2018 PBRN CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHTS: ADDRESSING HEALTH DISPARITIES IN PBRN RESEARCH

The 2018 NAPCRG Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) Conference brought together the energy of 160 participants from the United States, Canada, Haiti, and Australia in Bethesda, Maryland on June 25–26, 2018. The theme for this year’s conference was “Addressing Health Disparities in PBRN Research.” Conference co-chairs, Donald Nease, Jr and Denise Campbell-Scherer provided the welcome and orientation for this Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ)-sponsored conference.

Robert McNellis, MPH, PA, Senior Advisor for Primary Care at the AHRQ, highlighted AHRQ’s Primary Care areas of interest and achievements of which several were produced by PBRNs.

Dayna Bowen Matthew, F. Palmer Weber Research Professor of Civil Liberties and Human Rights at the University of Virginia School of Law and author of Just Medicine: A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care, delivered the first plenary on “Who and What We Study Affects Who and How We Heal,” highlighting how filling the gaps in research participation and design could contribute to narrowing health disparities. Ms Matthew noted that research questions that impact the populations most burdened by disease and injury are not being asked. Although social determinants have been shown to have great impact on health outcome, researchers have not equipped primary care clinicians with the knowledge to confidently screen, much less prescribe treatment for the inequitable housing, educational attainment, food security, exposure to violence, and other social determinants that must be addressed to close health disparity gaps that persistently plague our nation.

The second plenary was delivered by Donna Manca, MD, MClSc, FCFP, Program Lead of The BETTER Program, entitled “A BETTER Way of Addressing Disparities in Primary Care Research.” Dr Manca’s presentation discussed how the BETTER program has developed an effective approach that bridges the “second valley of death” and positively impacts patient-level outcomes. Additionally, participants learned about the effective BETTER intervention to chronic disease prevention and screening, including how the intervention has been adapted to address chronic disease prevention and screening in various settings, including for those living in rural and in low-income neighborhoods.

The third plenary was given by Dedra Buchwald, MD, Director of the Initiative for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH), as well as the Founding Director of the Partnership for Native Health and the Washington State Twin Registry. Dr Buchwald offered an overview of 3 unique programs at Washington State University: (1) the new community-based medical school at Washington State University in Spokane; (2) the institutionally supported Initiative for Research and Education to Advance Community Health (IREACH), and (3) the Native Investigator Development Program. Dr Buchwald discussed how the medical school uses a geographically dispersed model of training and focuses on training physicians that will practice in rural and underserved areas of Washington State.

The 11-member PBRN Planning Committee reviewed 106 abstracts leading to 51 poster presentations, 9 workshops, and 40 oral presentations. Each submitter was asked to include a statement of why their research is relevant to clinical practice and patients. The 10 oral presentation tracks included PBRN Infrastructure, Network Operations, Practice Facilitation, Quality Improvement, Health Disparities, Chronic Care Management, Dissemination and Implementation, Behavioral Health, Community Engaged Research, and other clinical topics.

The planning committee allowed for substantial time to accommodate 9 workshops. The workshop topics covered a variety of topics, including: innovation, building a national primary care research infrastructure, measuring quality in primary care, and using community infrastructure to reduce health disparities, just to name a few.

The 3 poster sessions were well attended with ample opportunity for extended conversations and networking. Themed poster walks, in which attendees were led by a facilitator while presenters shared their research questions, methods, results, and key implications, were held this year. Poster walks offered the opportunity for attendees to learn more about a particular subject matter and research methodologies.

The career of L.J. Fagnan, founding Director of the Oregon Rural Practice-based Research Network and the Meta Learning And Research Consortium (Meta-LARC), was celebrated with a lifetime achievement award.

Conference participants were asked to vote for their choice of the best posters for the 2018 David Lanier Poster Awards. Winning posters can be found on the NAPCRG website (http://www.napcrg.org/Conferences/PastMeetingArchives/2018PBRNConferenceMeetingMaterials).

The enthusiasm and engagement at the 2018 PBRN Conference was high from start to finish. Videos of the 2018 plenary presentations and conference resource materials are available on the NAPCRG website (http://www.napcrg.org/Conferences/PastMeetingArchives/2018PBRNConferenceMeetingMaterials).

The 2019 PBRN Conference will take place June 24–25, 2019 in Bethesda with the theme of, “How do we keep prevention on the table in face of disease management incentives?”

Hope to see you there next year!

• © 2018 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.