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AHRQ's Knowledge Transfer/Implementation Program

The Knowledge Transfer/Implementation (KT) program consists of projects that disseminate products, tools, and research of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to specific target groups and help implement them.

Goals

The program's goals are to:

Enhance awareness and increase knowledge among users about available tools, research, and products of AHRQ.
Assist target groups in the implementation of tools, research, and products.
Gain feedback regarding the successes and barriers that organizations are experiencing in implementing tools, research, and products.
Develop case studies showing how target audiences have disseminated and implemented specific products.

Current Projects

Elders Prevention Learning Network
Goal: To help six States (Illinois, Maryland, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Ohio) create community-clinician linkages using evidence-based research that demonstrates how to best provide care for the elderly. Activities include two Learning Network meetings, conference calls, and technical assistance.

For more information, contact: Harriett Bennett (Harriett.Bennett@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS)
Goal: To work with providers to test integration of AHRQ's Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS) (http://epss.ahrq.gov/PDA/index.jsp) in electronic formats, such as reminder systems and electronic medical records. The participating providers represent Federal, private, and other systems that use electronic systems in delivery of care. The ePSS is an interactive tool, initially designed for use on a personal digital assistant (PDA) or desktop computer, to help primary care clinicians incorporate the screening, counseling, and preventive services recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that are appropriate for their patients.

For more information, contact: Morgan Liscinsky (Morgan.Liscinsky@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Emergency Preparedness Tools for States
Goal: To provide assistance to community planners in three pilot sites to use one or more of AHRQ's products (http://www.ahrq.gov/prep/) to enhance their overall emergency preparedness planning process, operational effectiveness, and response to public health emergencies. The emphasis will be on fostering partnerships and integration among public health departments, hospitals, and health care providers as well as emergency management at the State, regional, and local levels.

For more information, contact: Joanne Robinson (Joanne.Robinson@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Emergency Preparedness Webcasts
Goal: To help stakeholders, especially States and communities, find and use AHRQ's emergency preparedness products. The project will:

Enhance awareness among key stakeholders about AHRQ's brand in the emergency preparedness arena, including its leadership role in creating useful and timely tools.
Increase knowledge among decisionmakers about the suite of AHRQ tools available to them.
Provide feedback to AHRQ regarding participation in the Web casts to inform its future educational offerings and outreach efforts.

For more information, contact: Ellen Crown (Ellen.Crown@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Hispanic Elders Learning Network
Goal: To support the development of local, evidence-based intervention plans for reducing health disparities and improving the delivery of health care and related aging and social services for Hispanic elders. This project also seeks to foster the development of interdisciplinary teams/coalitions in eight communities with large populations of Hispanic elders (Chicago, IL; Houston, TX; Los Angeles, CA; McAllen, TX; Miami, FL; New York, NY; San Antonio, TX; and San Diego, CA), and linking them together in a learning network with a team of national experts in the areas of health disparities measurement, evidence-based programs, community health, and organization.

Select http://www.ahrq.gov/research/diabetesnetwork/ to access a report describing the development of a learning network project at community health centers to help reduce the diabetes disparity in the Hispanic population

For more information, contact: Harriett Bennett (Harriett.Bennett@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Hospital Product Line
Goal: To help hospitals and health systems enhance the quality and safety of care they provide to patients by implementing AHRQ products and tools such as:

For more information, contact: Margie Shofer (Margie.Shofer@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Increasing Clinicians Use of Effective Health Care Program Products
Goal: To implement an efficient and effective strategy for disseminating Effective Health Care products to clinicians. This includes Comparative Effectiveness Review executive summaries and products resulting from the work of the Eisenberg Center (including summary guides for clinicians and consumers).

Initial efforts will focus on dissemination and utilization of EHC guides on osteoarthritis and diabetes medications. Models for dissemination and utilization will be applied to other clinical areas. Special emphasis will be placed on using Effective Health Care guides for continuing medical education.

For more information, contact: Bruce Seeman (Bruce.Seeman@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Long-Term Care Quality Improvement Learning Network
Goal: To provide support to 20 long-term care (LTC) facilities participating in a high-intensity, quality improvement (QI) learning network. Using the AHRQ Readiness Assessment Tool to establish a QI baseline and to find commonalities among the facilities, nursing homes already engaged in varying levels of QI initiatives will learn new and proven strategies for improving leadership, communication, and teamwork.

For more information, contact: Cheryl Thompson (Cheryl.Thompson@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Medicaid Care Management Learning Network
Goal: To help State Medicaid programs develop strategies for improving the quality of care in the following critical areas:

Helping patients become active in their care.
Encouraging provider participation in care management programs.
Developing program interventions and corresponding measurement strategies that impact patient care; and designing valid, reliable evaluations to determine the program's success.

States gain expertise in these areas by working collaboratively with AHRQ experts and each other at in-person meetings and on Web conferences and conference calls. Medicaid program officials from 18 States have been members of the Learning Network over the course of this project. The expertise and lessons learned during this project are described in Designing and Implementing Medicaid Disease and Care Management Programs: A User's Guide.

For more information, contact: Margie Shofer (Margie.Shofer@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Medicaid Medical Directors Learning Network
Goal: To provide a forum for clinical leaders of the State Medicaid programs to discuss their most pressing needs as policymakers. This project helps the Medicaid Medical Directors (MMDs) use relevant AHRQ products and related evidence to address their concerns and determine their needs for future research. Through this project, the MMDs connect with other organizations interested in using evidence-based medicine to make policy decisions that impact Medicaid programs.

For more information, contact: Margie Shofer (Margie.Shofer@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Medication Adherence
Goal: To achieve consensus on messages about medical adherence (if people take medications as prescribed) and an action plan for a sustained public education campaign on medication adherence. Consensus will be sought among representatives of key groups, including clinicians, consumers, insurers, businesses, States, pharmacists, drug manufacturers, and others, to review and promote existing research and tools related to medication safety and adherence. Four focus groups will be conducted.

For more information, contact: Kristie Kiser (Kristie.Kiser@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Pharmacy Suite of Tools
Goal: To develop partnerships with key organizations and associations to disseminate and promote select products and tools developed from AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program. Target audiences include pharmacy stakeholders. The project will provide opportunities for pharmacy groups to offer feedback and nominate topics for future EHC summaries and reports, develop marketing plans for each partner, and measure results of efforts.

For more information, contact: Salina Prasad (Salina.Prasad@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Purchasers' Suite of Tools
Goal: To promote the use of selected AHRQ products to purchasers of health care in the private sector and document the impact of using the products. Other goals are to establish relationships with organizations representing or serving employers, determine the organization's knowledge of AHRQ and its products, and increase uptake of selected AHRQ products by private-sector employers.

For more information, contact: Barbara Kass (Barbara.Kass@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Quality Diagnostic Tools for States
Goal: To increase the use of the Quality Improvement tools among State policymakers such as:

Activities include workshops, audio and Web conferences, and hands-on technical assistance with individual States to encourage and facilitate use of the tools.

For more information, contact: Margie Shofer (Margie.Shofer@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Quality Indicators Learning Institute
Goal: To support a forum for discussing and facilitating the use of the Quality Indicators (QI's) in statewide and regional programs that report hospital quality measures to the public. Institute members are leaders from State agencies/task forces, State hospital associations and/or coalitions that are directly involved with developing public reporting programs. Through peer learning and open exchange of information, the Institute helps those responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining public reporting programs.

For more information, contact: Margie Shofer (Margie.Shofer@ahrq.hhs.gov).

Current as of November 2008

Internet Citation:

AHRQ's Knowledge Transfer/Implementation Program. November 2008. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/ktint.htm