AHRQ to invest $1.5m in patient-reported IT strategies
The Maryland-based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is set to invest up to $1.5m in two health IT research initiatives. The first project, which could run for up to three years, will fund studies into developing health IT strategies for implementing existing patient-reported outcome measures in ambulatory care environments. The second project, which could be funded up to $300,000, is tasked with examining how health IT can improve care quality and patient outcomes through a focus on patient-centred care coordination.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is soliciting grant applications for two new health IT research initiatives, totaling potentially $1.5 million in funding.

One aims to find successful strategies for the collection and use of patient-reported outcome measures. The other is focused on new ways information technology can improve healthcare quality.

For the first, which could last as long three years, funded at $400,000 each for a total of $1.2 million, will explore patient-reported outcomes in primary care and other outpatient settings.

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PROs offer "a complementary perspective to that of clinician assessments, and may provide greater insights into health status, function, symptom burden, adherence, health behaviors, and quality of life," according to AHRQ.

But most EHR systems today don't collect PRO data in structured or standardized ways that could enable broad and comprehensive clinical or health outcomes measurement, and that information isn't routinely available for clinical care, research or quality improvement initiatives.

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Especially with the rise of consumer-oriented and wearable technologies, AHRQ is interested in studies that develop new health IT strategies for implementing existing PRO measures in ambulatory care environments, especially those supporting the care of people with multiple chronic conditions.

In the second project, which could be funded for a total of $300,000, AHRQ is looking for grant applications to conduct exploratory projects to further contribute to the evidence base of how health IT can improve care quality and patient outcomes by enabling more effective population health management and patient-centered care coordination.

"The United States has invested heavily in the widespread adoption and use of health-related products and data systems that capture information to serve personal, clinical, research, and financial purposes," according to the agency. "The next critical step is maximizing this investment by gathering evidence on how best to utilize health IT to generate, integrate, and synthesize disparate electronic data and evidence to support systems and processes that continuously improve patient outcomes."

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is soliciting grant applications for two new health IT research initiatives, totaling potentially $1.5 million in funding.

One aims to find successful strategies for the collection and use of patient-reported outcome measures. The other is focused on new ways information technology can improve healthcare quality.

Twitter: @MikeMiliardHITN

Email the writer: mike.miliard@himssmedia.com

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