ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today released early findings from EvidenceNOW, a multimillion dollar initiative to help primary care practices across the country more rapidly improve the heart health of Americans. This $112 million grant-funded initiative is the largest primary care research investment in the agency's history.
Early findings from the initiative, described below, have been published as a supplement to the Annals of Family Medicine . The supplement consists of eight original research articles, an overview and rationale from AHRQ, and two commentaries from nationally recognized experts in primary care research and practice transformation.
EvidenceNOW is aligned with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Million Hearts® initiative and is aimed at reducing the research-to-practice delay in implementing best practices to deliver the ABCS of cardiovascular disease prevention: aspirin in high-risk individuals, blood pressure control, cholesterol management, and smoking cessation.
The multi-state EvidenceNOW initiative engaged 1,500 small- to medium-sized primary care practices and nearly 8 million patients. It established seven regional cooperatives designed to provide quality improvement services typically not available to small practices.
"EvidenceNOW's goal is to measurably improve the health of Americans through the delivery of evidence-based primary care and build a blueprint of how to provide small- and medium-sized primary care practices with quality improvement support", says David Meyers, AHRQ's chief medical officer and EvidenceNOW director. "Primary care is the backbone and heart of U.S. health care delivery. This supplement will help the field better understand the impact AHRQ has on primary care and heart health, helping them tackle the challenges they are facing today, with solutions that will make for a promising future."
The initiative also includes an independent national evaluation to determine if and how quality improvement support can accelerate the dissemination and implementation of new evidence in primary care.
Findings include the following:
"Technical Assistance for Primary Care Practice Transformation: Did You Budget Enough For Practice Recruitment?," by Lyle Fagnan, MD, et al, Portland Oregon
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S72
"Effect of Practice Ownership on Work Environment, Learning, Culture, Psychological Safety, and Burnout," by Alison Cuellar, PhD, et al, Fairfax, Virginia
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S44
"Quality of Cardiovascular Disease Care in Small Urban Practices," by Donna Shelley, MD, MPH, et al, New York, New York
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S21
"The Alarming Rate of Major Disruptive Events in Primary Care Practices in Oklahoma," by James W. Mold, MD, MPH, et al, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S52
"Use of Quality Improvement Strategies Among Small- to Medium-Size US Primary Care Practices," by Bijal Balasubramanian, MBBS, PhD, et al, Dallas, Texas
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S35
"Organizational Leadership and Adaptive Reserve in Blood Pressure Control: The Heart Health NOW Study," by Kamal H. Henderson, MD, et al Chapel Hill, North Carolina
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S29
"A Community Engagement Method to Design Patient Engagement Materials for Cardiovascular Health," by Aimee F. English, MD, et al, Denver, Colorado
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S58
"Practice Facilitators' and Leaders' Perspectives on a Facilitated Quality Improvement Program," by Megan McHugh, PhD, et al, Chicago, Illinois
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S65
EDITORIALS AND OVERVIEWS
"Technical Assistance for Primary Care Practice Transformation: Free Help To Perform Unpaid Labor?," by Lawrence P. Casalino MD, PhD, New York City, New York
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S12
"Finding a Parsimonious Path for Primary Care Practice Transformation," by Asaf Bitton, MD, MPH, Boston, Massachusetts
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S16
"EvidenceNOW: Balancing Primary Care Implementation and Implementation Research," by David Meyers, MD, et al, Rockville, Maryland
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S58
"The Capacity of Primary Care for Improving Evidence-Based Care: Early Findings From AHRQ's EvidenceNOW," by Sarah Shoemaker, PhD, PharmD, et al, Cambridge, Massachusetts
http://www.annfammed.org/content/16/Suppl_1/S1
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About the Annals of Family Medicine
Annals of Family Medicine is a peer-reviewed, indexed research journal that provides a cross-disciplinary forum for new, evidence-based information affecting the primary care disciplines. Launched in May 2003, Annals is sponsored by seven family medical organizations, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Board of Family Medicine, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group, and the College of Family Physicians of Canada. Annals is published six times each year and contains original research from the clinical, biomedical, social and health services areas, as well as contributions on methodology and theory, selected reviews, essays and editorials. Complete editorial content and interactive discussion groups for each published article can be accessed free of charge on the journal's website, http://www.annfammed.org .
The Annals of Family Medicine