Health Services Research (HSR) seeks funding to support Denver Health’s mission and broad-based initiatives including patient safety, bioterrorism and hospital redesign. HSR implements and conducts research studies and programs, publishes articles in peer-reviewed academic journals and presents the findings in national and local forums. HSR also assists our physicians in enhancing the research component of their clinical practice.

Research projects involving HSR personnel are supported primarily through grant and contract awards received from government agencies and private foundations.  To date, HSR's funding portfolio includes $11.7 million in research support.  Present funding sources include the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Office of Population Affairs (OPA). 

The department of Health Services Research actively seeks to promote research collaboration both internally between Denver Health personnel and departments and externally between Denver Health and other healthcare systems and organizations.  Current external research partners include Abt Associates, Boston University, and Denver Health's ACTION network safety net partners.

What is ACTION?

An initiative of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, ACTION stands for Accelerating Change and Transformation in Networks.  The ACTION program operates as a five-year implementation model intended to promote innovations in health care by facilitating the translation of research findings into practice.  Denver Health is one of fifteen ACTION partnerships, and leads a network of safety net research collaborators: Harborview Medical Center, Hennepin County Medical Center, Parkland Health and Hospital System, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, and the University of Colorado Hospital.

For more detailed information about any current project, please click on the project title.

Year of Award	Project Title	Denver Health PI	Funding Source
2008	Preventing Pressure Ulcers in Hospitals	Catherine Dingley, RN FNP PHD	AHRQ (ACTION)
2008	Supporting the Development of Regional Planning Coalitions	Gregory M. Bogdan, MD	AHRQ (ACTION)
2008	Examination of the Feasibility of Obtaining 3rd-Party Payer Reimbursements for Adolescent Vaccination in the School Setting	Judith Shlay, MD	CDC
2008	Evaluating School-Based Influenza Vaccination Programs that Bill Health Insurance	Judith Shlay, MD	CDC
2008	Integration of Family Planning Services into an STD Clinic Setting	Judith Shlay, MD	OPA
2007	Reducing Hospital Associated Infections (HAI): Improving Patient Safety through Implementing Multidisciplinary Interventions	Connie Savor Price, MD	AHRQ (ACTION)
2007	Assessing the Impact of a Dynamic Chronic Care Registry on the Quality of Care	Henry Fischer, MD	AHRQ (ACTION)
2007	Improving Asthma Care in an Integrated Safety Net through a Commercially Available Electronic Medical Record	Sheri L. Eisert, PhD	AHRQ (ACTION)

• Fischer HH, MacKenzie TD, Steele AW, Eisert SL, Moore SL, Durfee MJ. Assessing the Impact of a Dynamic Chronic Care Registry on the Quality of Care: Implementation Handbook. Prepared for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Published online 2009 May 27.
  
• Eisert SL, Durfee MJ, Welsh A, Moore SL, Gabow PA, Mehler PS.  Changes in insurance status and access to care in an integrated safety net healthcare system.  J Community Health. Volume 34, Issue 2 (2009), Page 122. Published online 2008 Oct 21; DOI: 10.1007/s10900-008-9136-2.
  
• Eisert SL, Mehler PS, Gabow PA. Can America's urban safety net systems be a solution to unequal treatment? J Urban Health. 2008 Sep;85(5):766-78. Epub 2008 Jun 14.
  
• Gabow, P.A., Albert R., Kaufman L., Wilson M., Eisert SL.  Picture of health:  Denver Health uses 5S to deliver quality, safety, efficiency.  Industrial Engineer; 44-48, February 2008.

Additional publications and presentations can be found here.