Check out SPUR-Net

The Southern Primary-care Urban Research Network, or SPUR-Net, was started in 2001, supported by funds from the Health Research and Services Administration and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The Baylor College of Medicine Department of Family and Community Medicine serves as the academic hub for SPUR-Net. SPUR-Net is a partnership of the leading primary health care providers in Houston, including Baylor Family Medicine, the Harris County Hospital District Community Health Centers, Healthcare for the Homeless−Houston, Inc., the Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, the Memorial Family Medicine Residency, and the San Jacinto Methodist Family Medicine Residency.

SPUR-Net clinics are located in the Houston metropolitan areas; 50 percent of the clinics are in urban areas and 50 percent are in suburban areas. SPUR-Net currently includes 32 clinics and 313 primary care clinicians, with approximately 980,000 patient encounters annually, including patients from diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. Currently there are 313 clinician members: 50 percent family physicians, 26 percent general internists, 20 percent pediatricians, 1 percent nurse practitioners, 1 percent physician assistants and 2 percent in other specialties.

SPUR-Net’s mission is to improve the quality and safety of health care in primary care settings. Clinician-members of SPUR-Net’s constituent organizations engage in research projects that seek to identify and solve problems commonly encountered in their practices. SPUR-Net provides the research infrastructure and methodological expertise needed to complete the projects. The projects are designed to maximize the gathering of data, to minimize additional paperwork and to avoid disruption of patient services in the clinics. Through its various research projects, SPUR-Net strives to enhance the professional and academic vitality of primary care practices. SPUR-Net is governed by an executive committee that consists of representatives from member organizations; a scientific advisory group that consists of a core of researchers; clinicians from the network; patient advisory groups from member organizations; and an information systems committee that consists of information technology experts from the network to help with listserv communication, Web site updates and electronic research tools.

SPUR-Net’s priority research areas are chronic disease management such as diabetes, hypertension and hypercholesterolemia; cancer prevention; and patient safety. Methods used in related projects include the use of health information technology, mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative), decision support tools and informed decision aids. See the list below for studies conducted since 2001.

For more information about SPUR-Net, visit www.spurnetwork.org. You can also call (713) 798-3636 or send an e-mail to Network Coordinator Anna Perales at aperales@bcm.edu, Program Director Grace Kuo, PharmD, M.P.H., at gkuo@bcm.edu, or Executive Director Stephen Spann, M.D., M.B.A., at sspann@bcm.edu.

SPUR-Net studies:

1. Microalbuminuria Screening Study, funded by HRSA and AHRQ for infrastructure support
2. Diabetes Outcomes Study, funded by Eli Lilly and Company
3. PRINS Collaborative Study, funded by AHRQ, demographic survey
4. Herbal Use Survey, funded by HRSA and AHRQ for infrastructure support
5. Stress in Primary Care, funded by HRSA and AHRQ for infrastructure support
6. Compliance with ATP-III Lipid Management Guidelines, funded by AHRQ
7. The Effect of an EMR on Medication Safety, funded by AHRQ
8. Colorectal Cancer Screening: Patient Preference, funded by AHRQ and NCI/NIH, in progress
9. Physician Uncertainty Reduction for Hypertension Control, funded by NHLBI/NIH, in progress
10. Effects of Literacy on Medication Safety in the Elderly, funded by NIA/NIH, in progress
11. SIP 23—Evaluating the Effect of Professional Education on Provider Interventions for Informed Decision Making About Prostate Cancer Screening, funded by CDC, in progress
12. Safe Use of Medications in Primary Care Practices, funded by AHRQ, in progress
13. Patient Awareness and Consumer Education Research Center, funded by AHRQ, subcontract, in progress
14. PRIME-Net: Chronic Non-malignant Pain Survey, funded by NIH, subcontract, in progress
15. PRIME-NET: Screening for Acanthosis Nigrican, funded by NIH, subcontract, in progress

Articles published as a result of SPUR-Net research:

1. Kuo GM, Hawley ST, Weiss LT, Balkrishnan R, Volk RJ. Herbal use among urban multiethnic primary care patients: A cross-sectional survey. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine 2004, 4:18 (2 December 2004). Available from: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/4/18.
2. Tran A, Haidet P, Street RL Jr, O’Malley K, Martin F, Ashton CM. Empowering communication: A community-based intervention for patients. Patient Educ Couns 2004;52:113-121.
3. Goodrick GK, Kneuper S., Steinbauer JR. Stress perceptions in community clinic: A pilot survey of patients and physicians. J. Comm Health, 2005; 30:75-88.
4. Fordis M, King JE, Ballantyne CM, Jones PH, Schneider KH, Spann SJ, Greenberg SB, Greisinger AJ. Comparison of the instructional efficacy of internet-based CME with live interactive CME workshops. JAMA. 2005;294(9):1043-51.
5. Spann SJ, Nutting PA, Galliher JM, Peterson KA, Pavlik VN, Dickinson LM, Volk RJ. Management of type-2 diabetes in the primary care setting: A practice-based research network study. Ann Fam Med 2006;4:23-31.
6. Kuo GM, Mullen PD, McQueen A, Swank PR, Rogers J. Cross-sectional comparison of electronic and paper medical records on medication counseling in primary care clinics: A SPUR-Net study. J Am Board Fam Med (in press).