Webinar: Geoffrey M. Curran & John C. Fortney - Similarities and Differences Between Pragmatic Trials and Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trials

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Pragmatism in clinical trials aims to enhance the applicability of research findings in everyday clinical settings. Hybridism in clinical trials, which involves evaluating both clinical effectiveness and implementation success, seeks to accelerate the development and adoption of evidence-based practices in routine clinical care. While pragmatic trial methodologies and implementation science originated from distinct disciplines, Pragmatic Trials and Hybrid Effectiveness-Implementation Trials exhibit numerous overlapping design characteristics. Consequently, there is a risk of confusion between these trial types, leading investigators to misidentify their trial or utilize an inappropriate trial design to address their research query. This webinar aims to provide clear explanations of the similarities and differences between these trial types. Additionally, it will offer practical recommendations to assist investigators in selecting, labelling, and implementing the most suitable trial type for addressing their research question. These recommendations serve as valuable additions to the existing reporting guidelines for clinical effectiveness trials (TIDieR) and implementation trials (StaRI).

Geoffrey M. Curran, Ph.D. is a Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Psychiatry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and Adjunct Professor of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Limerick, Ireland.  Recently, he was invested as the inaugural Endowed Chair in Pharmacy Practice Innovation.  As well, he recently completed a Fulbright Specialist Program with the University if Limerick, Ireland.  His broad research area has been health services research, with a focus on the diffusion of innovation in a variety of health care settings (e.g., pharmacy, specialty care, primary care, and community settings).  Dr. Curran is a medical sociologist.  For the past 20+ years he has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health (US), the US Department of Veterans Affairs, and other funders to develop and test a range of implementation strategies designed to support the uptake and sustainment of evidence-based practices.  Dr. Curran also has written widely on research design and methodology in implementation science.  He is the Director of the Center for Implementation Research, which is supported by the Translational Research Institute (TRI, UL1 TR003107), through the US National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the US National Institutes of Health (US NIH).  The Center is devoted to developing and testing implementation strategies across a wide range of service contexts, assisting with the implementation of practices within community practices, and training the next generation of implementation scientists.

John C. Fortney, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and the Director of the Division of Population Health.  He is also a Senior Research Career Scientist at the HSR&D Center for Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and Multiple Principal Investigator of the Virtual Care QUERI Program.  For the last 35 years Dr. Fortney’s research has focused on issues of access to care, especially the delivery of mental health services in rural primary care clinics.  His research has been supported by NIMH, NIAAA, PCORI and VA HSR&D.