AN UPDATE FROM THE COMMITTEE FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE SCIENCE OF FAMILY MEDICINE
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* James W. Mold

The Future of Family Medicine Project identified 10 strategic initiatives to be executed by the organizations that make up the “family” of family medicine. NAPCRG was charged with “enhancing the science of family medicine.” In response to this charge, NAPCRG formed a new committee in 2008, the Committee for the Advancement of the Science of Family Medicine (CASFM). This committee has produced published articles and white papers, held workshops and created alliances, and sponsored workshops at national and international meetings. The Committee currently has 4 workgroups: Practice-Based Research, Health Information Technologies, Economic Research, and Research Methodologies. All workgroups have US and Canadian co-chairs. Membership is open and encouraged.

## Updates From the 4 Workgroups

### Practice-Based Research (PBR) Workgroup

NAPCRG has been awarded a grant from AHRQ to hold a conference for practice-based research networks. (This conference had been an AHRQ-sponsored meeting that has been discontinued.) This conference will be held June 20–21, 2012 in Bethesda, Maryland. Registration can be found at [http://www.napcrg.org](http://www.napcrg.org). The PBR Work Group will be helping to review submissions to this conference.

US members of the group are collaborating with Canadian researchers to increase the use of practice facilitators within practice-based research networks. The Canadian Institute for Health Research is developing a practice facilitation toolkit. AHRQ has a practice facilitation manual with an emphasis on implementing the PCMH.

A member of the group participated in the MOVE/BOUGE January 2012 workshop on developing effective research strategies for effective knowledge transfer (KT) in primary care. Objectives included: (1) effective transdisciplinary knowledge exchange between stakeholders and researchers and, (2) the development of an international collaborative research team grant focused on effective KT related to chronic diseases and vulnerable populations.

Another workgroup member is co-authoring a paper comparing practice-based research networks and experimental farm stations.

### Health Information Technology Workgroup

The workgroup on Health Information Technology is working on a second white paper entitled, “Beyond meaningful use: EHRs and primary care.” The paper, intended for publication, will focus on additional features that should be added to EHRs to make them more helpful in primary care settings in the future for both clinical practice and research.

### Research Methodology Workgroup

This newly formed workgroup will focus its attention initially on methodologies suitable for studying delivery system design innovations. An interactive website is envisioned.

### Economic Research Workgroup

This Work Group will assist in the planning of a second NAPCRG workshop on the economic analyses involved in the study of primary care practice transformation.

It may also explore the potential for development of a common practice economics dataset that could be routinely collected by practices participating in research and quality improvement activities.

*   © 2012 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.