Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks
(ACTION II)

PI: Julie Schmittdiel, PhD – Kaiser N California, Division of Research

The HMORN Community Provider Network Partnership is one of 17 large partnerships awarded membership in AHRQ’s Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks (ACTION II) program. ACTION II research is intended to be practice-based, implementation-oriented, rapid cycle and potentially worthy of spread.

Fourteen HMORN research centers plus the University of California San Francisco and Summit Health Institute for Research and Education (SHIRE) participate in the HMORN’s ACTION II partnership.

The HMORN ACTION II network was awarded in September 2010, and was recently awarded its first ACTION II task order for over $500,000.

Cancer Research Network (CRN)

PI: Lawrence Kushi, ScD – Kaiser Permanente Division of Research

The goal of the HMO Cancer Research Network (CRN) is to use the unique HMORN environment as a laboratory for intervention, epidemiology, communication, dissemination and implementation, quality of care, and health services research that addresses the spectrum of cancer control, including prevention, early detection, treatment, survivorship, surveillance, and end-of-life care through a program of collaborative research for cancer prevention and control.

The CRN has been continuously funded by NCI since 1999 with additional support from AHRQ. As many as 14 HMORN research centers plus many collaborators from outside of the HMORN have participated in CRN consortium projects.

Since 1999, the CRN has been awarded more than $80 million in grants, supporting over 75 multi-center studies.

Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN)

PI: Alan Go, MD – Kaiser Permanente, N. California – Division of Research

The HMORN's Cardiovascular Research Network (CVRN) established a framework to answer critical questions about contemporary cardiovascular epidemiology, optimal management, and associated clinical outcomes and resource utilization within large community-based populations where most clinical care is delivered.

The CVRN was funded by NHLBI in 2007 and brings together 15 HMORN sites.

Since 2007, the CVRN has received more than $30 million in grants from National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, National Institute on Aging, National Cancer Institute, National Institute for Mental Health and Veteran's Administration supporting over 20 multi-center studies.

Developing Evidence to Improve Decisions about Effectiveness (DEcIDE) Network

DEcIDE-1 PI: Richard Platt, MD MSc – Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute

The HMORN DEcIDE-1 Network is one of several established through AHRQ's Effective Health Care program, which offered task order opportunities using the health plans’ defined populations, providers, delivery systems, and unique data resources to develop information about therapeutic effectiveness within typical clinical settings. The HMORN's DEcIDE-1 Network has been continuously funded by AHRQ since 2005. Twelve of the HMORN research centers in the U.S. participate.

Since 2005, the HMORN has been awarded 12 DEcIDE-1 task orders totaling over $14 million.

DEcIDE-2 PI: Richard Platt, MD MSc – Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute; Co-PI:  Alan S. Go, MD – Kaiser Permanente Northern California

The HMORN DEcIDE-2 Network continues to support AHRQ's response to the Medicare Modernization Act's mandates for comparative effectiveness and safety research. The Network develops scientific evidence and methodologies about the outcomes, comparative clinical effectiveness, safety, and appropriateness of health care items and services for improving the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of healthcare.

The HMORN’s DEcIDE-2 Network received funding from AHRQ in 2010 and is made up of 14 HMORN research centers. Since 2010, the HMORN has been awarded 3 DEcIDE-2 task orders totaling over $3 million.

Medical Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program (MEPREP)

HMORN CERT Project Lead: Susan Andrade, ScD – Meyers Primary Care Institute

The Medical Exposure in Pregnancy Risk Evaluation Program (MEPREP) is the largest initiative of its kind. This research program is developing infrastructure to enhance the ability to study the effects of medication exposure during pregnancy on the fetus by creating and maintaining linked data on mothers and infants. One of the latest MEPREP studies to be funded will address the safety of Sulfonamide use by mothers during pregnancy, and is be led by Dr. Craig Hansen, an epidemiologist at KP Georgia.

MEPREP was first funded by the FDA in 2009. The program is a collaboration between the FDA, 11 of the HMORN CERT sites and Vanderbilt University.

