Memorial Herman Business Research Applications

Memorial Herman

Business Research Applications

The role of research at Memorial Herman: Overview and recommendations

The role of research at Memorial Herman: Overview and recommendations

Memorial Hermann is the largest not-for-profit healthcare system in the state of Texas. It comprises amongst its many facilities, including a teaching hospital, medical centers, and disease-specific diagnostic and treatment facilities. The Memorial Herman slogan is: "Breakthroughs every day." This exemplifies the critical role played by research in defining the organization's mission and goals. The "About us" section of its website specifically notes the fact that the mission of the hospital extends beyond that of merely treating the sick with current technology: Memorial Herman is determined to advance the quality and efficiency of modern healthcare. It strives to be on the cutting-edge of research, as well use the best modern medical technology available to its healthcare providers.

According to the organization, the Memorial Herman slogan "means not being satisfied with the current state of medicine. It means doing all we can to save more lives and improve clinical outcomes. For Memorial Hermann's affiliated physicians, it means tirelessly searching for better ways to diagnose and treat patients while harnessing the latest technologies" (About us, 2009, Memorial Herman). It is committed to the improvement of the state of modern medicine, and uses patients as teaching resources and conducts a wide array of clinical trials.

Memorial Herman's affiliated universities play an integral role in realizing its mission. Its Clinical Innovation and Research Institute "provides selected support services for clinical investigators throughout the Memorial Hermann Healthcare System. Our investigators include faculty from The University of Texas Health Science Center-Houston and Baylor College of Medicine, several of our community-based physicians, and clinicians from many different professions." Diversity of perspectives is seen as vital to improving healthcare -- diversity of perspectives is gleaned by soliciting input by individuals from different research disciplines and approaches. The Memorial Herman System is committed to using the perspectives of practicing physicians as well as medical researchers grounded in evidence-based methods.

Memorial Herman offers care and treatment in conjunction with its research efforts, and often merges treatment with clinical trials. Patient data is collected for use in trials. For example, one continuing study on the "Genetic basis of vascular disease" collects clinical information and blood samples from patients who arrive at the emergency department with acute ischemic or hemorrhagic stroke to determine what, if any genetic factors can predispose an individual to develop different types of strokes (Milewicz 2009). Of course, a potential problem that can arise with this otherwise admirable practice is the ethical question that arises in terms of how patient information is used. Memorial Herman does have a posted privacy policy regarding participation in clinical trials in a prominent place. However for more generalized information collection, as in the case of the "Genetic basis of vascular disease" study, patients might have a concern that their data was solicited without their consent, even if the information was confidential. To ease such concerns, Memorial Herman posts information about privacy for website users, and does note that it is HIPPA compliant and requires written notification for disclosure of information to third parties. It also includes an FAQ for study participants.

Other clinical research studies solicit volunteers, through the use of an online format as well as through more conventional channels. Many of the studies conducted under the auspices of Memorial Herman are complex and multifaceted and require an intensive and intimate connection with the researchers involved in the study. One long-term study is on the link between manifesting clinical depression and the risk of major adverse coronary events. The study will involve "patients hospitalized for acute coronary syndrome (chest pain due to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle)" and "will evaluate whether protein levels during acute coronary syndrome (chest pain due to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle) differ between patients who screen positive and those who screen negative for symptoms of depression" (Frazer 2009). Such a study requires intensive interviews of participants for a psychological as well as a physical condition. Being able to merge the resources of a variety of different specialists is one strength of the Memorial Herman approach. In the future, as the interrelationship between the body and the brain, and psychological disorders and overall functioning has become an accepted part of mainstream science: studies such as these will be even more important for research institutes. Memorial Herman is clearly on the cutting-edge of the field in this regard.

Because of its impressive outreach, the hospital is also able to draw upon a wide array of specific populations, as in the case of studies such as the "Evaluation of cardiovascular effects of smoking cessation in HIV-infected patients" (Bell 2009). Few other hospitals would be able to draw from a large amount of HIV-positive patients who were smokers and willing to participate in research studies. The study may prove beneficial to the research subjects as well as to the researchers, as all test subjects received free smoking cessation counseling.

One ethical consideration that always arises in research study is the need for research to be beneficial for the community being studied. It is not considered ethical, for example, although it may be legal, to study a low-income population with a drug that is too expensive for the majority of them to afford, for a medical condition that is not common in that population. This HIV study is an example of a mutually beneficial study. It is a reciprocal act of research, where knowledge is gained by the researchers, but the participants also gain as well. However, Memorial Herman does not specifically state that this is a goal of its overall research program. Although it has a FAQ section on the ethics of participation, it does not detail the ethics of community-based research.