Research to Action:
The Role of AcademyHealth
David Helms, Ph.D.
January 23, 2003
Health policy makers need timely
and credible information to make
good decisions.
Health services research can
provide that information.
Limitations of Health Services Research
•
•
•
•
Often incomplete for policy making
Difficult for non-researchers to understand
Challenging to apply to real world settings
Requires too much time -- policy makers
often need relevant information quickly
• Can be misused by policy makers
(inadvertently and intentionally)
“Decision-making is not an
event…research is not a retail store.”
Both are processes embedded in
complex environments.
Source: Jonathan Lomas. “Improving Research Dissemination and
Uptake in the Health Sector: Beyond the Sound of One Hand Clapping,”
(Ontario, Canada: McMaster University) Nov 1997.
Bridging Research & Policy:
Broker Role
• Linking researchers with policy makers
• Helping policy makers formulate questions that
can be answered through research
• Explaining research to policy makers
• Working with researchers to make research
policy-relevant
• Helping policy makers understand the
limitations of research findings and working
with them to guard against the misuse of
research
What is AcademyHealth?
The professional home for health services
researchers, policy analysts, and
practitioners, and a leading, non-partisan
resource for the best in health research
and policy.
AcademyHealth’s Mission
To support the best health services research
To facilitate the use of this research by
decision makers
AcademyHealth as Broker
Bridging HSR & Policy
• Translate research findings and the lessons of
experience into useful information
• Enhance communication and interaction
between health service researchers and health
policymakers
• Identify areas in which additional research is
needed to better inform decisions
Examples of AcademyHealth
Broker Activities
• Medicare Risk Adjustment Meeting
• Research Syntheses
• Resources for Linking Policy Makers with
Researchers
AcademyHealth
Medicare Risk Adjustment Meeting
• Changes in HealthCare Financing and
Organization (HCFO) initiative
– Sponsored by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
and administered by AcademyHealth
– Served as a resource for development and
implementation of risk adjustment
– Facilitated discussion among CMS staff, health plan
representatives, and researchers about CMS
comprehensive risk adjustment model alternative
• This broker role led to on-going dialogue which
resulted in CMS revising plans for data
collection and implementation of
Medicare+Choice risk adjustment
AcademyHealth Research Syntheses
• Research synthesis is concise, objective, easily
understood, and readily accessible review of
health services research for policy and practice.
• AcademyHealth conducted conference to define
what synthesis should be and to identify topics
for AHRQ to commission future syntheses.
• AcademyHealth examples:
– Are Health Insurance Premiums Higher for Small Firms?
– A Summary of Evidence Supporting Strategies for Safer,
Better Healthcare: The Leapfrog Group’s Initial Leaps in
Patient Safety
AcademyHealth Resources for Linking
Policy Makers with Researchers
• NLM HSRProj database provides information
on research in progress
• Expertise database of AcademyHealth members
interests and skills
• HCFO Web site permits searching by topic,
identifying researchers working in particular
substantive areas
• SCI Web site provides searchable database of
state reports on coverage programs and
expansion strategies
National Health Policy Conference
Cosponsored by AcademyHealth & Health Affairs
• Focus attention on leading health policy issues
– public (federal, state)
– private sector (purchasers, health system)
• Help AcademyHealth focus future research on
these pressing, emerging policy issues
• Closing panel of leading health services
researchers will comment on how research can
inform some of the issues identified at our 2003
conference