In 2002, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) awarded developmental grants of more than $3 million to 36 primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs). This round of developmental grants was awarded by AHRQ through its Center for Primary Care Research.
PBRNs are groups of primary care practices working with academic researchers to answer community-based health care questions and to translate research findings into practice. For more information, go to the PBRN Fact Sheet.
Institution: Ambulatory Pediatric Association
Location: McLean, VA 22101
Project No.: HS013582-01
Principal Investigator: Janet Serwint, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Continuity Research Network (CORNET) is a newly developed national network composed of pediatric practices. During the period of funding, it will assess the health status and quality of care delivered to children belonging to minority and underserved populations, including an examination of health care disparities.
Institution: American Academy of Family Physicians
Location: Leawood, KS 66211
Project No.: HS13554-01
Principal Investigator: John M. Hickner, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $149,811
Total Estimated Funding: $299,134
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This national network of family practices will use infrastructure funds to increase its representation of minority and underserved patient populations and to develop a Web-based survey system for collecting study data. In addition, the network will describe and investigate causes and consequences of laboratory test processing errors in family practice offices.
Institution: American Academy of Pediatrics
Location: Elk Grove Village, IL 60007
Project No.: HS013512-01
Principal Investigator: Eric Slora, Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $149,997
Total Estimated Funding: $299,996
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: Pediatric Research in Office Settings (PROS), a national network of over 500 pediatric practices, will use infrastructure funds to develop a Web-based information system for posting confidential practice-specific feedback reports and to enhance minority representation in patient populations served by PROS pediatricians. The network will also test two different methods of translating into practice research on optimizing rates of pediatric immunizations.
Institution: American College of Physicians (ACP-ASIM)
Location: Philadelphia, PA 19106
Project No.: HS013508-01
Principal Investigator: Steven Lascher, D.V.M., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $149,800
Total Estimated Funding: $299,696
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: QNet, a new national network for internal medicine, will use funds to double its clinician membership and to develop a network communications infrastructure. In addition, the network will conduct a pilot study to evaluate the impact of the use of diabetes performance measures on the quality of care received by diabetic patients.
Institution: Baylor College of Medicine
Location: Houston, TX 77030
Project No.: HS013524-01
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey Steinbauer, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $100,000
Total Estimated Funding: $199,998
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: Southern Primary Care Urban Research Network (SPUR-Net), a network of family practices located in Houston, will conduct a pilot study to determine if the use of a programmed lipid management reminder system within practices having an electronic medical record increases clinician compliance with national lipid management guidelines.
Institution: Cambridge Medical Care Foundation
Location: Cambridge, MA 02139
Project No.: HS013559-01
Principal Investigator: Karen Lasser, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This network is composed of neighborhood health centers that serve a multi-cultural, low-income, medically underserved patient population. Taking advantage of an Ambulatory electronic medical record system used in the practices, the network will enhance methods for electronic collection and aggregation of practice-derived data and implement and evaluate rapid-cycle quality improvement projects.
Institution: Case Western Reserve University
Location: Cleveland, OH 44106
Project No.: HS013515-01
Principal Investigator: Amy Heneghan, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $98,296
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This pediatric network, composed of practices affiliated with Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital, is funded to improve information technology for collecting/aggregating data and to develop methods for assuring that network research is translated into practice and improves patient outcomes.
Institution: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Location: Philadelphia, PA 19104
Project No.: HS013492-01
Principal Investigator: Louis Bell, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,999
Total Estimated Funding: $99,998
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The CHOP (Children's Hospital of Philadelphia) PBRN is a new network that will develop an information system linking its pediatric practices and will create a project committee to assess potential research questions aimed at improving the delivery of primary care to children and families.
Institution: Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh
Location: Pittsburgh, PA 15213
Project No.: HS013523-01
Principal Investigator: Ellen Wald, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $150,000
Total Estimated Funding: $300,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This new network of community and university-based pediatricians (Pediatric Pitnet) will further develop its network infrastructure and will also conduct a pilot project to study methods of increasing clinician adherence to recommendations for the prevention of unintentional injuries, the most common cause of death and disability in young children.
