Kansas State establishing Center for Outcomes Research and Education

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Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine has created a center with a goal of improving effectiveness and efficiency in animal health care. The Center for Outcomes Research and Education was launched Feb. 25 under the guidance of Dr. David G. Renter, a veterinary epidemiologist who will be the center’s director.

Dr. David G. Renter (Courtesy of KSU)
Dr. Renter

The discipline of outcomes research involves applied clinical- and population-based research that seeks to study and optimize the end results of health care practices and interventions in terms of benefits to the patient and society.

CORE will focus on demonstrating the value of animal health interventions, such as treatment, prevention, or diagnostic activities intended to improve health. This will be done by providing structured, applied research and educational programs that explicitly define and incorporate the societal and economic values relevant to health interventions, said Dr. Renter, who is a professor of diagnostic medicine and pathobiology at the veterinary college.

He anticipates the center providing leadership and infrastructure for collaboration among practitioners, industry, government, and academics—from KSU and elsewhere—to determine optimal animal health approaches for various situations.

“This type of outcomes research approach is already well-integrated into some human health programs, but a center like this is new in animal health. We will generate and synthesize evidence on health interventions and train people on how to best utilize that evidence to influence health care decisions,” he said.

The center’s research and training activities will be funded through a variety of sources, including $250,000 from Zoetis Inc., private donations, and federal grants through the Department of Agriculture.