Bridging the Gap in Primary Care Research

The PCC worked with the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG), a multidisciplinary organization for primary care researchers, and the PCC-formed Research Dissemination Workgroup (RDWG) to identify and select the most relevant primary care research. The result is a list of the most relevant and actionable patient-centered outcomes research/comparative effectiveness research (PCOR-CER) and health services research (HSR) articles spanning primary care specialty groups.

NAPCRG undertook a structured review process to select the top primary care clinical research articles, which included:

• a review of NAPCRG “pearls,” the top 10 best studies presented at NAPCRG’s annual research conference and selected by an advisory group
• PCORI-funded projects between 2015-2020
• direct referrals from PCC

Members of the NAPCRG team rated and selected articles based on four broad categories, which included:

1. relevance and significance to primary care
2. innovation
3. benefits to patients
4. overall impression

Twelve articles were then selected based on the overall score that they received from reviewers.

A parallel approach was taken for selecting the primary care HSR articles. Additional articles were submitted by the RDWG, and a subgroup of the RDWG reviewed and rated the articles based on the following criteria:

1. relevance and significance to primary care
2. informativeness to policymakers
3. benefits to community (state or national)
4. contribution to health equity
5. overall impression

The subgroup then selected 12 articles to be included on the list.

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Results

Based on the reviews by NAPCRG and the RDWG, the PCC selected 24 articles (12 clinical and 12 HSR) for the final list. The 24 articles are mapped onto the Shared Principles of Primary Care, a widely adopted set of characterizations of advanced primary care. While not representative of the entire body of primary care research, this curated research list expresses some of the most relevant and actionable research today that can be used to inform policy and practice.

Limitations

Throughout the curation process, the RDWG identified several key gaps in the list, including a lack of research reports relevant to advanced practice clinicians (NPs and PAs) in primary care, behavioral health integration, and the social drivers of health. PCC is working with the RDWG to fill these research gaps in year two of the project.

The PCC formed a Research Dissemination Workgroup (RDWG) to identify the most relevant primary care research and inform the translation and dissemination of its selected articles. Its goal was to enhance the accessibility of research results and engagement with the findings across diverse audiences, including patients.

Workgroup Co-chairs:

• Eugene Rich, Senior Fellow, Director on Healthcare Effectiveness | Mathematica
• Joseph LeMaster, MD, MPH, Professor | University of Kansas School of Medicine

Workgroup Members:

• Sanjay Basu, MD, PhD, Head of Clinical | Waymark
• Wendy Bennett, MD, MPH, Associate Professor | Johns Hopkins Medicine
• Arlene Bierman, MD, Director | Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
• Marjorie Bowman, MD, MPA, Chief Academic Affiliations Officer | Department of Veterans Affairs
• Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, Deputy Chief Health Officer | Merative (fomerly IBM Watson Health)
• Daniel Dawes, JD, Director | Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine
• Susan Edgman-Levitan, PA, Executive Director | John D. Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital
• Bianca Frogner, PhD, Deputy Director | Primary Care Innovation Lab
• Stephanie Gold, MD, Assistant Professor | University of Colorado Denver, Department of Family Medicine
• Ann Greiner, MCP, President and CEO | Primary Care Collaborative
• Jane Kogan, PhD, Associate Chief Research and Translation Officer | University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
• Julia Murphy, Senior Advisor, Learning and Diffusion Group | Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation
• Monica O'Reilly-Jacob, PhD, FNP-BC, Assistant Professor | Boston College, Connell School of Nursing
• Michael Parchman, MD, MPH, Senior Investigator | MacColl Center for Health Care Innovation 
• Susan Reinhard, RN, PhD, FAAN, Senior Vice President and Director | AARP
• Renee Turchi, MD, Faculty | Drexel University College of Medicine

The PCC also established the regular Lunch and Learn discussion series to evaluate and disseminate the policy implications of select articles identified by the Research Dissemination Workgroup. The Lunch and Learn series is another dissemination channel that is meant to inform and educate a wide range of primary care stakeholders of the most relevant and actionable primary care research. In these meetings, primary care researchers, advocates and policymakers are brought together to discuss the key messages and policy implications of the most important research identified by the RDWG, with the goal of better integrating the research findings into their organizational and policy decision-making.

Lunch and Learn Discussion Co-chairs:

• Irene Dankwa-Mullan, MD, MPH, Deputy Chief Health Officer | IBM
• Jack Westfall, MD, MPH