Oneflorida+ Clinical research network
Uniting researchers to innovate and improve health care
The OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network unites researchers, clinicians, patients and stakeholders across Florida and in select Georgia and Alabama cities to address some of today’s biggest health challenges. The network’s 14 academic institutions and health systems provide care for about 16 million patients in the Southeast, creating a dynamic regional resource to facilitate health care research and improve health, health care and health policy.
Established in 2013, the OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network is led by Elizabeth Shenkman, Ph.D., and Duane Mitchell, M.D., Ph.D., through the UF Clinical and Translational Science Institute. OneFlorida+ partners with academic health care systems as well as private, public, and community health care systems to create an enduring infrastructure for a wide range of health research. OneFlorida+ is also part of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded national clinical data research network known as the National Patient-Centered Clinical Research Network (PCORnet). This national resource enables insights from high quality health data, research expertise, and patient partnerships to deliver fast, trustworthy answers answers that advance health outcomes.
The OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network was designated as one of the nation’s 13 clinical data research networks in 2015 by PCORI to accelerate the translation of promising research findings into improved patient care. The PCORI Board of Governors approved more than $7.5 million to support the ongoing development and expansion of the OneFlorida+ Data Trust and its involvement in PCORnet.
Together, OneFlorida+ partners provide high quality health care to more than 18 million people throughout Florida and in Atlanta, Georgia and Birmingham, Alabama. The strength of the network is in its diversity. Research is conducted in real-world settings and results can be implemented in the network’s practices to promote the uptake and sustainability of evidence-based health-care practices.
OneFlorida+ Research Infrastructure
The OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network unites researchers, clinicians, patients and stakeholders to address some of the biggest health challenges and serve as a resource for the region in improving health, health care, and health policy. To support research aimed at addressing the South’s most pressing health care needs, OneFlorida+ research infrastructure allows investigators to:
Identify Cohorts
Identify cohorts and conduct observational research using aggregate and limited patient-level health data from diverse partners across the Southeast
Patient Care
Identify and intervene with patients at the point of care
Effective Research
Conduct pragmatic clinical trials and other interventional studies, including implementation science and comparative effectiveness research, in eligible, research-ready clinics.
OneFlorida+’s Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) is one of 178 national PBRNs registered with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The OneFlorida+ Practice-based Research Network allows researchers to conduct pragmatic clinical trials and other interventional studies in OneFlorida+’s research-ready clinics. Research is conducted in real-world settings to promote the uptake and sustainability of evidence-based health care practices.
The Practice Network is managed by the Integrated Clinical Research Program, which coordinates a variety of research supports designed to create an efficient and streamlined process for practice and patient recruitment, data collection and assessment of patient outcomes.
OneFlorida+ Data Trust
The OneFlorida+ Data Trust is regularly updated with the inclusion of new partners and data refreshes from existing partners. All data is cleaned, transformed, curated and contained in this centralized data warehouse, allowing streamlined inquiries and uniform results.
The OneFlorida+ Clinical Research Network offers investigators the opportunity to engage in research with ethnically, racially and geographically diverse populations across the state of Florida. Research queries can be conducted using deidentified patient records in the OneFlorida+ Data Trust, which assists with hypothesis generation and study feasibility assessments.
The Data Trust is accessible to investigators by contacting the OneFlorida+ Coordinating Center. Legal agreements for data use and use of a centralized IRB have already been negotiated with all partners, reducing paperwork and administrative burden.
Data from the Data Trust include:
- Diagnoses
- Procedures
- Medications
- Patient demographics
- Unique patient codes for re-identification by network partners
- Other data elements in the PCORnet Common Data Model (CDM)
Scientists and clinicians across the Southeast rely on the OneFlorida+ Data Trust to support a variety of research activities, including hypothesis generation, cohort discovery, prep-to-research activities, participant enrollment, observational studies, research workflow (such as informed consent and eligibility determination), and study data collection.
OneFlorida+ Engagement
Engaging citizen scientists and other stakeholders in health research can provide the study team with valuable insights and different perspectives that increase the usefulness, usability and accessibility of study findings. OneFlorida+ researchers routinely confer with a variety of stakeholders to strengthen our resources and infrastructure and improve health research.
Citizen Scientists
Community members with an interest in health research may apply to join the OneFlorida+ Citizen Scientist program. After undergoing a brief training to familiarize them with health research, citizen scientists work alongside scientists as consultants and collaborators, offering lay perspectives and insights on everything from the study aims to participant recruiting to dissemination of the study findings.
Health System Leaders
OneFlorida+ engages with CEOs, chief operating officers, chief medical officers and other health system leaders through annual individual in-person meetings to leverage their expertise. OneFlorida+ also provides ongoing support to them for transmission of electronic health record data to the OneFlorida+Data Trust and for submitting additional data elements to allow for more robust studies.
Clinicians
OneFlorida+ identifies and works with recognized physician leaders in communities throughout the Southeast to help develop recruiting practices for study participation. Clinicians who participate in studies also have access to the OneFlorida+ Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Program, an important engagement tool that contributes to the sustainability of an intervention after research completion.
Contact OneFlorida+
To discuss how to leverage this unique network effectively, researchers should contact
Brittney Roth Manning, onefloridaoperations@health.ufl.edu or 352-627-9470.
