As of spring 2009, KAN members include over 300 community-based primary care clinicians, the seven Family Medicine residency training programs in Kentucky, and faculty members from the University of Kentucky and the University of Louisville.

The Kentucky Ambulatory Network (KAN) was formed in November of 2000 under the leadership of Samuel C. Matheny, MD, MPH, the Chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Kentucky, with partial support through a grant from the U.S. Public Health Service.  Its members include multiple practitioners around Kentucky and its bordering communities, plus faculty from the University of Kentucky, faculty from the University of Louisville, and representatives from the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians, the UK Center for Rural Health, the Kentucky Primary Care Association, and all of the family practice residency programs in the state.

KAN was founded on the principle that research conducted by and for primary care physicians, in primary care practice settings, will produce results that are highly pertinent and directly applicable to primary care practitioners and their patients.  This approach is in stark contrast to the manner in which most medical research is conducted: at large tertiary care centers, involving patients with health problems that are unusual or severe enough to warrant referral to such special facilities.   

KAN is structured to encourage participation by its members at all levels.  Levels of activity range from spending 2 or 3 hours per year participating in a study  to being the principal investigator who shepherds a research project from the idea stage all the way through to completion.  Member practitioners are encouraged to develop their ideas in collaboration with university based researchers.  The KAN General Advisory Council is charged with prioritization of research projects, fiscal management, and establishment and maintenance of relationships with other research networks and other universities.

Funding:  KAN projects have been partially funded through programs of the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), and the Kentucky Academy of Family Physicians (KAFP). 

News:  The Ninth Annual Convocation of the Kentucky Ambulatory Network will be April 24-25, 2009 in Lexington, KY.  

Click here  for more information or to register.

In 2006 KAN became an “Affiliated Network” of the National Research Network (NRN), the national family medicine primary care practice-based research network sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).   Through this affiliation, one KAN practice is currently participating in a national study about post-partum depression. 

KAN plays an important role as a model for improving Kentuckians’ health through community-university partnerships in the University of Kentucky application for a new NIH opportunity, “Clinical and Translational Science Awards.” 

In October 2006, KAN Research Director, Dr. Margaret Love, led a pre-conference workshop at the North American Primary Care Research Group annual meeting in Tucson, Arizona: “Fundamentals of Building a Primary Care Practice-Based Research Network: Lessons learned From the Federation of Practice-based Research Networks.”