Exploratory study of the underutilization of CTSA module services.

Area of Science:

• Translational Science
• Health Services Research
• Research Administration

Background:

• The Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) program supports research translation to improve human health.
• CTSA hubs offer core resources and training for clinical and translational research (CTR).
• Services like informatics and pilot studies aim to support local research teams.

Purpose of the Study:

• Identify barriers to multi-module service use within CTSA hubs.
• Propose solutions to overcome these barriers and increase service utilization.

Main Methods:

• Exploratory study using interviews with CTSA service users.
• Survey of CTSA service managers across three varying-sized CTSA hubs.

Main Results:

• Investigators predominantly use single-domain services, missing cross-service benefits.
• Key barriers include difficulty finding service information and lack of funding.
• The largest CTSA experienced more significant challenges.

Conclusions:

• Findings offer foundational insights for CTSA hubs to increase service utilization.
• Proposed solutions can help address barriers to cross-module service use.
• Further research can explore the relationship between CTSA features and service use patterns.