How Research Benefits the Community

In 2006, Eastern Maine Medical Center established the Clinical Research Center, a department fully devoted to supporting hospital staff in all phases of research, from testing new drugs to changing the way patients are cared for once they enter the hospital. The Clinical Research Center is an opportunity for a community medical center, long known for its excellence in patient care, to continue to develop best practices and discover possibilities to improve access to quality care at the local level.

According to Edward Harrow, MD, a founder of the Clinical Research Center, such a center has numerous benefits for the community, “A clinical research center helps to enhance the quality of care that patients receive by fostering a spirit of inquiry, reinforces the continual re-examination of practices and plans, and it also serves as a recruitment tool to bring new and stimulating health professionals to our institution.”

A clinical research center helps to enhance the quality of care that patients receive by fostering a spirit of inquiry, reinforces the continual re-examination of practices and plans, and it also serves as a recruitment tool to bring new and stimulating health professionals to our institution.

The Clinical Research Center is currently working on a variety of clinical trials, all with unique benefits to patients in our area, as well as across the nation. Patients taking part in these studies will gain access to drugs that have the potential to resolve their disease. Because of clinical trials, our community will be offered treatments that would not otherwise be available.

Other studies supported by the Clinical Research Center benefit the community by looking at whether new programs started at the hospital improve patient care. This results in evidence-based procedures, which ensure that we all receive the best care available. That, after all, is the ultimate goal of clinical research. 

2017

Andrew Pritchard, Samreen Fathima, Edwina Ducker, Doug Michael, Jessica Shaffer and Barbara Sorondo. "Evaluating Partnerships to Improve Community Health (PICH) Community - Clinical Linkages Pilot Project Addressing Food Insecurity in Rural Communities." AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting, New Orleans, LA, June 2017.

Fariba Dayhim, Nina Boulard, Samreen Fathima, Lynn Bolduc, Barbara Sorondo and Janet Bayleran. "Preoperative Psychological Predictors of Post Bariatric Surgery Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study."  Maine Quality Counts, Augusta, ME, April 2017.

Andrew Pritchard. "Evaluating the Implementation of Community-based Diabetes Prevention and Chronic Disease Self-management Programs in Washington and Hancock Counties." Maine Quality Counts, Augusta, ME, April 2017.

Andrew Pritchard. "Integrating Primary Care and Home Telehealth Services for Non-homebound Patients with Chronic Conditions - Findings and Lessons Learned from the Hancock County Telehealth Consortium." Maine Quality Counts, Augusta, ME, April 2017.

Edwina Ducker and Andrew Pritchard. "Evaluating the EMHS PICH Community-Clinical Linkages Pilot Project." Maine Quality Counts, Augusta, ME, April 2017.

Dora Anne Mills, Felix Hernandez, Ruth Dufresne, Andrew Pritchard and Frank Bailey. "Partnering to Improve Provider and Patient Experience through Interprofessional Practice and Education." Maine Quality Counts, Augusta, ME, April 2017.

2016

Valerie O'Hara, Nancy Browne, Samreen Fathima, Starr Johnston, Kathrin Hastey, Barbara Sorondo and Janet Bayleran. "Obesity Metabolic Comorbidities with Associated Disease Burden in Children and Adolescents."  OMA Overcoming Obesity 2016, Chicago, IL, September 2016.

Wayne Psek and Barbara Sorondo. "Selecting and Evaluating Strategic Partnerships between Healthcare Organizations: A Conceptual Model and Case Study." AcademyHealth, Washington, DC, June 2016.

Robert J. Ferguson, Sandra Sigmon, Andrew Pritchard, Sharon LaBrie, Rachel Goetze, Christine Fink and A. Merrill Garrett. “Results of a Randomized Trial of Videoconference CBT for Breast Cancer Survivors with Self-Reported Cognitive Dysfunction.”  International Cognition and Cancer Task Force, Amsterdam, The Netherlands, March 2016.

