NCCU RCMI Practice Based Equity Research Network (PBERN)

ABSTRACT
North Carolina (NC) is home to five Practice-Based Research Networks (PBRN) supported and maintained by
large academic research centers and healthcare systems with no to very limited engagement with free
community clinics and practitioners that care for uninsured patients. NC ranks #32 in the United States for health
outcomes and is ranked the fifth-worst state for health care with alarming racial health disparities in infant
mortality, diabetes, kidney disease, and many chronic and acute conditions. The North Carolina Central
University (NCCU) Research Centers at Minority Institutions (RCMI) has successfully and effectively engaged
underserved communities. This proposal aims to establish an RCMI-led Clinical Research Network for Health
Equity (CRNHE) to address gaps in clinic-based research and improve health care for uninsured patients. This
innovative CRNHE called as NCCU RCMI Practice-Based Equity Research Network (PBERN) will bring together
college student health clinic, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), free and charitable clinics, and local
public health departments, all of which extensively serve uninsured and vulnerable populations. The three
specific aims for the UG3 planning phase entail constructing the PBERN. The Administrative core (Admin Core)
will oversee and manage the PBERN including formation of a patient/community advisory board and an external
advisory committee of providers, craft a charter for the consortium, and memoranda of understanding for partner
practices (SA1). The Community Engagement Core (CEC) will aim to integrate voices of the community, patients,
and providers through consortium activities and develop community-recommended health awareness and
prevention programs using the NCCU mobile health units (SA2). The Clinical Research Implementation Core
(CRIC) will provide training in clinical and health services research methods and support consortium members
in areas such as biostatistics, data science and survey design (SA3). The CRIC will also partner with commercial
population health management platform, to design and plan for electronic health record (EHR) integration (during
UH3 phase) across network clinics. During the second (UH3) phase, the CRIC will implement a rigorous and
competitive pilot project program (2 pilots for 2-3 years) and offer rapid cycle vouchers (RCV) (3-6 months) for
quality improvement and implementation science projects (SA4) and execute plans for EHR integration, data
storage and analytics for consortium members to accelerate integrated health services research, and measure
and report population health metrics (SA5). The Evaluation and Dissemination Unit (EDU) will continuously
assess and work closely with the 2 cores (CRIC, CEC) and RCMI Coordinating Center to develop common
metrics and make recommendations to public agencies for successful findings (SA6). In sum, the proposed
PBERN will dramatically increase practice-based research that seeks to achieve health care equity among North
Carolina’s most vulnerable suffering health disparities.