PBRN Information

What is a Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) such as that utilised by the ORION Project?

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) defines a practice-based research network (PBRN) as a group with at least 15 ambulatory practices and/or 15 clinicians devoted principally to the primary care of patients, affiliated with each other (and often with an academic or professional organization) in order to investigate questions related to community based practice.

The defining characteristics of a PBRN include:

A mission and statement of purpose including an ongoing commitment to research
Channels for communication among network participants
A director with responsibility for administration of the network and at least one support staff

An advisory board that solicits input from communities of patients served by the PBRN clinicians

For more information regarding PBRNs from the AHRQ please click here.

The PBRN design of ORION Project affords a broad focus essential to establishing a national, coordinated platform of evidence critical to informing further detailed, specific sub-studies in osteopathy. Significantly, such coordinated platform evidence is also vital to contextualising and strengthening the impact of clinically-focused investigations, effectively helping bridge the gap between findings from clinical trials and other related designs and the realities of everyday routine care. iStock_000014996190_Large

PBRNs have been employed to help build an evidence-base in a number of health care fields around the world. Here we provide a links to a paper which will help further explain this approach to research design.

Rindal D, Flottemesch T, Durand E, Godlevsky O, Schmidt A, Gilbert G, et al. Practice change toward better adherence to evidence-based treatment for early dental decay in the National Dental PBRN. Implementation Science 2014, 9:117.

Unlike some other health research project designs, a PBRN such as that employed by ORION helps ensure research questions and the insights gained from empirical investigation are grounded in and of direct relevance to daily routine care, practitioners, and patients.

Adams J, Sibbritt D, Steel A, Peng W. A workforce survey of Australian osteopathy: analysis of a nationally-representative sample of osteopaths from the Osteopathy Research and Innovation Network (ORION) project. BMC Health Services Research 2018;18:352.

Steel A, Vaughan B, Orrock P, Peng W, Fleischmann M, Grace S, Engel RM, Sibbritt D, Adams J. Prevalence and profile of Australian osteopaths treating older people. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 2019;43:125-130.

Leach MJ, Sundberg T, Fryer G, Austin P, Thomson OP, Adams J. An investigation of Australian osteopaths’ attitudes, skills and utilisation of evidence-based practice: a national cross-sectional survey. BMC Health Services Research 2019;19(1):498.

Steel A, Peng W, Sibbritt D, Adams J. Introducing national osteopathy practice-based research networks in Australia and New Zealand: an overview to inform future osteopathic research. Scientific Reports 2020;10:846.

Foley, H., Steel, A., McIntyre, E., Harnett, J., Sibbritt, D., Wardle, J., & Adams, J. (2020). Complementary medicine practitioner consultations amongst 1,314 individuals with chronic conditions: characteristics of users, reasons for and predictors of use. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 40, 101194.

Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Fitzgerald, K., Grace, S., McLaughlin, P., Jolly, B., & Trumble, S. (2020). Profile of an Allied Health Clinical Supervision Workforce: Results from a Nationally Representative Australian Practice-Based Research Network. Health professions education, 6(3), 376-385.

Fleischmann, M., Vaughan, B., Fitzgerald, K., & Grace, S. (2020). Use of manual therapy applied to the viscera: Secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample of Australian osteopaths. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 36, 19-25.

Fitzgerald, K., Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., & Austin, P. (2020). Pain knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of Australian osteopaths drawn from a nationally representative sample of the profession. Journal of bodywork and movement therapies, 24(4), 43-50.

Adams, J., Peng, W., Steel, A., Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Fitzgerald, K., & Sibbritt, D. (2020). Clinical characteristics of osteopaths treating work-related injuries in Australia: A cross-sectional study. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 38, 50-56.

Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Fitzgerald, K., Grace, S., Orrock, P., & Steel, A. (2020). Australian osteopaths as non-medical prescribers: comparison of healthcare practitioner characteristics from a nationally representative survey. Australian journal of primary health, 26(5), 417-423.

Fryer, G., Fleischmann, M., & Vaughan, B. (2021). Use of muscle energy technique amongst a nationally representative sample of Australian osteopaths. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 42, 29-33.

Foley, H., Steel, A., & Adams, J. (2021). Consultation with complementary medicine practitioners by individuals with chronic conditions: Characteristics and reasons for consultation in Australian clinical settings. Health & social care in the community, 29(1), 91-103.

Fitzgerald, K., Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Pritchard, S., Mulcahy, J., & Austin, P. (2021). Utilisation of pain counselling in osteopathic practice: secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample of Australian osteopaths. Scandinavian journal of pain, 21(2), 330-338.

Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Mest, J., Fitzgerald, K., & Malliaris, P. (2021). Characteristics of Australian Osteopaths Managing Tendinopathies: Analysis of a Nationally Representative Survey of 989 Practitioners. Muscles, Ligaments & Tendons Journal (MLTJ), 11(1).

Orrock, P. J., Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., & Fitzgerald, K. (2021). Clinical characteristics of Australian osteopaths who teach: A national sample. Focus on Health Professional Education: A Multi-Professional Journal, 22(3), 94-109.

Grace, S., Fleischmann, M., & Vaughan, B. (2021). “If you don’t use or understand visceral osteopathy you’re not a real osteopath”: Professional identity in Australian osteopathy through the lens of a single traditional technique. Explore, 17(6), 535-540.

Fleischmann, M., Vaughan, B., Grace, S., Stewart, A., Hart, C., Brew, E., … & Brooks, M. (2021). The use of visceral techniques in Australian osteopathic practice: A descriptive cross-sectional study. Advances in Integrative Medicine, 8(4), 292-297.

Fleischmann, M., McLaughlin, P., Hayes, A., & Vaughan, B. (2021). The clinical management of neck pain of novice and experienced Australian osteopaths: A secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample. Journal of Bodywork and Movement Therapies, 25, 87-93.

Fleischmann, M., Vaughan, B., Bird, A., Grace, S., Fitzgerald, K., & McLeod, G. (2022). Demographic, practice and clinical management characteristics of osteopaths referring to podiatrists: secondary analysis of a nationally representative sample of Australian osteopaths. BMC Health Services Research, 22(1), 224.

Fleischmann, M., & Fryer, G. (2022). The utilisation and attitudes to patient reported outcome measures by Australian osteopaths: A cross sectional study. International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine, 45, 55-63.

Adams, J., Sibbritt, D., Steel, A., & Peng, W. (2022). Practitioner and practice characteristics of Australian osteopaths who discuss lifestyle factors with patients: Findings from a national practice‐based research network. Health & social care in the community, 4), e1335-e1342.

Vaughan, B., Steel, A., Fleischmann, M., Grace, S., Fitzgerald, K., Engel, R., & Adams, J. (2023). Osteopathy in rural and remote Australia: analysis of demographic, practice and clinical management characteristics from a nationally representative sample of 992 osteopaths. Rural and remote health, 23(1), 1-9.

Vaughan, B., Fleischmann, M., Grace, S., Engel, R., Fitzgerald, K., Steel, A., … & Adams, J. (2023, December). Osteopathy Referrals to and from General Practitioners: Secondary Analysis of Practitioner Characteristics from an Australian Practice-Based Research Network. In Healthcare (Vol. 12, No. 1, p. 48). MDPI.