Research Initiatives
For more than a decade, AHRQ has made major investments in research initiatives to better understand the challenges primary care practices face as they work to provide higher quality care and better health outcomes. Even during the fraught environment of the COVID pandemic, these investments continue to produce evidence about what works best in creating and sustaining infrastructure to help primary care practices improve the quality of care they deliver. The dissemination and implementation of the evidence and tools developed through these research initiatives aim for primary care transformation that enables primary care practices to quickly adapt to public health emergencies and other unanticipated events to meet the care needs of the 21st century.
Learn about AHRQ’s 30-year (1990-2020) investment in primary care research in this report.
AHRQ's current primary care research initiatives are grouped into categories for ease of access.
Behavioral Health and Substance Use Disorders
Research and resources on integration of primary care for medical conditions with care for mental health and substance use disorders at one site.
Care Coordination
Organization of patient care activities across care sites to achieve safer and more effective care.
Care Management
Set of activities to improve patient care, reduce unnecessary need for additional care, and help patients and their caregivers more effectively manage their health conditions.
Disseminating Evidence into Practice
Latest evidence and tools that support practices in implementing evidence-based practices to improve patient care.
Health Information Technology and Digital Health
Activities involving the transfer of information between patient and provider using health information technology (IT) and data.
Health Literacy
Health information and services that match with patients' capacity to find, understand, and use them.
