Healthcare systems in the US face complex questions regarding what healthcare decisions truly improve population health. To answer such questions, we need new investigators who can conduct innovative, pragmatic research on patient-centered outcomes and on the comparative effectiveness of medical treatments. These investigators must be able to implement the findings of comparative effectiveness research (CER) and patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) in varied and complex healthcare settings. We propose to have a stakeholder-driven educational and experiential training program to prepare scientists and clinicians for conducting CER and PCOR. Our program includes a focus on community-based healthcare for American Indians and Alaska Natives, a largely underserved population. Trainees will benefit from experiential training mentored by experts in CER/PCOR at the University of Washington and also mentored by our four partners: the Urban Indian Health Institute, Southcentral Foundation of Alaska, Swedish Medical Center, and the Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho Practice and Research Network.
Our specific aims are to: 1) Collaborate with our partner organizations, revise an existing CER/PCOR curricula and develop new in-person training sessions that meet our partners' needs; 2) Develop asynchronous, online training modules that complement our in-person training; 3) Recruit and train a cadre of 24 new trainees from our partner organizations who lack or need improved CER/PCOR skills. We will also offer CER/PCOR training to participants in K and T32 programs at UW and other Seattle-based research and clinical organizations. We will help all trainees develop collaborative CER/PCOR pilot studies; 4) Develop a mentored training experience jointly with our partners; 5) Develop an advanced peer-training network that will focus on observational data, on eliciting stakeholder and patient perspectives, and on developing and using patient-centered outcomes in research and practice; and 6) Use innovative approaches, including continuous process improvement and social network analysis, to evaluate our program and strive to translate it into a sustainable effort that can be implemented in other sites across the US. Our overarching goal is to develop a partner-driven model for a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Partnership. This Partnership will also strive to develop and conduct CER/PCOR studies that will reduce health disparities. Our effort will directly affect the quality of public health and healthcare systems and develop sustainable collaborations to improve healthcare in our region.
The proposed educational program aims to develop scientists and clinicians in CER/PCOR evidence development, study design, and implementation using an innovative hybrid in-person an asynchronous on-line educational model that is driven by our community partner organizations representing community-based clinical care and health care focused on the American Indian/Alaskan Native population. We will also develop a peer-to-peer program in advanced methods focusing on the development of CER/PCOR research from observational data and the methods of eliciting patient and other stakeholder perspectives. We will use an innovative LEAN management approach and use social network analysis for evaluation of our program.
| Landsittel, Douglas P; Kessler, Larry; Schmid, Christopher H et al. (2017) Training in patient-centered outcomes research for specific researcher communities. J Clin Transl Sci 1:278-284 |
