Academy moves to close knowledge gap in primary care
The AAFP announced the first family practice research grant recipients from its $7.72 million research initiative during a Sept. 8 news conference at the National Press Club in Washington.
"The AAFP has stepped forward to close the knowledge gap in primary care," said John M. Eisenberg, M.D., director of the federal Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, at the news conference. "The AAFP is lighting a candle, not cursing the darkness, and putting its money where all of primary care has been putting its collective mouth. The Academy deserves to receive the entire nation's congratulations for its commitment to excellence in primary care research."
Improving the quality of primary care services should not be the responsibility of the federal government alone, or the private sector alone, but a shared effort, Eisenberg said. "We welcome the contributions that the AAFP will make to primary care research, as well as the opportunity to collaborate on future research projects."
Selected from more than 65 applicants, the three centers -- with investigators at facilities in Ohio, Nebraska, New York, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Missouri -- received grants that ultimately could total $900,000 each.
The three centers and the project focus for each are:
- The Center for the Value of Family Practice, located at Case Western Reserve University, University of Nebraska Medical Center, State University of New York-Buffalo and Lehigh Valley Hospital in Pennsylva-nia, will investigate the doctor-patient relationship and the processes of patient care in common family settings.
- The Michigan Consortium for Family Practice Research, with investigators at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University, will examine the evidence base of family practice -- what works and what doesn't work in everyday situations.
- The Center for Family Medicine Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia will focus on enhancing doctors' ability to provide state-of-the-art care, using the newest technology to create a virtual network of practicing physicians and family practice researchers to encourage information sharing.
The research supported by these projects will help improve the quality of care people receive when they go to their doctor, said AAFP Director Joseph Scherger, M.D., M.P.H., of San Diego as he announced the awards. Scherger is the head of the AAFP Task Force to Enhance Family Practice Research.
A recent editorial in the Lansing State Journal newspaper regarding the Michigan Consortium for Family Practice Research said, "Americans make 186 million visits to family physicians each year, yet family practice gets far less recognition -- and research money -- than specialized medicine. Things appear to be changing. This research is exciting and long overdue."
