State-Based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives To Accelerate Implementation of Actionable Knowledge into Practice

Applications have closed and are being reviewed for those seeking to establish and support state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives to accelerate dissemination and implementation of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) evidence into healthcare delivery. AHRQ plans to award grants of up to $25 million each over five years to 15 state-based Healthcare Extension Cooperatives.

The Healthcare Extension Cooperatives' activities will be aimed at supporting states' efforts to improve healthcare policy, align payment incentives, and advance clinical practice, and to reduce healthcare disparities, especially among people who receive Medicaid, are uninsured, or are medically underserved.

The graphic below depicts how Healthcare Extension Cooperatives will collaborate with each other, the National Coordinating Center, and National Evaluation Center to implement this work. These three components of AHRQ’s Healthcare Extension Service are designed to significantly reduce the time span between evidence generation and its use in clinical practice.

The Healthcare Extension Cooperatives' initial efforts to advance behavioral healthcare will include:

• Engaging Medicaid agencies, Medicaid managed care organizations, health system executives, clinicians and staff, patients and families, and other organizations that address the health needs of people who are medically underserved. These groups will help identify and address barriers to better care and identify facilitators to implement patient-centered healthcare delivery improvements based on PCOR evidence.
• Working with healthcare policy, payment, community, care delivery, and research organizations to build their capacity to implement patient-centered healthcare delivery improvements based on PCOR evidence.
• Conducting evaluations of the Healthcare Extension Cooperatives' activities and supporting ongoing learning.
• Providing the support structure to ensure these activities are integrated and aligned.

Each Healthcare Extension Cooperative will include the following core elements:

• The Engagement, Training, Education, and Assistance Core will establish and maintain relationships with safety-net healthcare delivery organizations and community partners and provide training, education, and assistance to support the initiative’s improvement goals.
• The Monitoring, Feedback, and Evaluation Core will monitor the formation and functioning of the Healthcare Extension Cooperative, providing feedback on improvements that may be needed, and evaluate the implementation, processes, and impact of the Healthcare Extension Cooperative.
• The Administrative Core will manage, coordinate, and support the activities of the Healthcare Extension Cooperative, including a Multistakeholder Council.

Access technical assistance resources, as well as general information about AHRQ funding and grants, research policies, and the grant application process.

Please direct all inquiries to: AHRQ_HES@ahrq.hhs.gov.