SHM Joins Sign-On Letter Supporting Full FY27 Funding of Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)

Dear Chair Capito, Ranking Member Baldwin, Chair Aderholt, and Ranking Member DeLauro: 

To meet the needs of America’s patients, researchers, providers, and health systems, 259 leading organizations call for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to be fully funded at $500 million in FY27 and that the Agency have sufficient staff to manage its statutory obligations.

The issues that frustrate Americans the most about health care – lack of access, low-value care, excessive wait times, distrust in expertise, burn out amongst medical providers, and more – are challenges that health services research (HSR) was designed to answer. Unfortunately, a lack of federal funding for this research has put us as a country at a disadvantage in improving health outcomes.

Federally funded health service research grants are how we identify what care is working best to improve health outcomes for patients. AHRQ is the leading federal agency for funding health services research and primary care research (PCR) that provides the evidence to help providers, patients, and policymakers make informed decisions. It is the bridge between cures and care to ensure that Americans get the best care at the best value.

As our nation faces multiple health crises, it is more critical than ever to improve our health systems. For example, rural communities are facing complex health challenges with the ongoing closures of rural hospitals and clinics leading to worsening health outcomes for residents. In parallel, the opioid crisis, which has disproportionately impacted rural America, has ravaged American life as overdose deaths are the leading cause of injury-related death in the U.S. In response to these challenges, AHRQ has long identified rural populations as a priority population to support and continues to fund research to improve rural health systems. We applaud demonstrated bipartisan interest in seeking to improve rural healthcare, and health services research is the bridge from challenges to solutions. AHRQ-funded projects fill these knowledge gaps.

AHRQ supports research to broaden access to essential services, improve health care quality, reduce costs, advance patient safety, and decrease medical errors. RAND Corporation released a report in 2020, as called for by the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018, which identified AHRQ as “the only agency that has statutory authorizations to generate HSR and be the home for federal primary care research, and the unique focus of its research portfolio on systems-based outcomes (e.g., making health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable) and approaches to implementing improvement across health care settings and populations in the United States.” AHRQ offers valuable insights on every facet of the health care system. For example, the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine 2021 report on Implementing High Quality Primary Care highlighted the value of and need for federal investments in AHRQ through the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research.

To deliver better outcomes, we need to be able to differentiate which healthcare interventions work, for whom they work, and how to implement them. For example, the effectiveness of telehealth is diminished if we do not have an evidence-based approach to provide consistent access regardless of who the patient is, the medical care they require, and their access to technology, and addressing questions like these is where AHRQ has a proven track record.

While the vast majority of federally funded research focuses on one specific disease or organ system, AHRQ is the only federal agency that funds research at the point of care. The benefits of funding this type of research can be measured in saved lives, better value care, and improved patient outcomes to ultimately make America healthier. For example, implementing AHRQ-funded studies on reducing hospital acquired conditions prevented an estimated 20,500 hospital deaths and saved $7.7 billion in health care costs from 2014 to 2017.

Unfortunately, insufficient funding coupled with reductions in force (RIFs) and the decision not to replace federal workers who have left the Agency have led to a total collapse in the ability of the Agency to fulfill its statutory requirements to support research that helps make our care safer, more affordable, and of the
highest quality.

For these reasons, as you draft the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2027, the 259 undersigned members of the Friends of AHRQ respectfully request:

• No less than $500 million in funding for the Agency for Healthcare and Research and
  Quality (AHRQ). This request reflects the demonstrated need to expand and accelerate HSR investments to inform decision-making on the health care system.
• Provisions that the Department of Health and Human Services shall support staffing levels necessary to fulfill its statutory responsibilities including carrying out programs, projects, and activities funded in FY27. This reflects the need for a sufficient number of trained federal workers to manage all facets of AHRQ’s statutory portfolio, including but not limited to extramural, scientific review, and grant management requirements.

AHRQ is the federal vehicle for studying and improving the United States healthcare system, and it needs the resources to meet its mission and this moment. Through this appropriation level, AHRQ will be better able to fund the “last mile” of research from cure to care.

