RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Looking Back to Move Forward: Reflections of PBRN Directors
JF The Journal of the American Board of Family
                Medicine
JO J Am Board Fam Med
FD American Board of Family Medicine
SP 955
OP 968
DO 10.3122/jabfm.2023.230271R2
VO 37
IS 5
A1 Peek, C. J.
A1 Reed, Frank M.
A1 Calonge, Ned
A1 Nutting, Paul A.
A1 Hickner, John
A1 Pace, Wilson D.
A1 Carroll, Jennifer
A1 Niebauer, Linda
A1 Green, Larry A.
YR 2024
UL http://www.jabfm.org/content/37/5/955.abstract
AB This article looks back on the story of the Ambulatory Sentinel Practice Network (ASPN) and its successor, the National Research Network (NRN), through the eyes of its leaders during the first 40 years. Facilitated conversations over 2 years iteratively coalesced key facts and patterns in this collective account of what they had observed. Time-durable patterns observed are distilled for interpretation and application by contemporary practice-based research network (PBRN) leaders as they move forward. Looking back is done via developmental eras. The ASPN was proposed in 1978 as a set of change strategies for primary care research, ASPN gathered momentum through efforts of individuals, institutions, and small grants that mobilized enthusiasm and commitment in the face of headwinds. The network expanded into the research mainstream from 1988, addressing large socially important questions with greater acceptance and volume of PBRN research. The ASPN is now in an era of scaling up and adapting to huge technological, organizational, and business shifts and a growing emphasis on patient and community engagement, safety, and disparities. Archetypal dilemmas and balances that emerged and reemerged across these eras are distilled, along with ways they were addressed at the time. The authors then project their 40-year experience to future vistas they believe the PBRN value proposition can be adapted and extended; what they regard as promising directions future leaders to take.