§299b–37 Dissemination and Building Capacity for Research

Summary

Require AHRQ’s Office of Communication and Knowledge Transfer to widely share research from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and other government-funded studies on how well treatments work. Office = AHRQ’s communications office (or another AHRQ office picked to do this). Institute = the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The Office must make simple tools and a public database that gather research from government, private, nonprofit, and academic sources. It must give the findings to doctors, other health providers, patients, clinical decision-support tech vendors, professional groups, and federal and private health plans. Each item shared must say who did the research, how it was done, its limits, and how it applies to different groups. Materials must not be treated as rules for payment, coverage, or treatment. The Office must also help clinical decision-support users add the findings into care and must take feedback from users and stakeholders. AHRQ, with NIH, must fund training grants to teach researchers accepted comparative-effectiveness methods that meet the standards in section 1320e(d)(9). The Secretary must coordinate federal programs to build linked data systems like registries and health outcomes networks using electronic health records. Federal agencies may make agreements with and accept funds from the Institute for authorized research. The Institute may still publish its own findings under section 1320e(d)(8).