Institution: Cincinnati Children's Hospital
Location: Cincinnati, OH 45229
Project No.: HS013506-01
Principal Investigator: Thomas DeWitt, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This regional network of pediatric providers will develop a system to allow electronic solicitation of data using handheld devices and wireless communications. Since the system will allow real time transmission of clinical impressions and symptoms, one of its intended uses is bioterrorism surveillance.
Institution: Community Health Center Network
Location: Oakland, CA
Project No.: HS013543-01
Principal Investigator: Neil Maizlish, Ph.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $50,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/03
Summary: This network is composed of seven well-established community health centers in Alameda County, California, which are safety-net providers for over 60,000 uninsured and Medicaid managed care patients, largely low-income Latinos, Asians, and African-Americans. Funds will be used to develop a system for integrating computerized clinical data from various sources to create disease registries.
Institution: Connecticut Primary Care Association
Location: Hartford, CT 06114
Project No.: HS013568-01
Principal Investigator: Jennifer Granger, M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $49,416
Total Estimated Funding: $49,416
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/03
Summary: This network, composed of nine community-based health care centers throughout New England, will establish methods for soliciting research/clinical improvement suggestions from network clinicians and will develop an information technology system to be shared among practices.
Institution: Crozer-Chester Medical Center
Location: Springfield, Pennsylvania 19064
Project No.: HS013571-01
Principal Investigator: Paul Woolf, M.D., M.B.A.
First Year of Funding: $149,060
Total Estimated Funding: $297,800
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This new network, composed of 36 affiliated internal medicine practices, will modify an existing electronic data collection system so that it can serve the network's research needs and will expand its research activities into affiliated community practices serving predominately minority and disadvantaged patient populations. In addition, the network will test the effectiveness of using a multiple integrated system that involves both physicians and adult patients in order to improve the use of clinical preventive guidelines for cardiovascular risks.
Institution: Duke University
Location: Durham, NC 27710
Project No.: HS013511-01
Principal Investigator: Rowena Dolor, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $147,637
Total Estimated Funding: $293,408
Project Period: 9/29/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Duke Primary Care Research Consortium (PCRC) is composed primarily of general internal medicine practices serving the Piedmont area of North Carolina. The network will explore methods for data collection and communication among clinicians, including the testing of handheld devices. In addition, the network will test tailored interventions aimed at increasing the rates of influenza immunization in asthma patients followed in primary care practices.
Institution: Georgetown University
Location: Washington, D.C. 20007
Project No.: HS013491-01
Principal Investigator: David Meyers, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,642
Total Estimated Funding: $94,651
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Capital Area Primary Care Research Network (CAPRICORN) is a metropolitan-based network of family physicians whose research focuses on problems specific to a diverse urban population and to the elimination of health disparities. The network will create a community advisory board to provide feedback/advice on the ethical and cultural appropriateness of its research, complete a network characterization project, and explore the use of new information technology in network practices.
Institution: Louisiana State University
Location: Baton Rouge, LA 70806
Project No.: HS013562-01
Principal Investigator: Robert Pace, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $47,777
Total Estimated Funding: $96,875
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This is a new network created from pediatric practices that have worked together to study the health and development of vulnerable children who previously received care in the Louisiana State University neonatal intensive care unit. The network will use infrastructure funding to standardize methods of information management and develop a common database adequate to support research.
Institution: Medical College of Georgia
Location: Augusta, GA 30912
Project No.: HS013513-01
Principal Investigator: Peggy Wagner, Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,628
Total Estimated Funding: $98,577
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Southern Primary Care Research Network (SPCRN) serves a largely poor and rural patient population that includes a substantial proportion of African-Americans. The network will use infrastructure funding to expand a Web-based communications system and create a point-of-care data collection system using PDA technology.
Institution: Oregon Health & Science University
Location: Portland, OR 97201
Project No.: HS013484-01
Principal Investigator: Lyle Fagnan, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,810
Total Estimated Funding: $49,810
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/03
Summary: The Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network (ORPRN) is a new network composed of family practices in rural Oregon communities. The network will work with the Rural Health Institute to assess health care needs and methods of improving access to clinical services for residents of rural areas. In addition, it will explore the establishment of vital telecommunication connections for network practices.
