09-29
Support Year
1
Fiscal Year
2002
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Cambridge Medical Care Foundation
Department
Type
DUNS #
623553195
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02139