Nominations for AHRQ Quality Indicators Workgroup

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is seeking nominations for both a time-limited workgroup and a standing workgroup to be convened by an AHRQ contractor. The workgroups shall be comprised of individuals with knowledge of the AHRQ Quality IndicatorsTM (QIs), their technical specifications, and associated methodological issues. The overarching goals of each group are to provide feedback to AHRQ regarding refinements to the QIs. The time-limited workgroup is more restricted to specific clinical or methodological issues, while the standing workgroup addresses broader issues related to the measurement cycle.

Because AHRQ did not get a set of candidates with anticipated breadth of diversity of experience as required in response to our notice published on January 28, 2013, AHRQ resubmits the same notice to give opportunity to those interested in this objective.

DATES: Please submit nominations on or before May 3, 2013. Self-nominations are welcome. Third-party nominations must indicate that the individual has been contacted and is willing to serve on the workgroup. Selected candidates will be contacted by AHRQ no later than May 17, 2013. Please include the workgroup of interest. Candidates may apply for both workgroups.

Two New Federal Government Funding Opportunities

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) has announced a new grant opportunity: Estimating the Costs of Supporting Primary Care Practice Transformation under its small grants program This announcement solicits grant applications from organizations that propose to analyze and describe the costs associated with successful efforts to transform primary care practice. With this announcement, AHRQ is interested in adding knowledge about the direct and indirect costs associated with supporting primary care transformation. While proposed projects may utilize the methods of cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, or cost-utility analyses on the support and maintenance of primary care transformation, given the dearth of current valid information available, AHRQ also is interested in receiving proposals to document the direct and indirect financial costs shouldered by small and medium sized practices in becoming a patient centered medical home (PCMH) and the direct and indirect external costs involved in successful primary care practice facilitation programs. This opportunity may be of interest to coalitions willing to reach out to partners such as traditional researchers, provider groups, or members that are working on PCMH projects.

DEADLINES: Letters of intent are due January 28, 2013; applications are due February 28, 2013.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also announced a new funding opportunity: Building Capacity of the Public Health System to Improve Population Health Through National, Nonprofit Organizations. The purpose of this program is to ensure the provision of capacity-building assistance (CBA) to optimize the quality and performance of public health systems, the public health workforce, public health data and information systems, public health practice and services, public health partnerships, and public health resources. The applicant’s CBA program is expected to demonstrate measurable progress among governmental and nongovernmental components of the public health system towards two or more of the following outcomes: 1) increased adoption of new or proven business improvements leading to management and administrative efficiencies or cost savings; 2) increased availability and accessibility of continuing education and training focused on public health competencies and new skills, including the use of experience-based internships and fellowships; 3) increased incorporation of core public health competencies into employee position descriptions and performance evaluations; 4) increased integration of state-of-the-art technology into data collection and information systems; 5) increased implementation of evidence-based public health programs, policies, and services; 6) improved capacity to meet nationally established standards, such as those for health department accreditation; 7) establishment and maintenance of diverse public health partnerships for meaningful cooperation and achievement of evidence-based public health strategies and interventions, such as the CDC Winnable Battles; and 8) improved quality, availability, and accessibility of public health education materials, training, and evaluation tools and resources. While CDC is looking for applicants with a national scope, coalitions that are involved in community-based public health efforts may be interested in this opportunity.

DEADLINES: Letters of intent are due February 4, 2013; applications are due March 7, 2013. There is an informational conference call on January 29, 2013.

AHRQ Posts Comparative Effectiveness Research Summaries

AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program has created free summaries comparing the effectiveness of various treatments for different health conditions. Summaries are available for both clinicians and consumers, covering a wide range of conditions, including diabetes, mental health issues, and cancer. AHRQ does warn that these research summaries are not clinical recommendations or guidelines and should not be interpreted as such.  Presumably, AHRQ also does not intend for this information to be used in coverage or payment decisions by payers. The publication of this type of information, though, is a step in the right direction toward engaging consumers more in their own care and creating a foundation for patients and clinicians to have informed discussions about treatment options. 

Visitors are invited to join the e-mail list to receive updates when new research summaries are posted.

AHRQ Seeks to Tap Patients for Safety-Event Data

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is seeking approval to design and test a system for collecting information from patients about healthcare safety events, according to a Federal Register filing (PDF).