2015

Barbara Sorondo, Amy Allen, Janet Bayleran, Stacy Doore, Samreen Fathima, Lori Newcomb and Iyad Sabbagh. “Using a Patient Portal to Transmit Patient Reported Health Information into the Electronic Record: Workflow Implications and Patient Experience.”  AHRQ Research Conference, Crystal City, VA, October 2015.

Valerie O’Hara, Starr Johnston, Samreen Fathima, Janet Bayleran, Barbara Sorondo, Ashton Ortiz, Diana Prescott, Laurie Jacob, Kathrin Hastey and Nancy Browne. “Pediatric Multidisciplinary Weight Management Study: Way to Optimal Weight – WOW.” ASBP Overcoming Obesity, Washington, DC, September 2015.

Barbara Sorondo, Amy Allen, Janet Bayleran, Samreen Fathima, Lori Newcomb and Iyad Sabbagh. “Evaluation of the Patient Portal as a Tool for Enhancing Patient Experience and Improving Quality of Care.” AcademyHealth Concordium, Washington, DC, September 2015.

Andrew Pritchard, Barbara Sorondo and John Branscombe. “Patient Activation and Barriers to Accessing Primary Care among Chronically Ill Patients Seeking Care in an Urgent Care Setting.”  AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting, Minneapolis, MN, June 2015.

Robert J. Ferguson, PhD. “An Overview of Research, Program Evaluation and Patient Experience of Memory and Attention Adaptation Training (MAAT): A Cognitive Behavioral Treatment of Cancer-related Cognitive Dysfunction.” Canadian Association for Psychosocial Oncology, Montreal, Quebec, April 2015.

Barbara Sorondo, Amy Allen, Janet Bayleran, Stacy Doore, Samreen Fathima, Lori Newcomb and Iyad Sabbagh. “Patient Portal Experience in Primary Care Practices.” Quality Counts Annual Meeting, Augusta, ME, April 2015.

Andrew Pritchard, Barbara Sorondo, Alejandro Arrieta and John Branscombe. “Return on Investment of Care Management Provided during the Bangor Beacon Community Project.” Quality Counts Annual Meeting, Augusta, ME, April 2015.

Tamara H. Herrick, Andrew J. Pritchard and Samreen Fathima. “Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems’ Referral and Capacity Building Project with Maine Tobacco Helpline.” Quality Counts Annual Meeting, Augusta, ME, April 2015.

2014

Patrick McFarlane, Jessica Bloom-Foster, Kristin Thom and Pilar Johnson. “Intervention with Survivors of Violence – A Residency Curriculum Resource Evaluation.”  Society for Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference, San Antonio, TX, May 2014.   2014-Intervention-with-Survivors-of-Violence

2013

Hubert Tse, Joshua Pruitt, Matthew Marston and Frank Bragg. “Pharmacy Assisted Communication of FDA MedWatch Alerts Across a Health System.”  American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP) Clinical Meeting, Orlando, FL, December 2013.   2013-FDA-MedWatch-Alerts

Marzieh Hajiaghamemar, Morteza Seidi, Amy (Bates) Allen, Jason St. Pierre, Steven J. Elmer, Vincent Caccese, Mohsen Shahinpoor, Julia Long and  W. Andrew Hodge. “Improvements in Movement Kinematics and Physical Function Following X-Stop Interspinous Implant: A Case Report.”  New England Chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine (NEACSM), Providence, RI, November 2013.  2013-X-Stop-Interspinous-Implant

2012

Eric R. Brown and Matthew Nutt. “Integrating Behavioral Healthcare and Primary Care Services for Substance Abuse Affected Families.”  Quality Counts Annual Meeting, Augusta, ME, April 2012.  

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2017

Valerie O’Hara, Nancy Browne, Samreen Fathima, Barbara Sorondo, Janet Bayleran, Starr Johnston, and Kathrin Hastey. “Obesity Cardiometabolic Comorbidity Prevalence in Children in a Rural Weight-Management Program.”  Global Pediatric Health, 2017, 4:1-10.

