October 2000 • Post-Assembly Edition • Dallas
AAFP's new research network attracts federal planning grant
It may be only 10 months old, but the Academy's National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research has already attracted a federal grant. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has awarded the research network a $101,187 planning grant.
John Hickner, M.D.
"This will help to provide the foundation on which we will build a research lab for family medicine -- our family physicians' offices."What's the network planning? "We're planning great things," says AAFP President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis., who has championed practice-based research for 14 years. "A grant like this will help us redefine the specialty and the practice of medicine in America by identifying better care for patients, which means better health for patients."
The 12-month grant is part of a $2 million initiative being coordinated by the AHRQ Center for Primary Care Research to enhance development of practice-based research.
According to Herbert Young, M.D., AAFP Scientific Activities Division director and principal investigator, the funds will help the network plan activities in four key areas: using technology to collect and analyze data, conducting research of importance to the health of minorities and underserved populations, efficiently translating research findings into clinical practice and identifying ongoing network funding sources.
The grant gives AAFP a seat at the table with other established primary care researchers around the country and recognizes the network's potential to deliver, says John Hickner, M.D., director of the network. "This will help provide the foundation on which we will build a research lab for family medicine -- our family physicians' offices."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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