This proposal responds to the second phase of the AHRQ Research Infrastructure Program (Building Research Infrastructure Capacity) initiated in 2006. The BRIC program was a 2 year capacity building project to establish health services research within institutions. The goal of this proposal is to advance our institution's capability beyond BRIC to conduct innovative research in health services through two mechanisms: refine, expand and implement our plans developed during the BRIC project and conduct three health services research projects. This proposal reflects growth in both programmatic and faculty involvement across the university. The Research Infrastructure Development Support portion of this proposal describes our progress made during the BRIC program, assesses our institutional capacity and commitment, assesses the impact of continued funding, and describes our plans for sustainability. This campus-wide faculty and administrator collaboration builds and strengthens collaborative linkages across schools, colleges, divisions and departments of the different health sciences schools and university arts and sciences departments beyond what we accomplished in the BRIC. Three major areas are programmatically integrated: development, sustainability, and research. The development plan continues the research mentee model, advances interdisciplinary research team work, advances the active mentoring program, expands research education for faculty, students, and provides research staff development. The sustainability plan includes expanding CHRP to a university-wide sustained Research Center, explores funding mechanisms, develops and implements a strategic approach for on going translation of research for wide spread use, formalizes student involvement in research and education and develops a plan for a PhD program in health services research. The research plan develops research management skills for the project directors and interdisciplinary research teams and conducts three research projects - a primary project and two pilot projects. These projects build on streams of research in health information technology (HIT) and safety. The primary project explores electronic health record use: a mixed methods study;responsive to the HIT and patient safety portfolio. The first research pilot project explores the interactions of community infrastructures, health professionals and consumers. It is a mixed methods study of how consumers receive and use health information and health data in communities. This project is responsive to the HIT, patient safety, prevention/care management and innovations and emerging issues portfolio. The second research pilot project is a comparative effectiveness pilot study of personal health records (PHRs) vs. traditional methods of tracking health information clinical outcomes in patients with diabetes. This project is responsive to the HIT, patient safety, prevention/care management and innovations and emerging issues portfolio.
Advancing health services research capacity is responsive to our nation's social priorities to improving health quality and reducing harm and injury through advancing patient safety. This project is responsive to both the infrastructure development and research priorities for health services needs and will advance both health services research capacity and health professions education in this field.
