Historically, medical research centered on urban areas near academic centers, inadvertently excluding millions who live in rural, underserved, low-income areas of the country. Around 1990, some primary care doctors felt that what they were seeing in practice wasn't like how those same problems were described in the research coming out of tertiary care centers.
They came together to form networks who studied and reported on clinical problems as they were seeing them in everyday practice. This was the birth of the first practice-based research network (PBRN) in the U.S. The result was ground breaking research that has redefined the management of health problems seen in primary care.
State and national networks currently number over 70, and are continually developing in order to address the clinical problems that doctors are discovering in their areas. Their size varies from a few dozen practioners to several hundred. Their strength is that the patients seen represent a true cross-section of primary care patients, unlike those seen in referral centers.
PBRNs are a hub for joining collaborative, participatory research without needing to be a sole investigator of the project. For clinician members, communication with colleagues in similar practice is enhanced, allowing the sharing of ideas, questions, observations and resource information. Networks also offer valuable information to each individual about how their own practice compares others.
