NAPCRG and the Primary Care Collaborative Aim to Make Primary Care Research Accessible in New Ways

Sharing a commitment to primary care, NAPCRG is partnering with the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCC) on the PCORI-funded capacity building project, “Bridging the Gap in Primary Care Research.” This 2-year initiative is intended to improve access to research that is most applicable to primary care clinicians, support the adoption of evidence-based best practices, and help patients and other stakeholders make informed health care decisions focused on primary care best practices and latest evidence. PCC will develop an information hub where it can disseminate actionable research with policy makers, clinicians, patients/consumers, payers, and other decision makers who make up their nationwide network and have a stake in primary care, using communication channels that meet their needs.

A NAPCRG Evidence Review Committee consisting of members of the Trainee Committee and other CASFM researchers conducted an initial evidence review of NAPCRG Pearls over the last 5 years, each of which had resulted in a peer-reviewed publication. The committee prioritized the most relevant, innovative and patient-oriented publications, using a collective nominal ranking method. Those publications (hereafter the “curated” articles) will inform the work of the project Research Dissemination Committee (RDC) and Journal Club (JC) to identify the most salient publications relevant to the full spectrum of primary care stakeholders. RDC members will be clinicians, patients, advocates, and/or policy makers chosen on the basis of their depth of knowledge and experience of primary care practice, policy, and research, and connections to additional key stakeholders. As well as identifying new, emerging articles during the project period, the RDC will maintain bi-directional communication with the JC, a dynamic group of PCC’s network leaders representing their 17,000 primary care stakeholders. The JC will meet several times over the year and widely publicize the curated articles. They will solicit feedback about the articles’ methodological quality, relevance, and potential for impact on and action within primary care practice, based on questions posed by the RDC. Together, the RDC and JC will develop a communication strategy to identify the key message(s) of each of the curated articles for each of the PCC’s targeted stakeholder audiences, as well as the appropriate delivery channels and timing for dissemination, using appropriate, accessible language for each audience. In a prior PCORI-funded engagement award, which included engagement of the full gamut of their stakeholders, PCC found that infographics, webinars, podcasts, and targeted e-mails were the preferred communication channels, so the project initially will give those channels priority. Efforts will culminate in the formation of a central, universal resource that will feature the articles and other resources for stakeholders interested in using evidence-based interventions to improve primary care.

For NAPCRG, the partnership provides an opportunity to showcase our members’ research to new constituencies. “We are delighted by and grateful for the opportunity to partner on this exciting project,” commented NAPCRG President Gillian Bartlett-Esquilant, PhD. “Researchers know the power of their work but always welcome the opportunity to ensure it is meaningful to other primary care stakeholders. With its deep roots in policy and advocacy, PCC can make research accessible to those outside of academic family medicine departments.”

Reflecting on the importance of the project, PCC President and Chief Executive Officer Ann Greiner added, “We’re so excited about this partnership with NAPCRG, which allows the PCC to work with leading researchers in the primary care space. Together we hope to engage varied stakeholders around seminal primary care research and inform their thinking and decisions.”

• © 2021 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.