Collaborations
In addition to conducting independent research and serving as a catalyst for research within the Maine Medical Center community, CORE collaborates extensively with researchers at other institutions locally, nationally and internationally.
Several long-standing institutional partnerships have been developed focusing on specific areas of research expertise within CORE, while other partnerships represent larger educational and training initiatives at Maine Medical Center.
Institutions
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cecs/The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Policy is dedicated to analysis of the United States healthcare system and outcomes associated with care. The Institute is particularly famous for its landmark research on regional variations in healthcare.
Through CORE’s collaboration with the Dartmouth Institute, CORE investigators have access to the Medicare claims database, which can be used to address research questions regarding the healthcare utilization of the Medicare population of the United States. Since its inception over 20 years ago, CORE has contributed to The Dartmouth Atlases of Health Care, a series of print and web based publications that provide a comprehensive look at healthcare utilization within the Medicare population of the United States.
Tufts University School of Medicine
http://www.tufts.edu/med/education/mdmainetrack.htmlMaine Medical Center recently established a partnership with Tufts University School of Medicine to offer a joint medical degree program. With its leadership in education and training at Maine Medical Center, CORE is centrally involved in the curriculum development for this new program. Additionally, the affiliation with Tufts will provide CORE and the Maine Medical Center community with new opportunities for collaborative research with Tufts University School of Medicine.
International Patient Decision Aid Standards Collaboration (IPDAS)
http://ipdas.ohri.ca/The International Patient Decision Aid Standards Collaboration is a group of researchers, practitioners and stakeholders throughout the world. The IPDAS Collaboration has developed a set of international standards for quality for patient decision aids. CORE serves as one of the sites for reviewing patient decision aids and assessing if they meet these quality standards.
University of Southern Maine
http://www.usm.maine.edu/The University of Southern Maine serves as the primary academic research institute in the Greater Portland area. Located within walking distance of CORE, the University of Southern Maine and CORE collaborate on a variety of projects, primarily through the Muskie School of Public Service. Additionally, CORE has ties to geographers, epidemiologists and toxicologists at the University. CORE is a collaborator on a research grant awarded to the University designed to develop research infrastructure and capacity, which will further strengthen these partnerships.
John M. Eisenberg Clinical Decisions and Communications Science Center (The Eisenberg Center)
http://effectivehealthcare.ahrq.gov/aboutUs.cfm?abouttype=eisenbergThe Eisenberg Center is funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and is located at the Oregon Health and Science University. Its mission is to translate knowledge about healthcare into summaries and decision support materials that are useful for clinicians and consumers. With its expertise in clinical decision making and the development of patient decision aids, CORE has collaborated with the Eisenberg Center to translate evidence reports into patient decision aids.
Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group (NNECVDSG)
http://www.nnecdsg.org/The Northern New England Cardiovascular Disease Study Group is a consortium of researchers and clinicians founded in 1987 with the goal of providing information on the management of cardiovascular disease in Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine. The group maintains a registry of all patients receiving coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and heart valve replacement surgery, which are used to address a variety of outcomes-related research questions. Maine Medical Center is one of the seven participating institutions, and with its expertise in cardiovascular outcomes research, CORE has contributed to the leadership of the group and analysis of data since its inception.
Harvard Injury Control Research Center
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/research/hicrc/index.htmlThe Harvard Injury Control Research Center is located at the Harvard University School of Public Health. Its mission is to reduce injury through training, research, intervention, evaluation, and dissemination. The Center focuses its research on the causes of injury and the development of prevention and intervention strategies and policies. Researchers at CORE serve as lead faculty at the Center and are involved in the Center’s research on transportation safety and motor vehicle injury.
Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making (FIMDM)
http://www.informedmedicaldecisions.org/The Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making is a non-profit organization based in Boston, Massachusetts, dedicated to helping patients make informed health decisions. Much of the Foundation’s research involves the design and development of decision support tools. CORE recently completed a research project with the Foundation characterizing pathways to cardiac revascularization in order to identify the patients and timing amenable to shared decision making. Additionally, CORE faculty serve as medical advisors for the Foundation and help review materials developed by the Foundation.
Maine Medical Center
http://www.mmc.org/mmc_homepage.cfm?id=794&SubDomain=trueSeveral of CORE’s investigators are active members of clinical departments within the Hospital. CORE also collaborates and consults with investigators and clinicians in other departments. While the following departments represent current collaborations, CORE is always interested in developing new partnerships and welcomes the opportunity to build research infrastructure in all clinical departments.
Cardiology
Internal Medicine
Pediatrics
Obstetrics and Gynecology
Psychology
Family Medicine
Center for Tobacco Independence
MaineHealth
http://www.mmc.org/mh_homepage.cfmMaineHealth is a healthcare system serving the southern and central regions of the state. It consists of hospitals, clinicians, home care facilities and long-term care providers. Maine Medical Center is a member institution of MaineHealth. In addition to providing access to care, MaineHealth has a wide variety of programs aimed at improving the health and wellbeing of the community.
CORE has provided evaluation support for MaineHealth community health and quality improvement programs. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, CORE staff have evaluated a variety of programs, including learning collaboratives, chronic illness self-management programs, and hospital quality programs.