Research Data Analysis Core

PROJECT SUMMARY (Research Data Analysis Core) Healthcare faces massive disruption due to crises of cost, clinician workforce burnout, and subpar and inequitable health outcomes. Simultaneously, an ongoing digital transformation promises more continuous, precise, virtual, and patient-engaged care and possibilities to expedite the translational of scientific discoveries directly into healthcare. Based upon the learning health system (LHS) critical priority areas identified by the National Academy of Medicine Leadership Consortium Action Collaborations for an LHS, the proposed LHS E-STaR of the North (LEaRN) Research Data Analysis Core (RDAC) is designed serve as a bridge and as a nexus to coordinate and facilitate the dissemination, implementation, and extension or use of outputs—in research and in practice—from LEaRN projects and other patient-centered outcomes and comparative effectiveness research (PCOR/CER) initiatives. Community- and Patient-Engaged Research (CPEnR) will be core to all RDAC activities—patients and communities will be engaged in LEaRN projects from research inception through dissemination to help ensure that healthcare innovations are responsive to the voices and needs of communities and patients. The RDAC will enhance the rigor and impact of LEaRN projects by providing rigorous, cutting edge evaluation methods (e.g., evidence mobilization, pragmatic trial design, informatics methods) and ensuring that projects are effectively disseminated. LEaRN’s Hub partner sites—M Health Fairview, Minneapolis VA Health Care System, Essentia Health, HealthPartners, and Hennepin Healthcare—bring diverse practice settings and patient populations, as well as research that closely aligns with several AHRQ/PCORI priority areas: 1) transplantation and renal disease; 2) aging and dementia; 3) maternal health and maternal morbidity and mortality; 4) primary care; 5) mental health and addiction; 6) surgery, trauma, and critical care; and 7) social determinants of health and equity. The goals of the LEaRN RDAC will be achieved through the following three aims: Co-create and execute PCOR and CER projects while strengthening LEaRN partnerships and processes (Aim 1); Optimize Hub site, the Center for Learning Health System Sciences (CLHSS), and joint research capabilities to address barriers to PCOR/CER research processes including capabilities of distinction (Aim 2); and Disseminate LEaRN scientific outputs for both internal and broader patient, community, practice, and academic benefit (Aim 3). The LEaRN RDAC will address current gaps in effectively connecting LHS scientists with clinical practice sites, projects, research capabilities and mentors and vice versa, overall resulting in high-quality PCOR/CER projects, LHS science advancement, and optimized dissemination of scientific outputs for maximal impact.