We propose a research development conference in Denver, Colorado on October 8-9 to generate a research agenda for behavioral health in primary care, or "collaborative care." The agenda will be built upon the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) systematic review plus recent clinical, operational, and financial research findings in collaborative care. Once the research agenda is established, it will be implemented and disseminated throughout the collaborative care research community. Additionally, the research agenda will guide the efforts of the newly formed Collaborative Care Research Network (CCRN), a subnetwork of the American Academy of Family Physicians National Research Network (AAFP NRN).The CCRN includes practices which offer behavioral health services in the context of primary care. Specific goals of the CCRN research development conference include: 1) to establish and prioritize a set of research goals to evaluate the integration and collaboration of behavioral health and primary care;2) to identify and respond to the set of questions identified in the AHRQ systematic review and other publications concerning the effectiveness of collaborative care;3) to inform AHRQ about the identified research goals to assist the development of future contract task orders;and 4) to inform investigators outside of the existing PBRN community about areas to serve as the focus for investigator initiated research. We will convene national leaders from various healthcare disciplines and communities who can assist in the development of a research agenda based on the specific goals listed above, which will then become the work focus for the CCRN. By drawing on the knowledge of experienced practice-based research network (PBRN) leaders, we will leverage their expertise in conjunction with knowledge provided by leaders in collaborative care. The results of the national CCRN research agenda will lead to a set of products that are not only responsive to the emerging questions being asked about collaborative care, but will also respond to questions raised but not yet investigated by the larger PBRN agenda.

R13HS018318

2009-07-01

2010-02-28