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Update from NAPCRG’s Committee on Advancing the Science of Family Medicine

Bob Phillips
The Annals of Family Medicine September 2007, 5 (5) 464; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.769

NAPCRG’s Committee on Advancing the Science of Family Medicine (CASFM) was created to help consolidate work on the research and evidence needed to move to a new model of care. It specifically aims to:

  • Promote the generation of new knowledge in all components of the Future of Family Medicine plan

  • Identify means and needs for new knowledge to actively contribute to the transformation of primary care practice for the betterment of our patients and their communities

  • Assure that the development, translation, and implementation of new knowledge becomes part of the fabric of what it means to be a family physician

These aims were driven by both the US Future of Family Medicine and the Canadian College of Family Physicians’ Family Medicine in Canada: Vision for the Future. It pursues these aims through the work of focused subcommittees with superb leadership.

A Residency Research work group, its chair currently in transition, is exploring past efforts of the task force and is also considering research skill competencies related to new model practice, and how the new residency demonstration project (P4) will evaluate research competency and training.

A Practice-Based Research work group, chaired by Jim Mold, is exploring the role of these laboratories and learning communities in the development of new model practices. It is also considering advocacy needs of PBRNs.

A Health Information Technology (HIT) work group, chaired by Kevin Peterson, is considering the research and standards priorities in ambulatory/primary care, and opportunities to advance understanding of HIT needs in primary care. It will also consider how family medicine may maintain leadership in the HIT standards arena and identify specific advocacy requests/targets related to HIT in primary care.

An Economic Research work group, chaired by Rich Lord, is assessing the economic research needs related to new model practice as well as other research presented at NAPCRG. It will consider specific economic applications for new model practice but will also try to develop economic measurement and methods generally in primary care research.

An Optimizing Practice through Research Partnerships and Quality Improvement work group, chaired by Leif Solberg, intends to explore and explain the methods of implementing and disseminating practice optimization knowledge and systems. This subcommittee will explore translation, implementation, and optimization in ways that are not specific to work by practice-based research networks (PBRNs) and that are broader than quality improvement.

In less than 1 year, CASFM published a paper in JAMA entitled, “Practice-Based Research—’Blue Highways’ on the NIH Roadmap.” It has published a working paper for the Institute of Medicine on PBRNs as learning communities (http://www.iom.edu/CMS/28312/RT-EBM/41894.aspx). And, it has helped draft letters for NAPCRG and the AAFP to Dr Elias Zerhouni, Director of the NIH, requesting a meeting to discuss primary care participation in his translational research efforts.

CASFM is building liaisons with each family medicine organization and would welcome the same with other primary care groups. Participants at NAPCRG can expect to see more products from this lean and focused committee and will have an opportunity to learn more about where it is going.