Table 2 IDSRN awards FY 2000-FY 2003, by type

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