The National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO), in collaboration with five BRIC-eligible states, proposes to establish a Western Center for Health Services Research at NAHDO. This Center at NAHDO would extend the Intermountain Consortium for Building Research Infrastructure and Capacity (IC-BRIC) collaboration and build on the groundwork laid during Phase I of the BRIC to establish a central health services research resource for the IC-BRIC states. The Center at NAHDO would be unique in that the primary audience for its work will be state health data agencies, and the focus would be on health care systems surveillance and health care indicators development. The Phase II project will enhance the IC-BRIC collaboration and continue consortium activities through three pillars of activities: 1) sustaining the IC-BRIC partnership and implementing state and regional research projects; 2) creating the Western Center for Health Services Research at NAHDO with organizational structure and an analytic infrastructure to support preliminary studies and proposal writing; and 3) building research capacity through joint project development. In addition to consortium and Center activities, three pilot projects are proposed: 1) Utah Statewide Pharmacy Claims Data Initiative: Outpatient Medication Safety and Effective Use of Prescription Drugs; 2) Hospital Quality Indicators in Western States; and 3) Creating a Rural Framework for Health Services Research. The goals of these pilot projects will be to: 1) develop data resources and analytic tools for regional research; 2) write research papers and develop preliminary studies to incorporate into future research proposals; and 3) build capacity at the Western Center for Health Services Research at NAHDO and IC-BRIC states.
