This application is in response to the competing continuation of the Coordinating Center for the Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs). During the first 2 years of this demonstration project, the CC has worked closely with the Project Officer, the Steering Committee (SC) Chair and the Research Centers (RCs) to establish an organization that has accomplished more than the individual RCs could have accomplished alone. This combined entity is now poised to move into a phase in which the infrastructure provided by the AHRQ finding can be leveraged to accomplish a wide variety of projects that will change our understanding of therapeutics and will improve education of providers, patients and the public about the principles underlying safe and effective use of therapeutics. The first phase of this project has been spent putting an infrastructure together, including explicit principles about functioning of the group, public private partnership and communication about the work of the group. An internal communication system has also been constructed and major alliances with government agencies are evolving. During the course of this year of funding our patient safety agenda will be finalized. Over the next 5 years we propose to enhance our infrastructure and communications systems, and to launch a major joint initiative focused on the education of health care providers. The communications system will include linkages with other organizations to reach the press and to directly inform the public about important research findings. The educational program will be focused on medical schools, pharmacy schools and nursing schools with special adaptation to reach the vast numbers of providers already in practice. Through alliances with public and private organizations, we hope to reach every community in the United States.
| Platt, Richard; Madre, Leanne; Reynolds, Robert et al. (2008) Active drug safety surveillance: a tool to improve public health. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 17:1175-82 |
