Primary Care HEART-NET in the Deep South

Abstract Deep South states Alabama, Arkansas, and Mississippi see some of the poorest health outcomes in the nation. Further, health outcome gaps associated with limited access to care and lower household income are seen in higher chronic disease prevalence and poorer lifestyle behaviors. Limited resources in primary care clinics exacerbate these challenges and hinder research efforts. Primary Care HEART-NET (Health Enhancement through Access and Research in Transformative Networks) aims to establish primary care research infrastructure in the Deep South to improve access to research and support chronic disease prevention and treatment in medically underserved populations. HEART-NET unites three institutions (University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, and University of Mississippi Medical Center) that include two CTSA awardees, two practice-based research networks, an IDeA-CTR awardee, and PCORNet involvement, along with 45+ primary care clinics serving a population that is 57.8% rural, to accelerate research in primary care settings and strengthen research infrastructure in primary care. HEART-NET aims to 1) work with primary care providers to seamlessly integrate research into clinics workflows; 2) apply a collaborative framework involving patients, clinicians, and communities to develop research processes with local input; 3) use innovative technologies to increase patient access to primary care research and reduce research burden; and 4) collaborate with NIH infrastructure to amplify nationwide research impacts. The significant health challenges in the Deep South, HEART-NET’s strong primary care research experience, and the potential to engage communities to improve access to studies in a variety of clinical settings make HEART-NET ideally suited to help communities prevent and manage long-term chronic disease, promoting better health for all.