The North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) is proposing to convene a day-long preconference and five 1.5 hour workshops embedded in its December 2012 annual meeting. The purpose will be to further the mission of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality by preparing primary care researchers to study ongoing advancements in primary care practice improvement and nurturing the emerging science of practice redesign in order to improve healthcare delivery. The objectives are to: 1. Directly expose approximately 125 primary care researchers to the evidence-based models, methods, and measurement tools required to conduct evaluation of practice transformation; 2. Connect primary care researchers with researchers from other disciplines to broaden their perspective on practice improvement research;and 3. Facilitate interdisciplinary research and sharing of best practices. With the increasing globalization of health and health care, it is imperative that we collaboratively design solutions that enhance the quality of health care and streamline delivery systems. At the preconference, NAPCRG will engage experts from other disciplines, such as economics and systems engineering, to broaden our conceptual model for evaluating practice redesign. In the embedded workshops in NAPCRG's annual meeting, participants will explore: Emergence of innovation in primary care: blending practical wisdom from practice with analytic theory;Embedding measurement in everyday practice: reducing the burdens of measurement while capturing critical information, focusing on what and how to measure;Capturing, characterizing, and categorizing innovations in practice/system redesign: making innovations accessible;Analyzing a moving target: methods applicable to the emerging science of primary care systems redesign;and Spreading innovations in primary care systems redesign: moving from theory to practical methods. NAPCRG will publish proceedings and encourage publication of conference papers as well as develop a web portal for proceedings, papers, and video from the conference as well as resources and an interactive platform to continue the discussions launched at the annual meeting.
Through a better understanding of practice improvement, primary care researchers and clinicians can fulfill their goals of maximizing patient safety, healt care quality, access to health care, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare delivery, and, ultimately, the well-being of the population. The North American Primary Care Research Group will support the efforts of researchers and practices by laying out a logical model for evaluating and studying practice redesign through a series of learning modules to be convened in conjunction with its annual meeting in December 2012. Enhancing research efforts will facilitate and inform practice improvement.
