Funding Opportunity Number: PA-24-205
Purpose:
The purpose of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to advance the understanding of the role, capacity, and value of primary care to improve patient outcomes and population health by delivering whole healthcare across the life course, and to build evidence about the characteristics and value of primary care that influence patient outcomes and advance health equity, such as care coordination, continuity of care, and comprehensiveness of care, person-centered, whole healthcare, and trust, and how these can be improved and effectively delivered to strengthen primary healthcare. Answering these critical questions is necessary to revitalize primary care in a way that improves individual and population health while increasing access to care, reducing burden on patients and clinicians, and improving equity and quality of care.
Research Objectives:
The overarching objective of this NOFO is to advance understanding of the role and capacity of primary care to increase the value and quality of care and improve patient outcomes and population health by delivering person-centered care. This NOFO will prioritize research projects that aim to improve primary care in terms of quality, safety, access, affordability, and equity, which may include attention to the primary care workforce, patient experience or outcomes, social determinants of health, care delivery models, payment, or digital healthcare. The research strategy proposed by applicants must be related to the mission and research interests of AHRQ and its National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR). Within AHRQ s mission, the primary care-specific priority areas of focus are:
1. Research to improve primary care, including regarding quality, safety, access and affordability, the workforce, care delivery models, financing, digital healthcare, person-centeredness, and health equity.
2. Harnessing data and technology to conduct research on characteristics of primary care that may influence patient outcomes, such as person-centered whole healthcare, care coordination, continuity of care, and comprehensiveness of care.
3. Research on management of clinical areas unique to primary care, such as multiple chronic conditions, preventive care, undifferentiated syndromes, or behavioral and mental healthcare that is integrated within primary care.
Topics: This NOFO aims to support research that a) builds evidence about the characteristics of primary care that influence patient outcomes, such as care coordination, continuity of care, comprehensiveness of care, person-centered, whole healthcare, clinician-patient relationships, and trust; b) focuses on care provided in primary healthcare settings and/or practices; and c) focuses on clinical areas unique to primary care, such as prevention and management of multiple chronic conditions, preventive care and implementation of the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendations, undifferentiated syndromes, or behavioral and mental healthcare that is integrated within primary care. In addition, projects that examine the role of primary care throughout the life course, including pediatric and adolescent health, transition from pediatric to adult care, sexual and reproductive health, women’s health, perinatal care, men’s health, and geriatric care and aging are welcome, as are studies focused on reducing patient and clinician burden, increasing trust between patients, clinicians, and clinical teams, and the healthcare system, and addressing time-related issues and concerns in healthcare delivery.
This NOFO strongly encourages a focus on issues that address health disparities and have the potential to improve health equity in terms of race and ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, age, disability, or geography/rurality. All projects must include a discussion regarding how their research might be implemented or used to improve delivery of primary care or patient outcomes, and how improvements from the evidence generated could be sustained.
For more detailed information, please see the opportunity webpage.