Five New R3 Awards Extend the Benefit of Research

Earlier this year, Donaghue made five new R3 – Making Research Relevant & Ready awards to help investigators extend the benefit of their previous Donaghue-funded research.

The R3 program promotes the knowledge gained from Donaghue-funded research so that it will improve health. This program is built on the recognition that expertise from disciplines outside those traditionally eligible for research funding is needed for scaling, dissemination, and the sustainability of evidence-based programs and practices. Each award is for $60,500 and 18 months.

Amber E. Barnato, MD, MPH
Dartmouth College
Narrative Engagement to Motivate Advance Care Planning
Consultant: Sound Physicians

This R3 project will develop a web‐based CME intervention to increase providers’ motivation for advanced care planning and will be focused on hospitalists who care for patients with serious illnesses. The consultant will guide CME development to complement existing e‐learning in serious illness communication and advance care planning. The initial plan is to have providers listen to stories about surrogates experiences making decisions about life support for incapacitated family members in the ICU and then compare them to generate simple, memorable decision principles. The stories will be drawn from their ICUStoryWeb and Donaghue-funded debriefing interviews.

Becca Levy, PhD
Professor of Epidemiology and Psychology
Yale School of Public Health
Creating the Community Health Empowerment Site
Consultant: Yale Web Technology Team

The R3 grant funds will create an innovative evidence-based website that builds on existing tools, such as a computer presentation of positive age images, that originated from their successful Donaghue-funded randomized controlled trial. Because recent research has found that ageism is increasing, a growing public-health need exists to develop an effective dissemination platform. The R3 funds will be used to collaborate with a creative web-designer team to develop an interactive website that has the capability of improving views of aging and, therefore, well-being among older individuals on a large scale.

Simon Mahler, MD
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine
Wake Forest University
The HEART Pathway: Local Implementation to Broad Dissemination
Consultants: Innovative Public Relations, Inc; RevBoss; g-Innovations

The goal of this R3 project is to develop a comprehensive strategy for scaling the HEART Pathway beyond its successful local implementation toward the goal of improving the quality and value of chest pain care across the U.S. The research team has established a substantial body of scientific evidence supporting the safe and effective use of the HEART Pathway to guide chest pain care. To enhance the scalability of the HEART Pathway, Mahler’s team has partnered with Impathiq Inc, to translate the HEART Pathway into SMART-FHIR technology, which is compatible with most EHR systems and allows health systems to download applications using minimal IT resources

Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH
Associate Professor of Health Care Policy
Harvard Medical School
Helping States Help Patients Find Price Data
Consultant: Freedman HealthCare

This project will create a roadmap for state organizations that seek to increase consumers’ use of health care prices data. First, they will describe the regulatory landscape by focusing on at least 10 states who have all payer claims databases (APCDs). Second, the project team will explore the needs and objectives of potential data users to define needs and opportunities for this data. Through interviews and surveys with at least 15 organizations (e.g., Angie’s list, Google, Bing) who use similar data, the project team will explore data availability, data access provisions, costs of production and legal obstacles to understand their needs such as data use permissions, format, contractual requirements and financial arrangements. The findings from the interviews on barriers and opportunities will be summarized in a white paper for states to use in advancing the design and implementation of reporting projects. Another key component will be suggestions to states on how to use current technology such as Google Analytics to monitor internet search traffic and interest in price and data use that can help states adjust dissemination efforts.

Joann P. Reinhardt , PhD
Director of Research
The New Jewish Home Research Institute on Aging
Sustainable Practice Change for Improved Nursing Home Care
Consultant: Spragens Associates, LLC

R3 funds will be used to design, implement, and test a sustainable Goals of Care Plan and associated interview tool to assist inter-disciplinary care-planning teams. They will include a formal care plan and structured conversation guide to help clinicians navigate the process of establishing personal preferences for health care decision making. The development and testing of user friendly, standardized materials for communication to establish goals of care, educate elders and families about treatment options for end-of-life care, and document choices via medical orders is necessary for high quality nursing home care.