The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is the sole federal agency charged with producing evidence to support clinical decision making, reduce health costs, advance patient safety, decrease medical errors, and improve health care quality and access. However, this vital program is currently facing elimination under the Trump Administration’s fiscal year 2018 budget outline by “consolidating” it within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) while it simultaneously proposes an 18% cut to the NIH budget. This will eliminate an important federal government investment in primary care research and the critical evidence reviews needed to answer questions that family physicians encounter daily.
Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is currently seeking support for AHRQ by circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter in the Senate. Ohio Academy of Family Physicians members can send a message to their U.S. Senators using the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Speak Out system. Let Senators Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman know that you want primary care research protected. Urge them to sign on to the letter by contacting the Office of Sen. Blumenthal.