Based on a growing body of evidence that many medical adverse events go unreported by providers, AHRQ is seeking to create a way for patients and their families to report healthcare safety events. “Most reporting systems do not presently accept or elicit reports from patients and their families,” AHRQ wrote, and “the unique perspective of healthcare consumers could reveal important information that is not reported by healthcare providers.”

AHRQ already has funded the development of a prototype Consumer Reporting System for Patient Safety, and the agency's current request to the Office of Management and Budget would test the prototype's effectiveness.

The project is being conducted by AHRQ through a contractor, Rand Corp., with Brigham and Women's Hospital, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, both in Boston, and ECRI Institute, Plymouth Meeting, PA.

AHRQ Releases 2011 National Healthcare Quality & Disparities Reports

The latest National Healthcare Disparities Report released last week by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) shows that access to health care was not improving for most racial and ethnic groups in the years 2002 through 2008 leading up to enactment of the Affordable Care Act. The congressionally mandated disparities and quality reports, which AHRQ has produced annually since 2003, are based on over 40 different national sources that collect data regularly. The latest reports, which include about 250 health care measures, show the persistent challenges in access to care faced by most racial and ethnic groups. Fifty percent of the measures that tracked disparities in health care access showed no improvement between the years 2002 and 2008, while 40 percent of those measures were getting worse. The 2011 National Healthcare Quality Report, also issued last week, tracks the health care system through quality measures such as the percentage of adult smokers who received advice from a provider to quit or the percentage of children who received recommended vaccinations. Based on the same data and measures used in the disparities report, the congressionally mandated quality report found that overall health care quality improved slowly for the general population between the years 2002 and 2008. Both reports will serve to track progress on the Affordable Care Act in the future. To view the National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report, visit: http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/qrdr11.htm. In addition, AHRQ's NHQRDRnet is an online query system that allows you to access national and State data on the quality of, and access to, health care from scientifically credible measures and data sources. To use the interactive tool, visit: http://nhqrnet.ahrq.gov.

Study Finds Consumers Choose High-Value Health Care Providers When Given Good Cost and Quality

When asked to choose a health care provider based only on cost, consumers choose the more expensive option, according to a new study funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that appeared in the March issue of Health Affairs.

The study found that consumers equate cost with quality and worry that lower cost means lower quality care. But higher costs may indicate unnecessary services or inefficiencies, so cost information alone does not help consumers get the best value for their health care dollar

"An Experiment Shows That a Well-Designed Report on Costs and Quality Can Help Consumers Choose High-Value Health Care," found that when consumers were shown the right mix of cost and quality information, they were better able to choose high-value health care providers—defined as those who deliver high-quality care at a lower cost.

Free Patient Educational Tools Available To Help Improve Health Outcomes

The U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of Health and Human Services, has launched a new public education initiative to help improve patient health outcomes. The initiative, called “Questions are the Answer,” offers valuable free materials that organizations can use for patient education.

These free educational tools help patients come to their medical appointments well prepared, making more efficient use of the time they spend with their doctor or other clinician.

The goal of this public education initiative is to empower patients and their doctors to establish effective two-way communication to help make health care safer and to improve health outcomes.

Study Finds Consumers Choose High-Value Health Care Providers When Given Good Cost and Quality Information

When asked to choose a health care provider based only on cost, consumers choose the more expensive option, according to a new study funded by HHS’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) that appears in the March issue of Health Affairs.

The study found that consumers equate cost with quality and worry that lower cost means lower quality care. But higher costs may indicate unnecessary services or inefficiencies, so cost information alone does not help consumers get the best value for their health care dollar, according to the study."

More information is available here.

Crosswalk of the First Set of Priorities for the Pediatric Healthcare Quality Measures Program Centers of Excellence with the CHIPRA Initial Core Measure Set

This chart cross-references CHIPRA topics and measures from the initial core set of children's health care quality measures with the first set of priorities identified for the Pediatric Quality Measures Program and the lead Center of Excellence and principal investigator that will be addressing each topic/measure. See the chart here...

AHRQ awards $34M in 2011 to fight healthcare-associated infections

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announced this week that it has awarded grants totaling more than $34 million in 2011 in the fight against healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

HAIs are bacterial, viral and fungal infections that patients get during the course of receiving medical care. They affect patients across all healthcare settings and current estimates indicate that at any one point in time may affect as many as 1-in-20 hospital patients. Read the full article...