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Department of Preventive Care (DPC) Study Examples

Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro

In addition to research on weight management, parenting, childhood learning, phone-based support for smoking cessation (Free & Clear), and screening and care of cervical and colorectal cancer, DPC's current studies include the following:

• Transforming Patient-Centered Care (TPC)
• Electronic Communications and Blood Pressure Monitoring (e-BP)
• Long-Term Health Effects of Domestic Violence
• Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)
• Effectiveness of a Web-Based Tailored Weight Management Program
• Improving Household Firearm Storage Practices in Alaska Native Villages

Transforming Patient-Centered Care (TPC)

• Principal Investigators: David C. Grossman, MD, MPH; Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD

The Transforming Patient-Centered Care (TPC) initiative is based on the key elements of the "Vision for Prevention 2006." The TPC initiative will deliver a patient-centered model of care delivery for Group Health members, employers, and providers that integrates with the Co-op’s existing technology infrastructure and systems. Key components of this model include: a health asset and risk tool (a sophisticated health risk appraisal) that is patient-entered on My Group Health, instituting member action plans for wellness and disease management, easier referral to prevention and self-management support programs, and comprehensive reporting and surveillance tools for patient-level and aggregate reporting. The current focus is on developing a conceptual model and implementation options proposal.

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Electronic Communications and Blood Pressure Monitoring (e-BP)

• Principal Investigators: Robert S. Thompson, MD; Beverly B. Green, MD, MPH, Group Health Cooperative; University of Washington School of Medicine

This study, funded by a four-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, seeks to determine whether Web-based information and communications technology can enhance care for people with hypertension. A total of 780 Group Health members who have uncomplicated hypertension and are on anti-hypertensive medications will be randomly assigned to one of three groups if they are willing to participate. One group will receive usual care; the second will get home blood pressure monitors and instructions for using Group Health’s Web portal, MyGroupHealth (www.ghc.org). The third group will get all that, plus support from a Group Health pharmacist through the secure e-mail feature on MyGroupHealth. The study team will then compare how the various interventions affect outcomes such as blood pressure control, change in diastolic and systolic blood pressure, cost of care, and the satisfaction and health status of the participants.

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Long-Term Health Effects of Domestic Violence

• Principal Investigator: Robert S. Thompson, MD

This study, funded by a four-year, $2.4 million grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), is the largest and longest population-based investigation of the effects of domestic violence to date. It is assessing the impact of domestic violence on health care costs and utilization of adult women and their children over time. The study is also gauging how domestic violence affects women's social functioning, health status, and health risk behaviors. Researchers are surveying a random sample of more than 6,000 Group Health members aged 18 to 64, for an average of nine years. Previous research has shown that domestic violence affects 25 percent of all adult women and 8 percent to 15 percent of adult men sometime in their lives. But evidence of abuse shows up in only 1 percent of people's medical records. By combining women's self-reported survey data with information from automated medical records for the first time, Group Health researchers hope to increase society's understanding of the problem significantly.

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Vaccine Safety Datalink (VSD)

• Principal Investigator: Lisa A. Jackson, MD, MPH

More widespread use of vaccines has drawn attention to the importance of accurate assessment of vaccine safety. In 1990, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) established the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project, which now connects information in large databases maintained by eight American health plans, including Group Health. Combining data on immunizations and diseases for millions of people lets researchers conduct scientifically rigorous studies of vaccine safety and effectiveness. Several ongoing studies are funded under a 10-year CDC umbrella grant of about $1 million a year for the VSD Project, including the following:

• Pneumococcal Adult-dose Ranging Immunization Study (PARIS)
• Neurodevelopment of Children After Exposure as Infants to Thimerosal in Vaccines

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Effectiveness of a Web-Based Tailored Weight Management Program

• Principal Investigator: Robert J. Reid, MD, PhD

Funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and currently in the intervention phase, this four-arm randomized controlled clinical trial seeks to evaluate the effectiveness of individually tailored and Web-based weight loss interventions. Group Health is participating in this study in conjunction with Kaiser Permanente’s Care Management Institute, Kaiser Permanente Colorado Clinical Research Unit, and HealthMedia, Inc. It is the first study that DPC has conducted to recruit participants from the Group Health network in eastern Washington State.

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Improving Household Firearm Storage Practices in Alaska Native Villages

• Principal Investigator: David C. Grossman, MD, MPH

Suicide rates are more than 10 times higher for Alaska Native youth than for adolescents in the entire United States. More than six in 10 of these suicides are completed with firearms, which are common in Alaska (with at least one firearm present in six of 10 Alaskan homes, and an estimated nine of 10 homes in remote Alaskan villages). In a pilot study, these researchers showed that installing gun safes in the homes of village residents substantially improved storage practices there. This study will estimate the prevalence of firearm ownership and of specific firearm storage practices among residents of the Bristol Bay and Yukon-Kuskokwim regions of southwest Alaska. The researchers will help plan and execute a randomized trial of an intervention to improve firearm storage practices among residents of selected villages. This work is supported by a three-year, $450,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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Study Examples | Key Publications | Intro