AHRQ’s Investments in Primary Care Research for 2023 and 2024

Identifying and Coding Primary Care Research Grants and Contracts

To understand and describe the scope of recent investments in primary care research, our team first developed a comprehensive list of AHRQ’s primary care–related grants and contracts with active funding during the federal FYs 2023 and 2024 (October 2022 through September 2024). 

To develop the list of grants (which includes both grants and cooperative agreements), we first searched the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) website, using its RePORTER search module. Searching for the term primary care (across project title, abstract, and/or project terms) and limiting our search to grants with AHRQ funding and FYs 2023 and 2024, resulted in a list of 268 grants. After we removed duplicate years of funding and subprojects, the list included 159 unique grants. 

Using NCEPCR’s definition of primary care research (go to the definition in About This Report), the Abt team reviewed each grant in the list to identify any that should be excluded (e.g., grants focused on surgical care without clear implications for primary care). AHRQ reviewed the list and made the final determination about which grants should be removed or retained. In addition, AHRQ identified two additional grants for inclusion in our list that did not show up in our initial search. 

Our final list consisted of the 104 unique primary care research grants that are described in this report. Because we included all grants with active funding in FY 2023 and 2024, not just those first funded during this time, 45 of these grants were also included in our previous report—which covered primary care research grants with active AHRQ funding in federal FYs 2021 and 2022.³⁸ 

AHRQ also identified 12 contracts related to primary care that were actively funded during FY 2023 or 2024 for inclusion in this report. Eight of the 12 contracts are from prior to 2023 and are described in the previous report on AHRQ’s primary care investments.

For each grant, the Abt team coded the topic areas (see call out box) that best fit the main focus of the grant, based on the grant abstract included on NIH RePORTER. When applicable, the team additionally selected the second- and third-most relevant topic areas for each grant. As a result, each unique grant was assigned either one, two, or three topic areas depending on the foci of the grant. 

Abt staff double coded the topic areas for every grant, and disagreements between team members were resolved through discussion and consensus. The Abt team also coded each grant to capture specific priority patient populations (e.g., women, children and adolescents, older adults); and additional topics areas of interest to AHRQ, including multiple chronic conditions; opioids; telehealth; and women’s health). 

The Abt team did not conduct similar coding for contracts due to the small number, the wide range of topics and purposes represented, and limited available information.

The short summaries of grants included throughout the report were developed based on the content provided in the NIH RePORTER.

Identifying Primary Care Related Initiatives and Resources

The Abt team reviewed AHRQ’s website to identify the primary care–relevant initiatives and resources released in 2023 and 2024, and this search was augmented and refined by information provided by AHRQ. 

Developing Primary Care Research Profiles 

The Abt team drafted the Primary Care Research Profiles based on our review of information provided in the NIH RePORTER, relevant publications, and other publicly available information. Before finalizing, we shared the Profiles with the PIs to verify key information, validate our understanding of the study’s approach and findings, and glean additional insights and lessons learned beyond those available in the published literature. AHRQ reviewed the Profiles before they were finalized.