Among the elements of the 2009 ACCP Advocacy Agenda approved by the Board of Regents is the following statement related to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ):

• Expand direct collaboration with AHRQ and its various programs related to medication effectiveness and safety – promote availability of AHRQ resources and collaborative opportunities to ACCP members.

To address the agenda item, ACCP staff has communicated regularly during the past several months with senior staff of the AHRQ Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness and staff of the Lewin Group, a consulting firm contracted with AHRQ. The purpose of these communications was to identify opportunities and processes to enhance the visibility of the agency’s programs and resources to assist clinical pharmacists in their care of patients. Specifically, the structure and focus of the College’s PRNs proved to be an especially attractive and appropriate framework for those discussions.

In 2009, ACCP is providing enhanced visibility for AHRQ and its Effective Health Care Program components through direct links on the ACCP Web site under “Professional Resources” on the “About ACCP” page. Through these links, ACCP members can access the various program components of the AHRQ’s efforts to promote quality and effectiveness of health care delivery, related both to medications and to other treatment modalities. Among the components are:

• The Effective Health Care Program (EHC), which seeks to facilitate decision-making by providing findings from high-quality research in formats for different audiences:
  • Summary guides of research reviews written in easy-to-digest language for various audiences, including clinicians, patients, and policy-makers. The guides provide essential facts about the condition being treated as well as effectiveness and risk summaries of various treatment options;
  • Comparative effectiveness reviews draw on published scientific studies to make direct comparisons on the effectiveness and risk of treatment options for a particular health condition;
  • New research reports review newly available evidence and analytic tools useful in determining the effectiveness of health care interventions.
• The Evidence-Based Practice Centers (EPCs) – These were created by AHRQ to synthesize existing scientific literature about important health care topics and promote evidence-based practice and decision-making. Fifteen centers currently are in operation and are also being used to conduct comparative effectiveness reviews or research reviews on medications, devices, and other interventions;
• The DEcIDE/CERTs networks – The “Developing Evidence to Inform Decisions About Effectiveness” (DEcIDE) network comprises a network of research centers charged to generate new knowledge. The network conducts accelerated practical studies about the outcomes, comparative clinical effectiveness, safety, and appropriateness of health care items and services. Among the 13 principal investigators leading the efforts of the DEcIDE network, three are Pharm.D.s. The “Centers for Education & Research on Therapeutics” (CERTs) is a national demonstration program comprising 14 research centers conducting research and providing education that advances the optimal use of drugs, biologicals, and medical devices.

In addition to these agency-based resources, AHRQ is conducting active educational outreach programs in selected topical areas using “webinar” formats to reach practitioners. Already in 2009, AHRQ has promoted two webinars, which have been made available to ACCP members, with another program (on atypical antipsychotic medications and their risk for inducing sudden cardiac death) scheduled for May 1. ACCP staff has contacted appropriate PRN chairs to share information on these programs in advance of their presentation to encourage direct promotion to PRN members.

ACCP staff is currently engaged in additional strategic discussions, together with other interested national pharmacy association partners, to explore workable mechanisms to facilitate more involvement of practitioners and researchers in the generation of research topics and methods to enhance communication between AHRQ and pharmacy organizations.

The commitment to excellence in practice and research that characterizes ACCP members, and especially PRN members and leaders, provides an attractive target for AHRQ staff and consultants to disseminate the extensive work in which they are engaged. Similarly, the enthusiasm with which ACCP and its members embrace an effective relationship with AHRQ can help to drive even more collaboration that can benefit the College and its members in our efforts to enhance patient care AND promote the role of clinical pharmacists in practice and research – a truly “win-win” situation.

PRN chairs and members are encouraged to actively explore the AHRQ resources and information available through the ACCP and AHRQ links and to contact staff in the Government and Professional Affairs Office in Washington with questions, comments, or suggestions about how ACCP can build an even more effective linkage between AHRQ, PRNs, and the College in the years ahead.