Nashville, Tenn.-based Hospital Corporation of America and the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute in Boston have signed a research partnership agreement to build a portfolio of high-quality research studies.
Between HCA's clinical expertise, ability to implement interventions and informatics capabilities, and the Institute's research capabilities and investigators, the partnership is expected to lead to numerous research initiatives.
Under the partnership, both organizations will expand the study of healthcare-associated infections and medical product safety surveillance, as well as delve into maternal-child care and pharmacy research.
Richard Platt, MD, professor and chair of the Harvard Medical School Department of Population Medicine at the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Institute expressed excitement over the pending partnership.
"HCA's extensive hospital network and the quality of its electronic health records can significantly improve our shared ability to answer important research questions," he said.
Jonathan B. Perlin, MD, PhD, president of clinical services group and CMO at HCA, echoed Dr. Platt's positive sentiments.
"Our unprecedented partnership has already yielded information that not only makes preventing [methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus] and other serious infections simpler and more effective, it helped set a new standard for responsible infection prevention," said Dr. Perlin. ''Future research projects will advance the learning health care system by making evidence development an expected part of care delivery."