Notice of Intent to Publish Funding Opportunity Announcements to Promote Information Science (R01) and Dissemination and Implementation Studies (R18)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ) mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable. AHRQ works within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and with other partners to assure that the evidence is understood and used.  Further, under section 937 of the Affordable Care Act, AHRQ is mandated to disseminate and support implementation into practice findings from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and government-funded entities that sponsor research on comparative clinical effectiveness.

With this notice, AHRQ announces its intent to publish two Program Announcements (PAs) to solicit investigator-initiated projects in order to advance the ability of health systems to implement evidence and evidence-based practices to improve the quality and safety of health care for all Americans.

The first PA, which will likely utilize an R01 mechanism, will focus on advancing the field of implementation science by developing and refining methods and measures of implementation. AHRQ is particularly interested in deepening our understanding of factors that influence the organization and delivery of health care.

The second PA, which will likely utilize an R18 mechanism, will focus on disseminating and implementing patient-centered, evidence-based interventions. These projects will study how to scale up and spread these interventions in new settings and with new populations using known effective implementation strategies. AHRQ is particularly interested in applications that include implementation strategies that focus on the health care delivery system and improve the safety and/or quality of care. Implementation strategies may be tested at the level of an ambulatory practice, a department within a larger institution, a hospital, an accountable care organization, other health care settings, or an integrated system.

AHRQ is interested in supporting implementation studies utilizing research designs that are both rigorous and relevant. Studies should build knowledge on both the overall effectiveness of the strategies, as well as “how and why” they work in these new settings and with these new populations. Data on mechanisms of action, moderators, and mediators of implementation strategies will greatly aid decision-making on which strategies work for which interventions, in which settings, and for what populations. AHRQ has particular interest in implementation research that focuses on eliminating health care disparities and/or targets primary care practice.

Read NOT-HS-17-002 for more information.