Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Expanding Delivery System Research In Public Health Settings: Lessons From Practice-Based Research Networks, Glen P. Mays, Rachel A. Hogg

Health and Clinical Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Delivery system research to identify how best to organize, finance, and implement health improvement strategies has focused heavily on clinical practice settings, with relatively little attention paid to public health settings-where research is made more difficult by wide heterogeneity in settings and limited sources of existing data and measures. This study examines the approaches used by public health practice-based research networks (PBRNs) to expand delivery system research and evidence-based practice in public health settings.

METHODS: Practice-based research networks employ quasi-experimental research designs, natural experiments, and mixed-method analytic techniques to evaluate how community partnerships, economic shocks, and policy changes impact …