The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice
Institute Initiatives
Population Health Measurement Core - This initiative has two arms. The first focuses on the region in which TDI lives – New Hampshire and Vermont – to achieve the healthiest population possible in our two states. More broadly, it is engaged in with prominent national partners in establishing standard measures that can help us understand, assess, and improve the health of the population.
Clinical Trials Unit - Evidence-based medicine relies on rigorous clinical trials to compare the effectiveness of treatments or procedures. The best clinical trials are large-scale, population-based, such as the 10-year, 11-state SPORT study that compared the effects of surgery vs. non-operative care for the three most common back conditions that lead people to seek surgery. The SPORT results have provided physicians and patients with new, objective information they can use to make their treatment decisions. TDI’s Clinical Trials Unit is dedicated to designing and facilitating similar trials that enhance patients’ ability to make a truly informed choice about their medical care.
Office of Professional Education and Outreach - OPEO represents the brightest minds and contributions from TDI’s six Centers of Excellence at The Dartmouth Institute. A response to requests from many institutions and health care professionals to share our learning and best practices, the OPEO is building collaborations across institutions and regions to create a continually learning and improving health care system.
Much of TDI's research is based on information included in the massive Medicare database maintained by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and available to TDI by agreement. Through review and analysis of this information and from other data files incorporated into the Data Core, we are able to look at practice patterns, geographic differences in treatment rates, intensity of care, and clinical outcomes. The Dartmouth Atlas, in particular, relies on the Data Core. (The Atlas and data tools may be accessed here: http://www.dartmouthatlas.org)
In addition to primary research performed within TDI, the Data Core has provided support to researchers and analysts outside the Institute to further the study of medical outcomes. For more information about the Data Core, please contact martha.k.lane@dartmouth.edu