Institution: Scott and White Memorial Hospital
Location: Temple, TX 76508
Project No.: HS013589-01
Principal Investigator: Samuel Forjuoh, M.B., Ch.B., Dr.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $49,920
Total Estimated Funding: $99,840
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Central Texas Primary Care Research Network (CenTexNet) is a new network composed of family practices serving mostly uninsured, homeless or indigent populations in central Texas. The network will develop methods of electronic collection and aggregation of practice-derived data from network practices.
Institution: University of Alabama
Location: Birmingham, AL 35205
Project No.: HS013529-01
Principal Investigator: T. Michael Harrington, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $149,999
Total Estimated Funding: $299,638
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This new network, composed mostly of family practices in medically underserved rural areas in Alabama, will use infrastructure funds to enhance the capacity of its clinicians to translate research findings into practice using personal digital assistants (PDAs). It will also conduct translational studies on the use of PDA-managed protocols to promote smoking cessation and the reduction of morbidity/mortality related to obesity in primary care settings.
Institution: University of Arkansas
Location: Little Rock, AR 72205
Project No.: HS013580-01
Principal Investigator: Geoffrey Goldsmith, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $49,451
Total Estimated Funding: $99,450
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This new statewide family medicine network in Arkansas is organized to study the care provided to the large rural population of the state. During the funding period, the network will develop an information management system to use in assessing and improving the quality of care and disseminating research findings statewide.
Institution: University of California
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Project No.: HS013572-01
Principal Investigator: Robert Oye, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,997
Total Estimated Funding: $99,994
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This emerging network is composed primarily of general internists serving a racially and ethnically diverse patient population, half of whom are in managed care plans. During the period of funding, the network will enhance its information system, which will be used to collect self-reported race/ethnicity data from patients and relevant clinical questions from clinicians.
Institution: University of California
Location: San Francisco, CA 94143
Project No.: HS013544-01
Principal Investigator: Mary Croughan, Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $100,000
Total Estimated Funding: $199,999
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This well-established network of family practices will conduct a study entitled IDEALL (Improving Diabetes Efforts Across Literacy and Language) to test two forms of disease management aimed at overcoming communication barriers and promoting self-management in diabetic patients with low language and literacy levels.
Institution: University of Colorado
Location: Denver, CO 80045
Project No.: HS013485-01
Principal Investigator: Deborah Main, Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $99,952
Total Estimated Funding: $199,943
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Colorado Research Network (CaReNet), a group of family practices that provide care for diverse, underserved patient populations, will investigate factors that affect how well primary care practices adapt to and manage changes involved in translating research findings into practice.
Institution: University of Iowa
Location: Iowa City, IA 52242
Project No.: HS0013581-01
Principal Investigator: Paul James, M.D.
First Year of Funding: $148,681
Total Estimated Funding: $297,456
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Iowa Research Network (IRENE) is a new PBRN affiliated with the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians which has been formed to study and improve practices relevant to rural primary care. The network will develop and test methods of collecting and disseminating research data. In addition, investigators will conduct a project aimed at assessing patient and physician factors that prevent adequate glycemic control of diabetics in rural settings.
Institution: University of Kentucky
Location: Lexington, KY 40536
Project No.: HS013487-01
Principal Investigator: Kevin Pearce, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $49,988
Total Estimated Funding: $99,903
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/03
Summary: The Kentucky Ambulatory Network (KAN) is composed of family practices in Kentucky, most of which are small and widely dispersed in rural communities. The network will assess the current computerized information capabilities and needs of its current members and construct a realistic plan for building a network-wide computerized data and communications system.
Institution: University of Minnesota
Location: Minneapolis, MN 55455
Project No.: HS013558-01
Principal Investigator: Kevin Peterson, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $149,055
Total Estimated Funding: $298,300
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This well-established regional PBRN with over 200 family physician members will evaluate the demographics of network clinicians, their practice settings and patient populations and develop a secure Web site for communications and research data entry. In addition, the network will conduct a pilot project examining strategies for assuring that recommendations concerning colon cancer screening and diabetes care are translated into practice.
Institution: University of New Mexico
Location: Albuquerque, NM 87131
Project No.: HS013496-01
Principal Investigator: Robert Williams, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $148,811
Total Estimated Funding: $293,414
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Research Involving Outpatient Settings Network (RIOS Net) is composed of clinicians in Indian Health, community health centers, and university-supported practices dedicated to addressing the health problems of culturally diverse, medically underserved and low-income communities throughout the state of New Mexico. The network will further develop an electronic system for data collection and feedback and will also conduct a pilot project to learn more about the process of primary prevention and risk factor reduction (especially for diabetes) in practices serving vulnerable populations.