Sincerely,

Academic Pediatric Association
Academy of Physicians in Clinical Research
AcademyHealth
Accessia Health
Adventist Health Policy Association
Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM)
Alliance for Aging Research
Alliance for Headache Disorders Advocacy
America’s Physician Groups
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine
American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physician Associates
American Association for Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Research
American Association for Men in Nursing
American Association for Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine
American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association of Post-Acute Care Nursing
American Association on Health and Disability
American Board of Medical Specialties
American Board of Preventive Medicine
American Brain Coalition
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Chiropractic Association
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Gastroenterology
American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics
American College of Medical Toxicology
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
American College of Nurse-Midwives
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians
American College of Physicians
American College of Rheumatology
American Epilepsy Society
American Gastroenterological Association
American Health Information Management
Association (AHIMA)
American Health Quality Association
American Heart Association
American Kidney Fund
American Liver Foundation
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
American Nephrology Nurses Association
American Neurological Association
American Nurses Association
American Osteopathic Association
American Pediatric Society
American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association Services
American Public Health Association
American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
American Society for Nutrition
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Pediatric Nephrology
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
American Statistical Association
American Thoracic Society
Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation
Association for Clinical and Translational Science
Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
Association of American Medical Colleges
Association of Departments of Family Medicine
Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Minority Health Professions Schools
Association of Population Centers
Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health
Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist
Avera Health
Bell Wellness & Mental Health
Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety
Boston Medical Center Health System
Camden Coalition
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine
Cedars-Sinai
Center for Patient Safety Research and Practice, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Center to Advance Palliative Care
Chestnut Health Systems, Inc.
Children’s Hospital Association
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Children’s Hospital Colorado
Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Clinical Research Forum
Coalition for National Trauma Research
Colon Cancer Coalition
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Comagine Health
Community Improving Diagnosis in Medicine (CIDM)
Community Liver Alliance
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Converging Health
Council of Medical Specialty Societies
Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics
Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation
Data Foundation
Denver Health
Digestive Disease National Coalition
Duke Health
EBQ Consulting
Elation Health
Emergency Nurses Association
Epilepsy Foundation of America
Evidence-Based Research Network
Federation of Associations in Behavioral and
Brain Sciences
Fight Colorectal Cancer
FORCE: Facing Our Risk of Cancer Empowered
Foundation for Sarcoidosis Research
Gerontological Society of America
Global Healthy Living Foundation
Grady Hospital
Harvard University
Head for the Cure Foundation
Health Care Systems Research Network
Health Hats
Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS)
HealthPartners Institute
Healthy Teen Network
HealthyWomen
Heart Failure Society of America
Heart Rhythm Society
HIV Medicine Associaiton
HIV+Hepatitis Policy Institute
Infusion Access Foundation
Innsena
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), IHI Lucian Leape Institute
Interstitial Cystitis Association
IPUMS
Islamic Civic Engagement Project
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine
K.s.M. Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
Kinfolks Community
Lachman Consulting
Lakeshore Foundation
Learning Health Community
Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome (LGS) Foundation
Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc
Lymphatic Education & Research Network
March of Dimes
MEAction North Carolina
MEDIS, LLC
MGH Stoeckle Center for Primary Care Innovation
MHA Keystone Center
Mission MSA
Mothers Against Medical Error
NAPCRG
National Accelerator for Discovery in Precision Health
National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research
National Association of Health Data Organizations
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Ataxia Foundation
National Black Nurses Association
National Headache Foundation
National Health Council
National Hispanic Health Foundation
National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA)
National Infusion Center Association
National Jewish Health
National Kidney Foundation
National League for Nursing
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Rural Health Association
National Scleroderma Foundation
Nationwide Children’s Hospital
NHMH – No Health without Mental Health
Northwestern University
Northwestern University Institute for Public
Health and Medicine
Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs (NOVA)
Oncology Nursing Society
Oregon Health & Science University
Organization for Latino Health Advocacy
Pantheon
Patient is Partner, LLC
Patient Precision
Patients for Patient Safety US
Pediatric Policy Council
Peggy Lillis Foundation
Penn State Center for Health Care Policy & Research
Penn State Health/Penn State College of Medicine
Penn State University
Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
Population Association of America
Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association
Premier Inc
Prevent Blindness
Primary Care Collaborative
Primary Care Development Corporation
Primary Care for All Americans
Project Patient Care
Project Sleep
Ready for Change
Research!America
Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
Scientific Knowledge Accelerator Foundation
Sleep Research Society
Society for Applied Anthropology
Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Pediatric Research
Society for Public Health Education
Society for Research on Adolescence
Society for Women’s Health Research
Society of General Internal Medicine
Society of Hospital Medicine
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Spina Bifida Association
Stratis Health
Superior Health Quality Alliance
Taiwan’s Artificial Intelligence Workforce and Network, Incorporated (TAIWAN Inc.)
Texas Health Resources
The Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice
The Health Collaborative
The Larry A. Green Center for the Advancement of Primary Health Care for the Public Good
The Leapfrog Group
The Lundquist Institute
The MetroHealth Medical Center
The National Alliance to Advance Adolescent Health
The National Pancreas Foundation
The National Partnership for Women and Families
The Round Group
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tulane School of Public Health & Tropical Medicine
UC San Diego
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
UCSF
United Ostomy Associations of America, Inc.
University of California San Diego
University of California System
University of California, Berkeley
University of Colorado Anschutz
University of Michigan – Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation
University of Minnesota School of Public Health
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of Utah Health
US Hereditary Angioedema Association
Vanderbilt Health
Virginia Ambulatory Care Outcomes Research Network (ACORN)
Virginia Commonwealth University
wAIHA Warriors
Washington State University
Weill Cornell Medicine
Zorya Foundation

Thank you for your support of AHRQ and health services research. For more information, please contact Josh Caplan at Josh.Caplan@AcademyHealth.org.