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SHM Signs Letter of Support to Fully Fund the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)


March 03, 2025

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The Honorable Shelley Moore Capito
Chair
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Robert Aderholt
Chair
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health
and Human Services, Education and Related
Agencies
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
The Honorable Tammy Baldwin
Ranking Member
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services,
Education and Related Agencies
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510
The Honorable Rosa DeLauro
Ranking Member
Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor,
Health and Human Services, Education
and Related Agencies
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

 

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, 194 organizations call for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to be fully funded at $500 million in FY26.

As our nation’s goal of having a system that ensures access to high quality and effective healthcare for all is falling far short of its potential, gaining a better understanding of how our healthcare system works and does not work continues to be bipartisan priority. Federally funded health service research grants are how we identify what is not working and create the evidence-based solutions policymakers need to improve health outcomes for everyone. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the leading federal agency for funding health services research (HSR) and primary care research (PCR). AHRQ is the bridge between cures and care and ensures that Americans get the best health 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. While policymakers and health systems take dramatic action to respond to existing healthcare challenges, they are doing so without sufficient evidence on its impact on health outcomes, the value of care, and healthcare access. 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. The 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, and addressing questions like this is where AHRQ has a proven track record. As the lead agency for health services research and primary care research, AHRQ provides the resources that policymakers, health system leaders, medical providers, and patients need to determine the effectiveness of health systems delivery.

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 on health systems across the nation. The benefits of investing in health services research through AHRQ can be measured in saved lives, better value care, and improved patient outcomes to ultimately make America healthier. For example, implementing of just one AHRQ-funded study 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. Additional investments in AHRQ are needed to maximize the implementation of research findings across the public health and health care continuum to improve patient care and keep pace with the rapidly evolving and changing health care landscape.

For these reasons, as you draft the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies appropriations legislation for fiscal year 2026, the 194 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 an inflation adjustment from FY10 and the demonstrated need to expand and accelerate HSR investments to inform decision-making on the health care system.

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.

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

Sincerely,

Academic Pediatric Association
AcademyHealth
Accessia Health
Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM)
Alliance for Aging Research
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology
American Association for Men in Nursing
American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL)
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association of Neuromuscular and Electrodiagnostic Medicine
American Association on Health and Disability
American Board of Medical Specialties
American Brain Coalition
American Chiropractic Association
American College of Clinical Pharmacy
American College of Emergency Physicians
American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
American College of Nurse-Midwives
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventive Medicine
American College of Rheumatology
American Epilepsy Society
American Health Information Management
Association (AHIMA)
American Heart Association
American Liver Foundation
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
American Nephrology Nurses Association
American Neurological Association
American Nurses Association
American Occupational Therapy Association
American Osteopathic Association
American Pediatric Society
American Physical Therapy Association
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association Services
American Public Health Association
American Society for Nutrition
American Society for Transplantation and Cellular Therapy
American Society of Anesthesiologists
American Society of Clinical
Psychopharmacology (ASCP)
American Society of Hematology
Duke Health
ECRI
Emergency Nurses Association
Epilepsy Foundation of America
Evidence-Based Research Network
Federation of Associations in Behavioral and
Brain Sciences
Gerontological Society of America
Harvard University
Health Care Systems Research Network
Health Hats
HealthPartners Institute
HealthyWomen
Heart Failure Society of America
Heart Rhythm Advocates
Heart Rhythm Society
Henry Ford Health
HIMSS
Human Services Research Institute (HSRI)
Hydrocephalus Association
Infusion Access Foundation
IPUMS, University of Minnesota
Islamic Civic Engagement Project
Johns Hopkins University & Medicine
Kaiser Permanente
Lakeshore Foundation
Lupus and Allied Diseases Association, Inc.
March of Dimes
Marshfield Clinic Health System
Montgomery County (Maryland) Commission on Aging
Morehouse School of Medicine
Mothers Against Medical Error
Mount Sinai
NADPH
NAPCRG
National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research
National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO)
National Association of Nurse Practitioners in Women's Health
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
National Ataxia Foundation
National Black Nurses Association, Inc
National Eczema Association
National Hispanic Health Foundation
National Infusion Center Association
The Lundquist Institute for Biomedical
Innovation at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
The Patient Revolution
The Society of Thoracic Surgeons
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Tuskegee University College of Veterinary Medicine
UCLA
UConn Center on Aging
United Ostomy Associations of America
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
University of California, San Francisco
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
University of Michigan - Institute for Healthcare
Policy & Innovation
University of Oregon
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC)
University of Rochester
University of Utah Health
University of Washington
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
VNS Health
Wake Forest University School of Medicine
Washington State University
Weill Cornell Medicine
Western Washington University
 
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Hospice and Palliative
Medicine
American Academy of Nursing
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physician Associates
American Association for Dental, Oral, and
Craniofacial Research
American Society of Nephrology
American Society of Pediatric Nephrology
American Speech-Language-Hearing
Association
American Statistical Association
American Telemedicine 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 for Professionals in Infection
Control and Epidemiology (APIC)
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
Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and
Neonatal Nurses
ATA Action
Avera
Betsy Lehman Center for Patient Safety
Brigham and Women's Hospital, Division of
General Internal Medicine
Brown University
Cedars-Sinai
Children's Hospital Association
Clinical Research Forum
Coalition for Clinical and Translational Science
Coalition for National Trauma Research
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Comagine Health
Consortium of Social Science Associations
Consumers Advancing Patient Safety
Council of Medical Specialty Societies
Department of Health Policy and Management,
School of Public Health, University of Maryland
at College Park
National League for Nursing
National Nurse-Led Care Consortium
National Psoriasis Foundation
National Rural Health Association
NCQA
New York University
Northwestern University
Nurses Organization of Veterans Affairs
(NOVA)
NYU Langone Health
Oregon Health & Science University
Pantheon
Patient is Partner
Patient Precision Inc.
Patients for Patient Safety US
Pediatric Policy Council
Penn State Health
Penn State University
Population Association of America
Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical
Association
Premier Inc.
Prevent Blindness
Project Patient Care
Ready for Change
Research!America
Rice University
RTI International
Schneider Research Associates, LLC
Scientific Knowledge Accelerator Foundation
Sleep Research Society
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
Texas Health Resources
The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and
Clinical Practice
The Larry A. Green Center for the Advancement
of Primary Health Care for the Public Good
The Leapfrog Group