Revitalizing the nation's primary care system is critical to AHRQ's mission to improve the quality, safety, accessibility, equity, and affordability of health care in the United States (U.S.)—and primary care research is vital to advancing primary healthcare.2 As the Federal agency with a congressional mandate to advance the primary care research field and establish a Center for this work,3 AHRQ plays a key role in conducting and supporting research and generating evidence for the field.
Over the past 30 years and across five administrations, AHRQ has remained committed to primary care research.4 Even in the context of budget constraints and uncertainty, AHRQ has invested in research on primary care organization and delivery, workforce, quality and safety, financing and cost, and prevention. The Agency has also contributed to building primary care research infrastructure; developing research methods, tools, and resources; and generating data. AHRQ has led efforts related to primary care transformation, patient-centered medical homes, quality improvement, integrating behavioral health and primary care, practice facilitation, and practice-based research networks (PBRNs). Many AHRQ funded investigator-initiated grants have resulted in innovative interventions that have later been implemented on a much broader scale, leading to significant impacts on primary care. AHRQ’s investments in primary care have also included internal projects to conduct research and develop resources, conceptual frameworks, and research agendas.4 In addition, AHRQ has funded contracts to support this body of work, including contracts to conduct literature and evidence reviews, gather expert input, evaluate initiatives, support grantees through technical assistance and learning communities, and to develop and disseminate resources.
However, without a direct or earmarked funding stream for primary care research, primary care-focused efforts at AHRQ have historically been dispersed across the Agency’s centers and thus challenging to identify as a portfolio of work. Because of this, many primary care researchers, clinicians, and policymakers remain unaware of the true depth and breadth of AHRQ's investments in the field, and useful resources and tools resulting from these investments may remain underutilized.
The recently funded National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (or NCEPCR, pronounced "Nice P-C-R") now serves as the home for primary care research at AHRQ, with the following vision and mission statements guiding its work:5
Vision: NCEPCR envisions a future where all patients receive high quality, whole person, evidence-based, affordable primary health care from a healthy primary care workforce.
Mission: NCEPCR's mission is to support transformative primary care research*, tools and methods for implementation, and the next generation of primary care researchers to improve the delivery of primary care.
To achieve this mission, NCEPCR will engage in the following activities:
Additional information, including NCEPCR's core values (Equity, Community Engagement, Innovation, Sustainability, and Adaptability) can be found on NCEPCR's About webpage.
In alignment with AHRQ's mission, current priority areas for primary care research include:
- Research to improve primary care, focused on quality, access and affordability, the workforce, care delivery models, financing, digital healthcare, person-centeredness, and health equity.
- Harnessing data and technology to conduct research on characteristics of primary care that may influence patient outcomes, such as whole person care, care coordination, continuity of care, and comprehensiveness of care.
- Research on management of clinical areas unique to primary care, such as multiple chronic conditions, preventive care, undifferentiated syndromes, or behavioral and mental health care that is integrated within primary care.
