Health Services Research in 2020
A Summit on the Future of HSR Data & Methods
Washington, DC
June 1-2, 2009
Background
2007 Summit on Future of HSR Workforce
 Field has more than doubled in size in last
decade
 The sponge challenge
 Growing role of private sector, but training
geared to academia.
 The search for core competencies
Health Services Research October 2009.
Current Context
Surge in funding for
 HIT
 CER
 Health reform (modeling and evaluation)
Will HSR be able to meet expectations?
SUMMIT OBJECTIVES
To collectively:
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Identify the data and methods limitations
that could diminish the ability of the field
to produce the timely, rigorous and
relevant research that our nations needs.
Generate a set of proposals that will
strengthen the data and the methods
needed to produce high quality health
services research.
Advisory Committee
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David Abrams, American Legacy Foundation
Linda Bilheimer, National Center for Health Statistics
Francis Chesley, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Carolyn Clancy, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
David Colby, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Kelly Devers, Virginia Commonwealth University
Bryan Dowd, University of Minnesota
Richard Gliklich, Outcome Sciences
Grant Huang, VA Cooperative Studies Program
Susan Law, Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
Patricia Mabry, National Institutes of Health
Vincent Mor, Brown University School of Medicine
Pauline Sieverding, Department of Veterans Affairs
Michael Stoto, Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health
Studies
Philip Wang, National Institute of Mental Health
Papers: Multiple Perspectives
Data
Papers
Data and Methods
Challenges in 2020
Methods
Papers
Policy
Topic
Papers
WORKGROUPS
A
Health Systems Data
Leadership &
Coordination
C
Health Survey Data
Leadership and
Coordination
Alison Rein & Claudia Williams
Michael Gluck & Marsha Gold
B
Health Systems Data
Training, Methods and
Knowledge Transfer
D
Health Survey Data
Training, Methods and
Knowledge Transfer
Sharon Arnold & Grant Huang
Erin Holve & Vince Mor
Group A:
Systems Data: Leadership
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Scope:
Priority setting processes for data collection
Data standardization and mechanisms of collection
Data quality and transparency
Data linkage and aggregation
Data access (including terms of use) and liquidity
Legal and regulatory framework
Targets:
Public and private plans and their associations
Providers and their associations
Other (e.g., consumer / patient groups, employers)
Federal and State policymakers
Sample issues:
Privacy: what are the roles and responsibilities of different players?
When and for what reasons (big picture) should data be aggregated?
How should different types of data be aggregated: when distributed versus centralized?
What are the best incentives to improve provider stake in data quality?
Do we need legislation to facilitate researchers’ access to data?
Is there a need to better define what constitutes a registry, or different types of registries?
Is there a need for a registry of registries?
Group B: Systems Data: Methods
Scope:
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Definition and measurement
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Applications and modules for implementation
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Training
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KT/communications
Targets:
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Health systems and providers
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Researchers
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Vendors
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Associations, such as AcademyHealth
Sample issues:
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What kind of investment (and by whom) to improve measures?
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How to promote implementation research by providers and systems that
takes into account context? What are the incentives and training needs?
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How to promote pragmatic trials, collective intelligence, positive
deviance?
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How to generate interdisciplinary dialogue around best practices in
observational research?
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How to incorporate that interdisciplinary understanding into review
processes?
Group C
Survey Data: Leadership
Scope:
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Identification of gaps and priorities
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Data standardization and collection to facilitate linkages
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Data quality and transparency
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Data access (including terms of use) and dissemination
Targets:
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Federal agencies, including the HHS Data Council.
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Current data repositories such as ResDAC
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IRBs/research institutions’ leadership
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NLM’s Health Services Research Resources and other databases of databases
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Professional provider and trade associations that conduct surveys of members or track licensure data
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Federal and possibly state legislators and staff
Sample issues:
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Do we need a central inventory of federal surveys (overlap, gaps, variable definitions and sampling
frames)?
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Do we need centralization of the access process?
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Do we need greater federal stewardship of IRBs?
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Do we need technical recommendations and training materials to encourage linkages among surveys
and with health system data?
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Is HIPAA interpretation that linked data must be discarded after research reasonable?
Group D
Survey Data Methods
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Scope:
Definition and measurement
Training
KT/communications
Targets:
NIH and AHRQ training programs
Foundations
AcademyHealth
Sample issues:
How can best practices in linking data (survey to survey , or survey to
system data) be developed and disseminated?
What training opportunities are needed to assist researchers in linking
data?
How much and on what kinds of topics is new experimentation needed,
i.e. HIE?