Table 2

IDSRN awards FY 2000-FY 2003, by type

Type of project
Description
Total projects
Total funding
Examples
Potential link between research and practice
Challenges that influence value

Research linked to operational settings

Research using IDS data
Take advantage of IDS administrative, claims, or other data to carry out applied health services research
12
$3,191,558
Racial differences in care outcomes; impact of payment policies on care in provider group with diverse characteristics; medication errors
Enhances the knowledge base for understanding how health systems work; gives access to data not otherwise available for research
Identifying questions for research that have potential for ultimate operational value; ability to generate findings that build on evidence base and are taking the "next step"
Operational data assessment and validation
Assess the capacity of systems to provide specific data, develop specific measures
4
$1,083,674
Capacity to conduct studies of race, ethnicity; operational validation of hospital quality measures; private sector data for national quality reporting.
Assesses one facet of infrastructure readiness to determine need for or make operational improvements
Uniqueness of individual systems; ability to move beyond assessment to make changes or take appropriate action
Clinical intervention and assessment
Patients in the IDS are involved in intervention; outcomes assessed
12
$2,769,120
Electronic order entry; otitis media practice guidelines; falls management tool
Identifies promising delivery interventions that work in practice
Evidence base for interventions; ability to generalize or bring to scale results

Stretching traditional research boundaries

IDS systems analysis
Prospectively analyze IDS systems and flows to identify performance, needs, or potential areas for improvement
8
$1,958,126
Modeling link between care transitions and iatrogenic injury; assessing factors that influence diffusion of IT; assessing reasons for pneumonia hospitalization by Evercare patients
Uses delivery base to better understand problems or constraints and ways of intervening
Ability to generalize beyond a single system or point in time; follow-through on findings to identify and test improvements
Tool development
Develop web-based or other tools for care delivery or public health improvement
17
$3,957,230
Electronic order entry; otitis media practice guidelines; falls management tool
Identifies promising delivery interventions that work in practice
Evidence base for interventions; ability to generalize or bring to scale the results

Other

Organizational studies using data outside of IDSRN
Projects that take advantage of IDSRN vehicle and participants to study issues relevant to IDS but not otherwise built on IDSRN unique qualities
3
$643,863
Quality provisions in MCO contracts; hospital-volume link; nursing home policies and quality
Addresses research questions that shed light on health care delivery organizations
Does not necessarily capitalize on IDSRN capacity
Dissemination infrastructure
Projects that aim to support infrastructure in various ways to encourage dissemination
2
$594,310
National network of medical group practices; leadership conference on patient safety
Improves channels of communication to get information out
Strategic importance of particular effort; relevance of infrastructure to other IDSRN work, AHRQ, or field

Source: Authors' classification based on awards information provided by AHRQ.

Gold and Taylor Implementation Science 2007 2:9   doi:10.1186/1748-5908-2-9