Steven P. Schmidt, PhD

As conversations regarding health care reform grow more intense, the term “Comparative Effectiveness Research” (CER) has been added to our vocabulary – seemingly almost overnight. $1.1 billion in funding was allocated to fund CER in the recently passed federal economic recovery package. The purpose of this CER is “to conduct, support, or synthesize research that compares the clinical outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of items, services, and procedures that are used to prevent, diagnose, or treat diseases, disorders, and other health conditions” (ARRA, supra, Title VIII, Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). CER is just what the words suggest: research that analyzes groups of patients to identify associations between treatments, and care strategies upon patient outcomes. Some experts suggest that evidence for the best therapies or care strategies exists for only 10-20% of the conditions treated. This means there is a desperate need for evidenced-based strategies for 80% of the patients that we care for. Our research agenda at Summa is positioning Summa Health System to be a leader in Comparative Effectiveness Research.

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Terry Albanese, PhD

Four years ago, Kyle Allen DO, along with Senior Services staff, and researchers within Summa’s Health Services Research and Education Institute (HSREI) began meeting monthly with researchers from The University of Akron, Kent State University, and NEOUCOM who share an interest in geriatrics research and education. Also at the table were representatives from the Area Agency on Aging, who have a history of collaboration with Summa’s Senior Services. Representatives from these agencies included physicians, pharmacists, nurses, social workers, psychologists, sociologists, and psychiatrists who recognized the value of interdisciplinary collaboration and the exchange of essential knowledge, skills, and resources.

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Steven P. Schmidt, PhD & Donna Hinkle

Summa Akron City and St. Thomas are hosting more research fellows this summer than ever before. The Summa Foundation funded salaries for 35 Summer Research Fellows that represent undergraduate, graduate, and medical institutions throughout the state. The Fellows were selected from over 100 applicants through a competitive application and interview process. Applicants rank their top three choices from a list of available research opportunities and projects. They are then selected by the Summa mentor/investigator as to the needs of the project and the student’s experience and interests. The fellowships last for approximately 6 weeks and culminate in a scientific poster session. Each fellow will author a poster that will be presented at the third annual Summer Research Fellow Poster Day on Friday, July 30th. The poster session is open to all interested staff, administration, and collaborators and members of our community of research.

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Postgraduate Day 2010 took on a new format this year in that it was actually two days.  The interactive poster session was held from 4-6pm the afternoon of Friday, June 4th in the lobby of the Critical Care Center.  It made for a nice setting where the presenters were able to discuss their research with the judges and others from our research community.  There were many positive comments about the new format, as well as the opportunities everyone had to converse about the projects.  The oral presentations were held on the following Monday morning beginning at 8am.  Fifteen papers were presented in the categories of basic science, clinical science and medical education categories.  The presenters each did an excellent job sharing the results of their work, and many interesting questions were brought forth by the audience.  Awards for the winners in the various categories were presented later that evening and are listed below.

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Kyle Allen, MD was awarded a $10,000 grant from the FirstMerit Foundation to fund the development and production of a palliative care educational video and learning packets focusing on teaching community care givers to assist chronically ill patients and families in making advance care planning decisions that are centered on their values and life experiences.There are currently no educational programs available to instruct community caregivers how to promote advance care planning in a community setting. This project is an off-shoot of the Promoting Effective Advance Care in the Elderly (PEACE) Trial, funded by the National Palliative Care Research Center, and is a collaboration among Summa Health System, The University of Akron, Kent State University, Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine and the Area Agency on Aging 10B, Inc.

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