ECRI nets AHRQ contract for national horizon scanning system

ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, has been awarded a multi-year contract from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to establish the first national Healthcare Horizon Scanning System.

The goal of horizon scanning is to provide a systematic, transparent process for identifying, tracking and monitoring new healthcare technologies. These could include drugs, medical devices, procedures, services and care delivery technologies that could signal important changes in patient care, health outcomes or the healthcare system, according to ECRI, based in Plymouth Meeting, Pa.

AHRQ has identified 14 high-priority areas for horizon scanning and patient-centered outcomes research: arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, dementia, depression, developmental delays, diabetes, functional limitations, infectious disease, obesity, peptic ulcer disease, pregnancy, pulmonary disease and substance abuse.

The horizon scanning process will contribute to AHRQ's deliberations for allocating resources for patient-centered outcomes research, the institute added. ECRI has served as an Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) to AHRQ since the inception of the EPC Program in 1997.

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