Mental Health Research Network (MHRN)

PI: Gregory Simon, MD MPH – Group Health Research Institute

The HMORN Mental Health Research Network is one of the newest HMORN consortium projects. The Mental Health Research Network (MHRN) will complement traditional clinical research by taking advantage of large potential samples of patients, diverse patient care settings, access to large provider groups, and integrated data systems to conduct rapid and efficient effectiveness trials in mental health.  Work will include development of a core infrastructure for collaborative effectiveness research in Mental Health and completion of 4 research projects that leverage that infrastructure in specific clinical areas.  Our long-term objectives are to expand the MHRN to include additional health systems and external investigators, to conduct multi-site observational and experimental studies of comparative effectiveness, to develop and evaluate methods for dissemination and implementation, and to become a national resource of research methods and effectiveness evidence for researchers, patients, providers and healthcare leaders.

The MHRN was funded by NIMH in 2010. Ten HMORN research centers currently participate in the Network.

Activities since being funded have focused on infrastructure development, with 2 of the 4 research projects scheduled to begin in Year 1.

Mini-Sentinel

PI: Rich Platt, MD MSc – Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute

The Mini-Sentinel Coordinating Center (MSCC) is a pilot project conducted under contract with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from 2009 through 2014 to inform and facilitate development of a fully operational active surveillance system, the Sentinel System, for monitoring the safety of FDA-regulated medical products using automated healthcare data from multiple sources.

The Mini-Sentinel Coordinating Center is a collaborative effort is consisting of 33 partnering organizations, including 13 HMORN member sites.

Multi-Institutional Consortium for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (SUPREME-DM)

PI: John Steiner, MD MPH – Kaiser Colorado, Institute for Health Research

The Multi-Institutional Consortium for Comparative Effectiveness Research in Prevention and Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus (or SUPREME-DM Project: SUrveillance, PREvention, and ManagEment of Diabetes Mellitus – SUPREME-DM) is creating a comprehensive, standardized diabetes DataLink that contains 1.3 million insured patients with Diabetes Mellitus. This DataLink is used to conduct surveillance in order to identify and monitor trends in diabetes incidence and prevalence, and in diabetes treatment patterns and outcomes. In addition to the DataLink and surveillance efforts, two comparative effectiveness studies (CER) are being conducted as part of SUPREME-DM. One is a trial of "early non-adherence" with newly-prescribed medications and the second is a study of women with recent Gestational Diabetes Mellitus.

Twelve HMORN research centers participate in the SUPREME-DM Network, which was funded by AHRQ in 2010 with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

Scalable PArtnering Network for Comparative Effectiveness Research (SPAN)

PI: Matt Daley, MD MPH – Kaiser Colorado, Institute for Health Research

The Scalable PArtnering Network for Comparative Effectiveness Research (SPAN) project involves both the development of Information Technology (IT) and comparative effectiveness research.  SPAN is developing a distributed research network that will link all participating sites through IT that builds on previously constructed HMORN data query tools.  Investigators will be able to employ the SPAN query tool to conduct analysis preparatory to research, as well as multivariable statistical analysis, using data marts built to specifically address comparative effectiveness research questions related to obesity and ADHD.

SPAN involves 10 HMORN sites, as well as Denver Health and Hospital Authority. SPAN was funded by AHRQ in 2010 with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds.

Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)

Frank DeStefano, MD, Director, Immunization Safety Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD) exists to monitor immunization safety and address gaps in scientific knowledge about rare and serious events following immunization. It is recognized as the primary mechanism for population-based evaluations of vaccine safety in the United States.

The VSD project is a collaborative activity involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) and today includes ten HMORN member organizations. The VSD was established in 1990, and pre-dates the HMORN. Currently, the project collects vaccination and comprehensive medical information on nearly 9.5 million HMORN-based patients annually (more than 3% of the United States population).

The VSD project allows for planned immunization safety studies, timely investigations of hypotheses that arise from medical literature reviews and changes in immunization schedules, and rapid safety analysis following the widespread adoption of new vaccines and reports to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).