D-CARE: Results of a Pragmatic Intervention Trial and Implications for the GUIDE model

April 16, 2026 – Grand Rounds 65,  David Reuben, MD, and Jeff Williamson, MD, MHS, presented D-CARE: Results of a Pragmatic Intervention Trial and Implications for the GUIDE model.

 

David Reuben, MD

Professor of Medicine
David Geffen School of Medicine
UCLA

Jeff Williamson, MD, MHS 

Professor, Chief of Geriatric Medicine, and Director for the Center for Healthcare Innovation at Wake Forest School of Medicine

Learning Objectives

  • To understand the differences between health system-based and community-based dementia care.
  • To recognize the differences between structured dementia care programs and usual care.
  • To interpret the implication of D-CARE's findings on dementia care and Medicare's GUIDE program.

Identifying and Engaging Care Partners through Electronic Health Records for Pragmatic Research

March 2026 – Grand Rounds 64, IMPACT PCRO Core member Dr. Hillary Lum and guest speakers Drs. Julia Burgdorf and Jenny Portz, and Jody Long present on “Identifying and Engaging Care Partners through Electronic Health Records for Pragmatic Research.”

Hillary Lum, MD, PhD

IMPACT Patient/Caregiver Relevant Outcomes Core

Professor of Medicine, Division
of Geriatric Medicine,
Department of Medicine,
University of Colorado Anschutz

Jenny Portz, PhD, MSW

Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine, University of Colorado Anschutz

Julia Burgdorf, PhD

Research Scientist, Center for Home Care Policy & Research at VNS Health

Jody Long, MSN, MBA, RN, CEN

Director of Clinical Affairs, PointClickCare

Learning Objectives

  • Communicate the need and promise for improvement of dementia care with embedded pragmatic trials within dynamic health care settings.
  • Review what we have found to be key components of ePCT trial design and conduct for ensuring that study results are implementable.
  • Provide learnings of two ePCT trialists from The Dementia Care Study: A Pragmatic Clinical Trial of Health System-Based Versus Community-Based Dementia Care (D-CARE)

 

Home Time as a Patient-Centered Outcome in Pragmatic Trials: Promise, Pitfalls, and the Path Forward

January 2026 – Grand Rounds 62, Drs. Hanson, Kim, Ankuda, and Van Houtven discuss home time as a patient-centered outcome in pragmatic trials.

Webinar Slides

Laura Hanson, MD, MPH

Professor, Division of Geriatric Medicine and Director, UNC Palliative Care Program, University of North Carolina School of Medicine

 

Claire Ankuda, MD, MPH

Associate Professor, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Dae Hyun Kim, MD, MPH, ScD

Associate Director of Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

Courtney Van Houtven, PhD

Professor, Population Health Sciences, Duke University School of Medicine and Duke-Margolis Institute for Health Policy

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the concept of home time as a patient‑centered, system‑relevant outcome measure and how it is operationalized across different clinical contexts.
  • Recognize the limitations, measurement challenges, and equity concerns associated with using home time as an outcome or performance metric in pragmatic clinical trials.
  • Reflect on emerging evidence and future directions for developing more person‑centered home time measures that better capture quality of life for older adults and caregivers.

LEAP! Rx: A randomized trial of a pragmatic approach to lifestyle medicine

December 2025 - In Grand Rounds 61, Amber Watts, PhD and Amanda N. Szabo-Reed, PhD discuss “LEAP! Rx: A randomized trial of a pragmatic approach to lifestyle medicine.”

Speakers

Amber Watts, PhD
Associated Professor
University of Kansas
Director, BRANCH LAb

Amanda N. Szabo-Reed, PhD
Research Associate Professor
University of Kansas Medical Center

Learning Objectives

  • Understand why exercise is important for Alzheimer’s disease prevention.
  • Recognize barriers to translating exercise research into clinical practice.
  • Learn how the LEAP! Rx trial was designed and implemented.
  • Compare outcomes and adherence between physician-referred and self-referred participants.
  • Explore strategies for supporting long-term exercise habits in older adults.

