C. Advance Letters

Attachment 3. Advance Letters

These templates show the key points that will be conveyed in emails sent in advance of the interviews; they will not be used verbatim, but will tailored as needed.

Email to Initial System Contact Persons

My colleague and I work for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. We are conducting an exploratory study of promising ways health systems can conduct embedded research, defined as research that addresses system priorities and is led by a person closely affiliated with the system. We understand that [insert health system name] has been doing this type of research and we would like to talk with you to learn more. The interview will contribute to a case study of embedded research within your system. We hope that the resulting illustrative case studies will help AHRQ better support embedded research and stimulate further embedded research among other health systems.

Would you – or someone in your system – be willing to participate in a 1-hour telephone interview about embedded research in your system?

Please let us know if you would be willing to talk with us further – or if you can suggest someone else in your system we might reach out to instead.

Email to People Recommended by Initial System Contact or by an Interview Subject

My colleague and I work for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. We are conducting an exploratory study of promising ways health systems can conduct embedded research, defined as research that addresses system priorities and is led by a person closely affiliated with the system. We understand that [insert health system name] has been doing this type of research and that you play an important role in your system’s embedded research. You have been recommended to us as one of the people in your system who is knowledgeable about the system’s embedded research activities. Therefore, we would like to talk with you to learn more. The interview will contribute to a case study of embedded research within your system. We hope that the resulting illustrative case studies will help AHRQ better support embedded research and stimulate further embedded research among other health systems.

Would you be willing to participate in a 1-hour telephone interview about embedded research in your system?

Please let us know if you would be willing to talk with us further. If not, please suggest a colleague who places the same or similar role to your role in connection to your system’s embedded research projects.

Follow-up once a person is determined to be interested

Many thanks for your willingness to contribute to our study. Before we schedule a date/time to talk, I just want to confirm a few details:

1. Does your health system conduct embedded research as defined as

   1. Research that

      1. Is done by people who are closely affiliated with the care organization or care system that is a major site of the research projects

      2. At least partially addresses operational concerns of the system (e.g. ways to improve care quality, value, or other aspects of system performance (e.g., patient and staff satisfaction).

      3. Has been occurring for at least two fiscal years

2. Does your role fit within one of the following categories? If not, can you suggest others who might?

1. Executive-level manager

2. Person exercising management oversight over embedded research activities;

3. Person from a service line or care sector in which several embedded research projects have been carried out;

4. Lead investigator on one or more embedded research projects

Scheduling and preparing for Interviews

During our interview, we will want to talk with how your health system conducts embedded research, including setting priorities, funding, leadership, staff and expertise, management and impact, and other factors. We want to anchor our discussion with two real examples from your experience. Before we meet, please think about at least one example of embedded research in your system that was successful and one additional example that illustrates recurring challenges in embedded research within your system.

We will audio record this interview and take notes during our conversation to make sure we accurately capture what was said. But we will not connect your name with anything that you say during the interview -- including our notes and interview summaries, and any presentations or papers based on the study. To ensure that you are comfortable with our procedures and willing to allow us to interview you, please read the attached consent document. If you cannot provide consent, please let us know. Otherwise, we will confirm your consent, when we speak to you.

[Attach Informed consent document]