ENHANCING RESEARCH CAPABILITIES OF UCSF'S STANFORD CRN

University Of California San Francisco, San Francisco CA

Investigators

Abstract

The UCSF Collaborative Research Network (CRN) was established in 1984 by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, for the purpose of conducting practice-based research in primary care settings. In 1997, the CRN and the Stanford Ambulatory Research Network were merged to form the UCSF/Stanford Collaborative Research Network, comprising nearly 400 primary care physicians in Northern and Central California. Throughout, the CRN has successfully conducted and published studies that were developed by practice-based community physicians in Northern and Central California. Throughout, the CRN has successfully conducted and published studies that were developed by practice-based community physicians. Now, in 2000, the CRN will grow once more s it merges with the Community Health Network and Community Clinic Consortium, thereby incorporating an additional 200 primary care physicians providing care to under-served populations within San Francisco. With 200 primary care physicians and access to a large urban under-served populations through research of special relevance to those populations. Following full integration of the new Network, the CRN will assess the capabilities of all Network members for electronic collection and aggregation of practice-derived data to further enhance the research capabilities of the Network. A variety of electronic data acquisition systems will be tested and evaluated with regard to validity, confidentiality, acceptability, and cost. Electronic systems and other strategies will be evaluated for implementing research findings into patient care. Finally, potential sources of ongoing network support will be identified and explored. By the end of the planning year, we will have a formal detailed plan outlining the specific activities to be undertaken to enhance the capabilities of the CRN to conduct practice-based research at a significantly higher level of complexity and responsiveness to the needs of patients and the field of primary care, to assure the incorporation of research results into practice and assessment of changes in behavior, as well as to receive sustainable support for these activities.