Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research and Education

Mission Statement

The mission of the UAB COERE is to build and maintain a successful program of research targeted at improving the quality and outcomes of health care. This is accomplished by:

Multidisciplinary Membership

Sponsored by the Schools of Business, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Health Professions, Medicine, Nursing, Optometry, Public Health, and Social and Behavioral Sciences, the Center has a membership of more than 200 faculty representing approximately 30 departments across the UAB campus.

Scope

The scope of outcomes research is broad, requiring a multidisciplinary approach. The COERE brings together clinical, biomedical, quantitative, behavioral, and social sciences researchers, offering a range of expertise.

Center Research

The COERE offers integrated scientific expertise and experience in all areas of outcomes and effectiveness research, including: quality measurement and improvement, patient-based outcomes assessment, outcomes management and tracking, economic and decision analytic modeling, clinical data analysis, and analysis of large administrative datasets. Center leadership applies this expertise to clinical and health services research through an active program of collaborative, investigator-initiated research and cooperative agreements.

Support for UAB's Research Infrastructure

The COERE is organized around six research and training units designed to build UAB's outcomes research infrastructure and function as University-wide shared facilities. They house faculty, staff and postdoctoral research trainees that collaborate on research projects to address issues of design and analytic methodology. Center leadership in these units provides mentoring and training opportunities in outcomes research and plays a crucial role in securing new extramural funding for UAB.

Achievements

Since formalized as a University-Wide Interdisciplinary Research Center, COERE leadership have been instrumental in the development and submission of more than $131M in funded interdisciplinary research grants. Through its work in quality measurement and improvement, COERE has become a resource to the health care industry around the state and nationally. An example of how the COERE’s research expertise has made it a national resource is the Achievable Benchmarks of Care (ABC™). In the area of training, COERE has an excellent track record in mentoring junior faculty to facilitate their training in clinical health services and outcomes research, and, as of July 1, 2003, the COERE has been awarded a 5-Year National Research Services Award Institutional Training Grant (T32) from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Economic Evaluation and Modeling Unit (EEMU)

Maria Pisu, PhD, Director

Faculty with expertise in decision analysis, including cost-effectiveness, cost-benefit analysis, and other econometrically focused outcomes research methods, mentor and train COERE postdoctoral fellows, clinical fellows, and UAB faculty in the methods of economic and decision-analytic modeling. The Unit also conducts periodic discussion groups for faculty to present their cost-effectiveness or decision-analytic models for peer-review discussion and feedback.

Statistical Design and Analysis Unit (SDAU)

Sharina Person, PhD, Director

This Unit provides statistical design, analytic, and data management assistance to UAB researchers interested in outcomes research. Members of the Unit specialize in utilizing large clinical and administrative data sets (e.g., Medicare or VA claims-based data files, HCFA�s Cooperative Cardiovascular Project), and quality measurement tools (e.g., ABC™ benchmarking methodology).

Health Outcomes Assessment Unit (HOAU)

Joshua Klapow, PhD, Director

The HOAU houses expertise and a resource library of tools and scoring methods for patient-based outcomes measurement. Unit faculty and postdoctoral trainees are available to consult with UAB faculty in choosing or developing appropriate instruments for outcomes assessment (e.g., health status, health-related quality of life, patient preferences) and their implementation for achieving desired research goals. Instrument development is guided by COERE faculty with expertise in psychometrics and measurement theory applications in outcomes evaluation.

Education and Training Unit (ETU)

Pamela Autrey, PhD, RN, Director

This Unit provides support to UAB faculty and graduate students in the form of discussion groups and seminars focused on outcomes research topics, including 1) a monthly Outcomes Research Discussion Group to encourage multidisciplinary interaction and collaboration and 2) a quarterly Perspectives in Outcomes Research seminar series that highlights the multidisciplinary nature of outcomes. The ETU is collaborating with the Schools of Education, Public Health, and Nursing and with the Health Services Research Administration to develop a cross-listed multidisciplinary academic outcomes management and research course that may form the basis of a certificate course in the future. The Unit is also developing a series of CME-based courses under its �Institute on Outcomes in Health Care.�

Health Informatics Unit (HIU)

Thomas Houston, MD, MPH, Director

This Unit focuses on the use and evaluation of information technology and its impact on health care processes, effectiveness, and outcomes. Examples of expertise in the HIU include the design and evaluation of internet-based interventions aimed at improving the quality of health care.

Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics (CERTs) of Musculoskeletal Disorders

Kenneth Saag, MD, Director; Jeroan Allison, MD, MSEpi, Co-Director

The UAB CERTs for Musculoskeletal Disorders is one of seven national centers funded under the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's CERTs program. Its focus is on improving physicians' management of the complex drug regimens for patients with arthritis and osteoporosis. The CERTs effectiveness research capabilities involve linkages between the UAB COERE, UAB Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center, Center for Metabolic Bone Disease, Pittman General Clinical Research Center, Department of Nutrition, and other centers. Through core support from government and industry, the CERTs develop collaborative research projects aimed at improving the effectiveness and quality of care in the treatment and management of patients with musculoskeletal disorders.

For additional information:

Deputy Director: C. Suzanne Baker, RN MPH
Email: coere@uab.edu
Phone: 205-934-6838
Website: www.dopm.uab.edu/coere