Chris van Weel, MD, PhD Helen Smith, BmedSci, BM BS, MSc, DM John W. Beasley, MD Nijmegen, the Netherlands; Southampton, England; and Madison, Wisconsin Submitted, revised, July 18, 2000. From the Department of Family Medicine, University of Nijmegen, and the Nijmegen Family Practice Academic Network (C.V.W.); Aldermoor Health Centre, University of Southampton, and the Wessex Primary Care Research Network (H.S.); and the Department of Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin, and the Wisconsin Research Network, Madison (J.W.B.). Reprint requests should be addressed to Chris van Weel, MD, PhD, Department of Family Medicine, 229-HSV, PO Box 9101, 6500 HB, Nijmegen, the Netherlands. E-mail: CvanWeel@hsv.kun.nl.
References
The recent financial support for networks in the Netherlands8 and the United Kingdom9 heralds the increasing awareness of the importance of primary care evidence. Within the last year in the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has for the first time offered direct support for building PBRN infrastructure. But because the structure of research networks depend on the research agenda, there is a need for more appropriate financing of their infrastructures. The increasing awareness of the importance of practice-based research is further highlighted by the formation of the Federation of Practice-Based Research Networks (FPBRN), which is working to help networks communicate and collaborate on projects across national and international boundaries.
Conclusions
Family practice research networks are an important way of facilitating research in primary care and of assuring sufficient primary care emphasis in clinical studies. The scientific products of these networks, as judged from their publications, make valuable contributions to the evidence base of primary care.