Shelley Kirk, Sarah Armstrong, Eileen King, Christine Trapp, Mollie Grow, Jared Tucker, Madeline Joseph, Lenna Liu, Ashley Weedn, Brooke Sweeney, Claudia Fox, Samreen Fathima, Ronald Williams, Roy Kim, and William Stratbucker on behalf of the POWER Work Group. "Establishment of the Pediatric Obesity Weight Evaluation Registry: A National Research Collaborative for Identifying the Optimal Assessment and Treatment of Pediatric Obesity." Childhood Obesity, 2017, 13(1):9-17.

Georgios Papachristou, Jorge Machicado, Tyler Stevens, Mahesh Kumar Goenka, Miguel Ferreira, Silvia Gutierrez, Vikesh Singh, Ayesha Kamal, Jose Gonzalez-Gonzalez, Maria Pelaez-Luna, Aiste Gulla, Narcis Zarnescu, Konstantinos Triantafyllou, Sorin Barbu, Jeffrey Easler, Carlos Ocampo, Gabriele Capurso, Livia Archibugi, Gregory Cote, Louis Lambiase, Rakesh Kochhar, Tiffany Chua, Subhash Tiwari, Haq Nawaz, Walter Park, Enrique de-Madaria, Peter Lee, Bechien Wu, Phil Greer, Mohannad Dugum, Efstratios Koutroumpakis, Venkata Akshintala, Amir Gougol for the APPRENTICE Study. "Acute Pancreatitis Patient Registry to Examine Novel therapies in Clinical Experience (APPRENTICE): An International, Multicenter Consortium for the Study of Acute Pancreatitis." Annals of Gastroenterology, 2017, 30:106-113. 

Sorondo Barbara, Allen Amy, Fathima Samreen, Bayleran Janet, and Sabbagh Iyad. "Patient Portal as a Tool for Enhancing Patient Experience and Improving Quality of Care in Primary Care Practices." eGEMS (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes), 2017, 4(1), Article 31. 

2016

Sorondo Barbara, Allen Amy, Bayleran Janet, Doore Stacy, Fathima Samreen, Sabbagh Iyad, and Newcomb Lori. "Using a Patient Portal to Transmit Patient Reported Health Information into the Electronic Record: Workflow Implications and User Experience." eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes), 2016, 4(3), Article 7. 

Alexandru Seviciu, Irwin Gross, Samreen Fathima, and Stephen M. Walsh. “Effects of Tranexamic Acid and Bipolar Sealer Alone or in Combination in Primary Total Knee Arthroplasty - A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Trial.”  Arthroplasty Today, 2016, 2:77-82.

Robert J. Ferguson, Sandra T. Sigmon, Andrew Pritchard, Sharon LaBrie, Rachel Goetze, Christine Fink, and A. Merrill Garrett.  "A Randomized Trial of Videoconference-Delivered Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy for Breast Cancer Survivors with Self-Reported Cognitive Dysfunction."  Cancer, 2016, 122:1782-1791. 

Souhel Najjar, Daniel M. Pearlman, Todd A. MacKenzie, Felix Hernandez, Jr., and Jeremiah R. Brown. "Role of Glial Activation and BBB Disruption in the Pathophysiology of Depression." Neurology, Psychiatry and Brain Research, 2016, 22(1):17-18.

I Gross, KM Trentino, A Andreescu, R Pierson, RA Maietta, and S Farmer. "Impact of a Patient Blood Management Program and an Outpatient Anemia Management Protocol on Red Cell Transfusions in Oncology Inpatients and Outpatients." The Oncologist, 2016, 21(3):327-332.

2015

Marzieh Hajiaghamemar, Morteza Seidi, Amy E. Allen, William A. Hodge, Vincent Caccese, and Steven J. Elmer. “A New Approach to Quantify Functional Improvements Following X-Stop Spacer Procedure: A Case Report,” Journal of Medical Cases, 2015, 6(5):205-210.

