Press Release Date: October 2, 2000
The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today announced the award of 19 exploratory grants to support one-year planning efforts by primary care Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRNs). Together, the PBRNs will be able to engage in research with over 5,000 primary care providers and almost seven million patients in a variety of primary care practice settings across the United States.
"Building collaborative networks of office-based primary care practices dedicated to research is a promising approach to the study of health care in the community," said AHRQ Director John M. Eisenberg, M.D. "This initiative creates an opportunity for clinicians and researchers to work together to improve the primary care that is delivered in the United States."
AHRQ will provide over $2 million this year to support PBRN planning activities. Each grant will support the development of a PBRN plan to enhance the network's capacity to:
- Collect and analyze primary care data.
- Study the health care of minority and underserved populations.
- Translate new research findings into practice.
After successful completion of the planning phase, the 19 PBRNs will be able to compete for AHRQ funding for primary care research in key areas, such as patient safety and reducing health care disparities.
The PBRN institutions and principal investigators receiving AHRQ planning grants are:
American Academy of Family Physicians, Leawood, KS: The AAFP National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research (National Research Network) is an emerging network that includes 110 clinicians from practices in 34 states and four Canadian provinces. Herbert F. Young, M.D., M.A. $121,388.
American Academy of Pediatrics, Elk Grove Village, IL, and the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT: Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS) is a national network that includes practitioners from 540 pediatric practices in 49 states, Puerto Rico and Canada. Richard C. Wasserman, M.D., M.P.H. $112,420.
Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX: The Baylor Practice-Based Research Network (Baylor PBRN) is an urban-based network whose purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of primary care services delivered to ethnically and socio-economically diverse populations in Houston. Robert J. Volk, Ph.D. $110,089.
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH: The Research Association of Practicing Physicians (RAPP) is a network of 116 practices in northeast Ohio which has focused its research efforts on the
structures, processes and outcomes of primary care practice. Kurt C. Stange, M.D., Ph.D. $108,578.
Children's Memorial Hospital, Chicago, IL: The Pediatric Practice Research Group (PBRN) is a 16 year old Chicago-area network which conducts studies on the primary care of children. Katherine
Christoffel, M.D., M.P.H. $108,000.
Children's Hospital Center, Cincinnati, OH: The Cincinnati Pediatric Research Group (CPRG) was established in 1996 and studies a geographically and socio-economically diverse pediatric population
served by an array of health care facilities. Michele Kiely, Ph.D. $111,000.
Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH: The Dartmouth/Northern New England Primary Care Cooperative Research Network (COOP) is the oldest primary care practice-based research network in the country, composed chiefly of independent primary care clinicians who reside in New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. John H. Wasson, M.D. $142,970.
Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN: Wishard Health Services and the primary care practices of the Indianapolis University School of Medicine have created ResNet, a research network that conducts
studies related to medical informatics and the translation of research into clinical practice. William M. Tierney, M.D. $134,008.
Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI: The Great Lakes Research Into Practice Network (GRIN) is a new, large network created through the merger of three established primary care PBRNs in the state of Michigan. Henry C. Barry, M.D. $99,404.
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA: The Southeast Regional Clinicians' Network (SERCN) is composed of health care professionals working in 142 federally-funded community health centers in eight southern states. George S. Rust, M.D., M.P.H. $89,335.
Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY: The Mount Sinai Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network (MSPBRN) will combine the resources of academic department practices with community health centers serving the East Harlem and Central Harlem areas of New York City. Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.P.H. $125,650.
University of California, San Diego, CA: The San Diego Unified Family Medicine Research Network (SURF*NET) is an emerging network that focuses its research efforts on the primary care of
underserved populations in southern California. Theodore G. Ganiats, M.D. $112,337.
University of California, San Francisco, CA: The Collaborative Research Network (CRN),
established in 1984 by the UCSF Department of Family and Community Medicine, will merge with the Community Health Network and Community Clinic Consortium of San Francisco to improve its access to a large underserved urban patient population. Mary S. Croughan-Minihane, Ph.D. $132,750.
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, CO: The Colorado Research Network (CaReNet) is focusing on health issues among underinsured and Hispanic people. Wilson D. Pace, M.D. $113,097.
University of Kansas, Wichita, KS: The Kansas Rural Practice Research Network (KRPRN) is a new collaboration of the University of Kansas School of Medicine, the Great Plains Health Alliance, the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, and the Kansas chapter of the American College of Physicians. The network will include practices located in medically underserved communities of less than 3,000 population in rural Kansas. Ken Kallail, Ph.D. $112,374.
University of Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, OK: The Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research
Network (OKPRN) is a six-year old network of family physicians affiliated with the Oklahoma Academy of Family Physicians. The network intends to establish a collaborative relationship with the Oklahoma Native American Prevention Research Center. James W. Mold, M.D., M.P.H. $92,868.
University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM: The New Mexico Practice Based Resource and
Research Network (NMPBRRN) is an emerging network consisting of clinicians in community health centers, Indian Health Service sites, tribal health care facilities, and academic primary care sites, whose major purpose is to study the problem of racial and ethnic disparities in health. The planning grant for this project is being funded, in part, by the U.S. Indian Health Service. Robert L. Williams, M.D., M.P.H. $107,827.
Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA: The Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes
Research Network (ACORN) is a developing network of primary care practices in Virginia that collects longitudinal data on the health status of primary care patients. Steven H. Woolf, M.D., M.P.H. $93,287.
Yale University School of Nursing, New Haven, CT: This network is composed of primary care Advanced Practice Nurses (APRNs) who care for underserved populations in southern New England. Margaret Grey, Ph.D., BSN. $111,919.
For more information, contact AHRQ Public Affairs (301) 427-1364.
Internet Citation:
AHRQ Supports 19 Primary Care Practice-based Research Networks. Press Release, October 2, 2000. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/press/pr2000/pbrnspr.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850