Institution: University of North Carolina
Location: Chapel Hill, NC 27599
Project No.: HS013521-01
Principal Investigator: Philip Sloane, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $149,980
Total Estimated Funding: $299,691
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This network of family physician practices will install a high-speed internet line to enable network members to collect surveillance data and communicate more readily with each other. In addition, it will conduct two pilot projects. One is aimed at exploring methods of increasing physical activity among persons at high risk for type II diabetes. The other will test data transfer systems (linked to state epidemiological systems) and methods of practice-based surveillance for signs and symptoms of disease clusters that suggest bioterrorism.
Institution: University of Oklahoma
Location: Oklahoma City, OK 73104
Project No.: HS013557-01
Principal Investigator: James Mold, M.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $149,474
Total Estimated Funding: $299,221
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Oklahoma Physicians Resource/Research Network (OKPRN) is a network of family physician practices spread evenly across urban settings, medium-sized towns, and rural areas. The network will introduce personal digital assistants (PDAs) into its practices to ensure that all are able to collect and transmit research data electronically. It will also work with the practices that serve Native American patient populations to improve its ability to include these practices in network projects. In addition, the investigators will conduct a pilot project to measure the value of practice enhancement assistants in improving the management of diabetic patients.
Institution: University of Southern California
Location: Los Angeles, CA 90033
Project No.: HS013531-01
Principal Investigator: Lynda Knox, Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $49,788
Total Estimated Funding: $99,576
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This newly formed network serves a patient base that is predominately Latino and African-American. It will identify and test an information system for use by network members which will enhance communication and increase the capacity to translate research into practice.
Institution: University of Wisconsin
Location: Milwaukee, WI 53201
Project No.: HS013573-01
Principal Investigator: Sally Lundeen, M.S.N., Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This network is composed of 20 community nursing centers staffed by 84 nurse practitioners who serve underserved patient populations. The network will establish a Web-based system for data collection/transfer and will being developing a collaborative program of participatory community-focused research with vulnerable populations.
Institution: University of Wisconsin
Location: Madison, WI 53715
Project No.: HS013494-01
Principal Investigator: Jonathan Temte, M.D., Ph.D.
First Year of Funding: $48,118
Total Estimated Funding: $98,020
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Wisconsin Research Network (WReN) is a well-established network that has been quiescent for a number of years but will revitalize the network by expanding its existing interface with a highly successful public health surveillance network to allow ongoing public health monitoring. The surveillance system will allow the network to evaluate its role in detecting and responding to emerging public health threats, such as acts of bioterrorism.
Institution: Washington University
Location: St. Louis, MO 63110
Project No.: HS013530-01
Principal Investigator: Jane Garbutt, M.B., Ch.B.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: This newly established network of community pediatricians affiliated with Washington University will establish a Web-based communication network to co-ordinate activities, will enhance a computer interviewing system, and will implement a faculty development plan to increase research expertise among network members.
Institution: Wayne State University
Location: Detroit, MI 48201
Project No.: HS013585-01
Principal Investigator: Anne Neale, Ph.D., M.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $49,916
Total Estimated Funding: $99,831
Project Period: 9/30/02-/929/04
Summary: This network of family practices serving a diverse ethnic/racial patient population in metropolitan Detroit will develop a Web site specific for the network and will pilot test the use of pen-tablet computers for patient self-reported information within network practices.
Institution: Yale University
Location: New Haven, CT 06536
Project No.: HS013493-01
Principal Investigator: Margaret Grey, MSN, Dr.P.H.
First Year of Funding: $50,000
Total Estimated Funding: $100,000
Project Period: 9/30/02-9/29/04
Summary: The Advanced Practice Registered Nurses' Research Network (APRNet), the Nation's first PBRN for advanced practice nurses, will extend the network's capacity to use electronic communications and data collection, expand mechanisms to solicit clinical questions from its members, and improve processes for translating research findings into practice.
For more information, contact:
Natalie Alter
(301) 427-1569
Current as of October 2002
Internet Citation:
New Primary Care PBRN Awards. October 2002. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/pbrnproj.htm
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