Using pragmatic trials to address prescription safety in older patients with diabetes

November 2025 - In Grand Rounds 60, Richard W. Grant, MD, MPH discusses "Using pragmatic trials to address prescription safety in older patients with diabetes."

Speakers

Richard W. Grant, MD, MPH 
Research Scientist
Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California

Learning Objectives

  • Understand how pragmatic clinical trials improve prescription safety for older adults with diabetes
  • Explore deprescribing strategies and barriers in diabetes care
  • Review key findings from the RETRO-DM and SAGE studies
  • Learn practical interventions for safer diabetes management, including academic detailing and technology-enabled hypoglycemia prevention

Building the NEXT STEPs Network

October 2025 – In Grand Rounds 59, Kathleeen Unroe, MD, MHA, MS discusses “Building the NEXT STEPs Network.”

Speaker

Kathleen Unroe, MD, MHA, MS (she/hers)
CEO
Probari, Inc.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the need for rigorous clinical trials and research infrastructure to improve nursing home care
  • Recognize the importance of building collaborative networks and partnerships to address knowledge gaps in nursing home research
  • Reflect on strategies and resources for supporting equitable, high-quality clinical trials in nursing homes, including recruitment, retention, and engagement of diverse stakeholders
Kern picture, Grand Rounds Feb 2025

Improving How PLWD are Selected for Care Coordination: ePCT in an ACO

February 2025 - Lisa Kern, MD, MPH, discusses "IMPACT Demonstration Project | Improving How People Living with Dementia are Selected for Care Coordination: Pragmatic Clinical Trial Embedded in an Accountable Care Organization"

Speakers

Lisa Kern, MD, MPH
Associate Professor
Weill Cornell Medicine

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the concept of healthcare fragmentation in general
  • Understand the relevance of healthcare fragmentation specifically for people
    living with dementia
  • Reflect on the results of a pragmatic clinical trial that included people living
    with dementia who had highly fragmented care

 

Sullivan_June 2025 Grand Rounds card

Meta Lessons Learned from Pilot and Demonstration Projects Implementation 

June 2025 –  In Grand Rounds 57, Jennifer Sullivan, PhD, describes lessons learned from IMPACT Pilot and Demonstration Projects implementation data.

Speakers

Jennifer Sullivan, PhDJennifer Sullivan, PhD
Associate Professor, Brown University School of Public Health
Department of Health Service, Policy and Practice

Associate Director & Investigator
THRIVE COIN
VA Providence Healthcare System

Learning Objectives

  • Describe factors enabling and/or hindering pilot and demonstration project implementation
  • Understand which implementation strategies were being used by pilot and demonstration grants
  • Gain knowledge about how implementation progress was made by programs over the funding timelines

 

RWD Scholars headshots

Bridging Research and Practice: An Update from Real World Data Scholars

May 2025 – In Grand Rounds 56, the 2023 Real World Data Scholars presented on their research projects using the Long-Term Care (LTC) Data Cooperative dataset.

Webinar Slides

Headshot of Jinying Chen, PhD from the shoulders upJinying Chen, PhD

Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

Validating Medication Orders by Leveraging Natural Language Processing

Headshot of Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS from the shoulders up, smiling and wearing a suit.

Kenneth Lam, MD, MAS  

University of Colorado
School of Medicine

Validation of Functional Measures in LTC EHR Data

Headshot of Lindsay White from the shoulders up.Lindsay White, PhD

University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine

Determination of Cognitive Status in NH Residents: The Utility of EHR Data

Headshot of Yongkang Zhang, Phd, MS from the shoulders up.

Yongkang Zhang, PhD, MS 

Weill Cornell Medical College

Evaluating LTC Data Cooperative EHRs to Study T2D among Nursing Home Residents