Editorial Opinion: Please Don`t Take My AHRQ Away

One would have to search long and hard to find anyone in wound, skin, ostomy, or incontinence care who has not used at least one of the myriad of resources provided by the Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ). From clinical practice guidelines to patient resources and from continuing education activities to research opportunities, the AHRQ offers a wealth of materials to help patients and give health care professionals the tools they need to provide care that is safe, effective, and evidence-based.¹

Many of our readers have been involved with and relied on the work of AHRQ right from its inception and remember the development and unveiling of the first clinical practice guidelines on urinary incontinence in adults (guideline #2), pressure ulcer prevention (guideline #3), and pressure ulcer treatment (guideline #15).² Now archived, these guidelines provided a solid foundation for clinicians, researchers, and educators to move forward. Although the overarching structure and name of the agency has changed since the 1990s, its general mission has remained largely the same: “To produce evidence to make health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable.”³  

Yet despite widespread support of the AHRQ by the scientific and health care community, its future is insecure at this time. The Academy of Health⁴ notes the fiscal year 2016 spending bill, passed by the House and Senate Appropriations Committee, basically terminates the AHRQ and slashes its budget by 35%. An amendment offered to restore AHRQ funding failed. During the past month or so, the scientific community and a wide array of health care organizations, as well as consumer advocates, have voiced their dismay.^5,6 But the outcome remains uncertain. More than 100 professional organizations, including the American Hospital Association, Nurses Association, Osteopathic Association, Board of Medical Specialties, and the American Academies of Family Physicians, Pediatrics, and Nursing, sent an open letter to members of Congress expressing their concern about this budgetary assault on science.⁵

If your professional skin, wound, ostomy, or incontinence care organization did not sign this letter, it can still get involved. And so can you. Academy Health, an organization dedicated to health services research and health care professionals, has all the information needed for our voices to be heard (visit: www.academyhealth.org/Advocacy/index.cfm?navItemNumber=1992).

Clearly and unfortunately, the progress achieved during the past 2 decades cannot be taken for granted. Let your representative and senator know how important the AHRQ has been for your practice, research, education, teaching efforts, and/or your patients. Take a moment from the extended daylight hours of the season to ensure not only the existence of the Agency itself, but also that the value of health care quality and research are appreciated and perpetuated. Then you can enjoy the summer sunshine knowing you did your share to protect this guiding light.

This article was not subject to the Ostomy Wound Management peer-review process.