CINCINNATI PEDIATRIC RESEARCH GROUP ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

Children'S Hospital Med Ctr (Cincinnati), Cincinnati OH

Investigators

Abstract

The purpose of this grant proposal is to further develop and create a significant, stable infrastructure for an established community-practice based research network that focuses on pediatric primary care. The Cincinnati Pediatric Research Group (CPRG) was established in 1996, has its own website (www.cprg.org), has successfully completed five studies, with national presentations of the results, and is currently engaged in a sixth study. The CPRG represents a geographically and socio-economically diverse population that is served by an array of health care facilities. This grant will support: Planning, development and initial implementation of a world-web-based information system that will link the individual practices to provide an effective and timely means of data acquisition, feedback and other types of communication; Expansion of the research group to include more non-pediatrician practitioners as well as increase the investment by other members of CPRG offices (non-physician clinicians and office staff); and Establishment of an administrative infrastructure that includes meaningful involvement of community practitioners, provides critical methodological and data management support, and is an integral part of the sponsoring institution. These three objectives are designed to create the necessary infrastructure, including a diversity of populations studied, that is critical to longitudinal, high quality practice-based network research. This research requires creation, coordination, maintenance and analysis of small and large relational databases. A major focus of this proposal is to establish a Research Informatics Core (RIC) that will provide technical expertise, assistance, and equipment to investigators in the CPRG. The use of relational databases will allow for ongoing longitudinal data collection, maintenance, analysis and reporting. A second important focus will be the expansion of the research group to include more family practitioners. Finally, the development of an administrative infrastructure with significant community involvement, scientific support and institutional integration will assure high quality studies with long term community and institutional commitment. We consider implementation and patient care impact of evidence based guidelines an important part of the CPRG. We believe that by enhancing it's administrative and informatics infrastructure, the CPRG can enable its members to be more effective in recognizing practice based research questions and more timely in answering those questions.