Preventive Video Education in Waiting Rooms Project
National Cancer Institute
Principal Investigator – Judith Walsh, MD, MPH
UCSF CRN Co-Investigator – Michael Potter, MD

The project will develop and test an interactive video program for use with patients in waiting rooms in a variety of outpatient primary care settings. The program will educate patients and encourage them to get breast, cervical, and colorectal cancer when indicated. The outpatient settings will be drawn from the diverse membership of the UCSF Collaborative Research Network (CRN) a practice-based research network coordinated by the Department of Family and Community Medicine at UCSF.

A Pharmacy Based Intervention to Increase Colorectal Cancer Screening
Alexander and Margaret Stewart Trust
Principal Investigator – Michael Potter, MD
Co-Principal Investigator – Lisa Kroon, PharmD

This pilot project will compare outcomes when eligible pharmacy customers are offered information about colorectal cancer screening versus a home fecal immunochemical test (FIT) within the context of annual Walgreens Pharmacy influenza vaccination clinics. Patients who receive FIT will mail the completed kits to Quest Diagnostics and results will be sent to the patient and to their primary care physician. Patients and pharmacists will be interviewed at the conclusion of the study to understand the feasibility of each intervention arm.

The FLU-FIT Program at Kaiser Permanente Northern California
American Cancer Society
Principal Investigator – Michael Potter, MD
Co-Principal Investigator – Carol Somkin, PhD
UCSF Co-Investigators – Judith Walsh, MD, MPH; Stephen McPhee, MD; Lawrence W. Green DrPH

This is a 4-year dissemination and implementation study of the provision of fecal immunochemical tests in the context of annual influenza vaccination campaigns within Kaiser Permanente Northern California service areas. The work will incorporate a pilot phase at Kaiser Permanente Santa Clara, a time-randomized intervention at 4 additional service areas, a diffusion intervention across all of Kaiser Permanente Northern California, and evaluation using the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance). This project builds of pilot work at Kaiser Permanente Northern California funded by the National Institutes of Health’s HMO Cancer Research Network.

The FLU-FOBT Program: Translation of an Evidence-Based Colorectal Cancer Screening Program to Primary Care Settings Where Disparities Persist
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Principal Investigator – Michael Potter, MD
UCSF Co-Investigators – Judith Walsh, MD, MPH, Stephen McPhee, MD; Lawrence W. Green DrPH

This is a 3-year dissemination and implementation study of the provision of fecal occult blood tests in the context of annual influenza vaccination campaign within the San Francisco Department of Public Health. The work will incorporate a pilot phase at Chinatown Public Health Center and a time-randomized intervention at 6 additional public health clinics in San Francisco, and evaluation using the RE-AIM framework (reach, effectiveness, adoption, implementation, and maintenance). This project builds of pilot work at San Francisco General Hospital funded by the American Cancer Society.

Health Literacy and Self-Management in Heart Failure
National Heart Lung and Blood Institute
UCSF Principal Investigator – Dean Schillinger, MD

Inadequate health literacy skills are common and associated with poor health outcomes in diseases such as heart failure. Heart failure (HF) disease management programs that focus on building self-management skills can reduce rates of hospitalization. We aim to examine, in a multi-site randomized trial of 600 patients, whether a literacy-sensitive intervention to improve heart failure self-management skills can improve health outcomes, particularly those with inadequate literacy. This research will determine whether a multi-session intervention that teaches essential skills until patients reach behavioral goals (Teach to Goal, TTG) is superior to a Brief Educational Intervention (BEI) consisting of a single educational session, for the outcomes of incidence of hospitalization or death and heart failure-related quality of life over 12 months. 200 Patients will be enrolled from the clinics in the Community Health Network of San Francisco.

San Francisco Health Plan SMART STEPS Project:
Improving Disease Management for High Risk Patients with Diabetes
Agency for Healthcare Research Quality
Principal Investigator – Dean Schillinger, MD
Co-Principal Investigator – Margaret Handley, MPH, PhD

This study is an evaluation of a large Automated Telephone Self Management/Health Information Technology (ATSM/HIT) initiative at the San Francisco Health Plan (SFHP), a locally administered Medicaid managed care plan in San Francisco. The project involves approximately 500 patients with diabetes who are attending one of 4 Community Health Network Clinics in San Francisco and speak English, Spanish, or Cantonese. SFHP will be enrolling patients over a two year period into one of 3 study arms: wait-list for ATSM, immediate ATSM, and ATSM plus a medication activation enhancement. The evaluation will focus on the effects of ATSM on both patient-centered outcomes and on clinical outcomes through a “real-world” effectiveness study. This study builds on a prior UCSF Collaborative Research Network Study, the IDEALL Project, which demonstrated the value ATSM support for high risk populations.

PRIMENET Chronic Non-Malignant Pain Survey
Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research
Principal Investigator – Robert Leverance, MD
UCSF Co-Investigator – Michael Potter, MD

This $24.4 million, seven-year grant will enable the UCSF Center to Address Disparities in Children’s Oral Health to launch new programs in preventing early childhood tooth decay. The programs will include new research to compare methods to prevent dental caries in children, as well as efforts to integrate and implement current scientific understanding across a variety of primary care and social service settings. One of the programs will compare the effects of fluoride varnish application in a primary care clinic versus referral by a primary care clinic to community dentists in medically underserved communities. The UCSF Collaborative Research Network is facilitating the recruitment of community practices for this study and providing consultation pertaining to implementation of practice-based research in primary care medical settings.