Soliciting views of various communities on health research: a prelude to engagement in specific research projects.

Background: Members of the public are increasingly engaged in health-service and biomedical research and provide input into the content of research, design and data sharing. As there is variation among different communities on how research is perceived, to engage all sectors of the general public research institutions need to customize their approach.

Objective: This paper explores how research institutions and community leaders can partner to determine the best ways to engage different sectors of the public in research.

Case study in designing a research fundamentals curriculum for community health workers: a university-community clinic collaboration.

Community health workers (CHWs) are increasingly incorporated into research teams. Training them in research methodology and ethics, while relating these themes to a community's characteristics, may help to better integrate these health promotion personnel into research teams. An interactive training course on research fundamentals for CHWs was designed and implemented jointly by a community agency serving a primarily Latino, rural population and an academic health center.

Illustrating the root-cause-analysis process: creation of a safety net with a semiautomated process for the notification of critical findings in diagnostic imaging.

The ACR has set a standard for the communication of critical findings on imaging examinations. Despite this standard, for a variety of reasons, it remains possible that appropriate follow-up is not initiated. The authors review the theory and application of root-cause analysis to such a failure of communication within their institution, including the development and implementation of a semiautomated notification system for critical unexpected findings on imaging examinations.

Efficiency of a semiautomated coding and review process for notification of critical findings in diagnostic imaging.

Objective: When a significant unexpected finding such as malignancy is noted on a study, the standard of care generally holds that the radiologist communicate the findings to the referring physician and document the communication in the radiology report. Despite this standard, for a variety of reasons it remains possible that the direct care provider might receive such notification but not initiate an appropriate workup. On the basis of prior root cause analysis, we developed and instituted a semiautomated process for notification of critical diagnostic imaging findings.