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• Conducting Studies

Conducting Studies

Collaboration

APIRE Psychiatric Research Network (PRN) studies are developed and implemented in close collaboration with PRN members and randomly selected psychiatrists from the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Masterfile of Physicians.  PRN members provide systematically collected data to track changes in psychiatric practice and study characteristics of psychiatric patients and the treatments they receive.  In addition, PRN members are periodically offered the opportunity to participate in specific studies examining critical clinical or policy issues.  Findings from the PRN have been valuable in assessing the complexity and severity of psychiatric patients; the range of treatments that are used; problems in accessing treatments consistent with evidence-based psychiatric recommendations; and the financing mechanisms used to pay for psychiatric services.

The PRN has recently collaborated with the American Psychological Association (APA) and the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) in conducting the Federal Employee Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) Parity Study in the Washington, DC Area. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the American College of Physicians (ACP) have recently worked with our PRN members on the National Depression Management Leadership Initiative. Dr. Mark Olfson of Columbia University teamed with the PRN on his NIMH-funded grant, Medication Management Decisions in Schizophrenia.

Confidentiality

Study procedures are designed to protect the confidentiality of both patients and psychiatrists.  The PRN staff adheres to federal regulations regarding data security for medical research studies.  Studies are observational and should not affect the physician-patient relationship or interactions.  All study protocols are approved by the APA Institutional Review Board and by local review boards when necessary.

Convenience

Every effort is made to ensure that all study protocols are as time-efficient, unobtrusive and simple as possible.  Clinicians now have the option of completing surveys through the Internet on our secure website.  Although several studies are undertaken each year, data collection occurs only during designated time periods, with each study requiring no more than a few hours to complete.   The demands that Network studies place on PRN members vary depending on the research questions being investigated, but study protocols are flexible and can be adapted to different office routines.