HHS announces $473 million grant to help people make effective healthcare decisions

HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today announced the award of $473 million in grants and contracts to support projects that will help people make health care decisions based on the best evidence of effectiveness. The funding announced today covers all of AHRQ's allocation and $173 million administered for the HHS Secretary by AHRQ.  

The projects will support patient-centered outcomes research, also known as comparative effectiveness research, efforts in many areas, including health care interventions in real world settings, advanced use of the research findings by diverse populations, development of effective patient registries and training and career development for the next generation of researchers.

The awards are part of the investments made under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which included $1.1 billion to support patient-centered outcomes research.  Of that total, $300 million was designated to AHRQ and $400 million was designated to be allocated at the discretion of the HHS Secretary for a variety of patient-centered outcomes research and related activities.  An additional $400 million was directed to the National Institutes of Health.  

Patient-centered outcomes research is designed to inform health care decisions by providing evidence and information on the effectiveness, benefits and harms of different treatment options. The evidence is generated from research studies that compare drugs, medical devices, tests, surgeries or ways to deliver health care in real world settings.

"Patient-centered outcomes research will give patients the information they need to talk with their doctors about their options for medical treatment," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D. "The findings of this research also will strengthen our health care system by ensuring that the care that is delivered is based on the best possible evidence and informed decisions."

The funded grants and contracts fall into several categories.  For the awards funded by the Office of the Secretary, they are:  Data Infrastructure; Dissemination, Translation and Implementation; Research; and Inventory and Evaluation.  The awards funded by the AHRQ allocation are categorized under: Horizon Scanning; Evidence Synthesis; Evidence Gap Identification; Translation and Dissemination; Evidence Generation; Training and Career Development; and the Community Forum.

These awards are one part of the overall HHS Recovery Act strategy, as described at http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/. To learn more about this research you may want to visit: http://www.hhs.gov/recovery/programs/cer/index.html.