Following is the fiscal year 2000 performance plan of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). The fiscal year 2000 President's budget request for AHCPR incorporates the annual performance plan required under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA). The fiscal year 2000 performance goals and measures are detailed in AHCPR's performance plan and are linked to both the budget and to the Strategic Plan of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Select for a summary of AHCPR's fiscal year 2000 performance plan.
Performance targets in the plan depend partly on resource levels requested in the President's budget and could change based on congressional appropriation action. GPRA requires that HHS plan, budget, and be accountable for program results. The intent of the Act is to improve program performance by considering performance information in decisionmaking and by involving our partners and stakeholders in accomplishing program results.
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) is a part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and was created in 1989 specifically to respond to the Nation's need for knowledge about the health care system. In fiscal year 1999, it has 275 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees and a total budget of $171,055,000.
The mission of AHCPR is to support, conduct, and disseminate research that improves the outcomes, quality, access to, and cost and utilization of health care services. This mission, which focuses on the effectiveness and value of health care in daily practice, is unique and complements the biomedical and behavioral research responsibilities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The products of the Agency include knowledge that supports decisionmaking to improve health care and tools that can improve quality and reduce costs.
We recognize that health care in 1998 is very different from 1989 when the Agency was created. The Agency has adjusted its agenda and priorities to meet the new challenges we face, while continuing our charge set forth by Congress. To this end, we have focused our priorities on three primary customers: clinical decisionmakers, health care systems leaders, and policymakers, each of whom need information to enhance their contribution to improve the quality of care in this country. We serve our customers with research on outcomes, quality, cost, use, and access.
AHCPR's fiscal year 2000 budget theme is "Closing the Gap." The research priorities will be focused on closing four gaps.
Producing meaningful contributions to the Nation and to research on health care requires continuous activity focused on iterative improvement in priority setting, on developing research initiatives, and on research products and processes. The research cycle (image, 8 KB) describes the processes AHCPR uses to conduct its ongoing activities in order to make the most productive use of its resources.
Needs Assessment. Agency activities begin and end with the end-users of Agency research. Through a continuing dialogue with representatives of the end-users, staff identify major issues and decisions for which information on quality, outcomes, cost, access, and use is needed. The research agenda is based on an assessment of gaps in the knowledge base and on the needs of patients, clinicians, institutions, plans, purchasers, and State and Federal policymakers for evidence-based information. Input gained during the needs assessments feeds directly into the research initiatives undertaken by the Agency, as well as the products developed from research findings to facilitate use in health care.
Knowledge Creation. AHCPR will support and conduct research to produce the next generation of knowledge needed to improve the health care system. Building on the last 10 years of investment in outcomes and health care research, AHCPR will focus on national priority areas for which much remains unknown.
Translation and Dissemination. Simply producing knowledge is not sufficient; findings must be useful and made widely available to practitioners, patients, and other decisionmakers. The Agency will systematically identify priority areas for improving care through integrating findings into practice and will determine the most effective ways of doing this. Additionally, AHCPR will continue to synthesize and translate knowledge into products and tools that support its customers in problem-solving and decisionmaking. It will then actively disseminate the knowledge, products, and tools to appropriate audiences. Effective dissemination involves forming partnerships with other organizations and leveraging resources.
Evaluation. Knowledge development is a continuous process. It includes a feedback loop that depends on evaluation of the research's utility to the end user and impact on health care. In order to assess the ultimate outcomes of AHCPR research, the Agency will place increased emphasis on evaluation of the impact and usefulness of Agency-supported work in health care settings and policymaking. The evaluation activities will include a variety of projects, from smaller, short-term projects that assess process, outputs, and interim outcomes to larger, retrospective projects that assess the ultimate outcomes/impact of AHCPR activities on the health care system.
In addition, the fiscal year 2000 plan is different in these ways: