ABSTRACT
Primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs) are groups of primary care clinicians and practices working together to answer community-based healthcare questions and translate research findings into practice. They comprise groups of clinicians, diversified members of clinical teams, adept practice facilitators, informed and engaged patients, and skilled researchers. PBRNs are leveraging their infrastructure to further serve their members by integrating programs that provide their practitioners with medical education credits and the quality improvement training required by relevant medical boards. Several aspects of primary care are changing rapidly, including financing, electronic record keeping and integration of healthcare systems. The PBRNs are poised to inform how emerging, integrated electronic data repositories can be used to develop robust standardised primary care datasets. As PBRNs reconfigure their sustainability models, they will seek to optimise their opportunities to market their practice improvement expertise without marginalising their practice-based research activities.