Irwin Gross, Burkhardt Seifert, Axel Hofmann, and Donat R. Spahn. "Patient Blood Management in Cardiac Surgery Results in Less Transfusions and Better Outcomes," Transfusion, 2015, doi: 10.1111/trf.12946; published online 6 January 2015.

2014

Daniel M. Pearlman, Jeremiah R. Brown, Todd A. MacKenzie, Felix Hernandez Jr., and Souhel Najjar. "Blood Levels of S-100 Calcium-Binding Protein B, High-Sensitivity C-Reactive Protein, and Interleukin-6 for Changes in Depressive Symptom Severity after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting: Prospective Cohort Nested within a Randomized, Controlled Trial," PLOS ONE, 2014, 9(10):1-14.

MS Brown, MJ Hayes, and LM Thornton. “Methadone versus Morphine for Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial,” Journal of Perinatology, 2014, 35:278-283; doi:10.1038/jp.2014.194; published online 30 October 2014.

Marie J. Hayes and Mark S. Brown. “Invited Commentary: Legalization of Medical Marijuana and Incidence of Opioid Mortality,” JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014, 174(10):1-2.

Claudia Allen, Terrisca R. Des Jardins, Arvela Heider, Kristin A. Lyman, Lee McWilliams, Alison L. Rein, Abigail A. Schachter, Ranjit Singh, Barbara Sorondo, Joan Topper, and Scott A. Turske. "Data Governance and Data Sharing Agreements for Community-Wide Health Information Exchange: Lessons from the Beacon Communities," eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes), 2014, 2(1), Article 5.

Elisha M. Wachman, Marie J. Hayes, Barry M. Lester, Norma Terrin, Mark S. Brown, David A. Nielsen, and Jonathan M. Davis. “Epigenetic Variation in the Mu-Opioid Receptor Gene in Infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome,” Journal of Pediatrics, 2014 165:472-478. 

Amy Allen, Terrisca R. Des Jardins, Arvela Heider, Chatrian R. Kanger, David F. Lobach, Lee McWilliams, Jennifer M. Polello, Alison L. Rein, Abigail A. Schachter, Ranjit Singh, Barbara Sorondo, Megan C. Tulikangas, and Scott A. Turske. "Making it Local: Beacon Communities Use Health Information Technology to Optimize Care Management," Population Health Management, 2014, 17(3):149-158.

2013

Elisha M. Wachman, Marie J. Hayes, Mark S. Brown, Jonathan Paul, Karen Harvey-Wilkes, Norma Terrin, Gordon S. Huggins, Jacob V. Aranda and Jonathan M. Davis. “Association of OPRM1 and COMT Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms with Hospital Length of Stay and Treatment of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome," JAMA, 2013, 309(17):1821-1827.

Aryeh Shander, Sherri Ozawa, Irwin Gross, David Henry. "Erythropoiesis-stimulating agents: friends or foes?," Transfusion, 2013, 53(9): 1867-1872.

2012

Pret Bjorn "Rural Teletrauma: Applications, Opportunities, and Challenges," Advanced Emergency Nursing Journal, 2012, 34(3):232-237.  

Robert J. Ferguson, Brenna C. McDonald, Michael A. Rocque, Charlotte T. Furstenberg, Susan Horrigan, Tim A. Ahles and Andrew J. Saykin. "Development of CBT for Chemotherapy-related Cognitive Change: Results of a Waitlist Control Trial," Psycho-Oncology, 2012, 21:176-186.

2011

Rafael Grossmann Zamora, Barbara Sorondo, Robert Holmberg, and Pret Bjorn. "Telemedicine Consultation for Emergency Trauma: The 130 Million Square Foot Trauma Room," Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, 2011, 96(6):12-19.

Robert J. Ferguson and Amber A. Martinson. "An Overview of Cognitive-Behavioral Management of Memory Dysfunction Associated with Chemotherapy," Psicooncología, 2011, 8(2-3):385-404.

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