Scaling Established Clinical Decision Support to Facilitate the Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Research Findings (R18) | PA 17 260

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 17 260

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) released this discretionary grant opportunity, PA-17-260, as an R18 research grant focused on taking clinical decision support (CDS) tools that already work well in one place and helping them spread effectively to additional real-world clinical settings. The core idea is not to invent brand-new CDS from scratch, but to scale and disseminate an established, effective CDS intervention so that evidence-based research findings are more consistently put into everyday clinical practice. In other words, the FOA is aimed at closing the gap between what research shows should be done and what actually happens in clinics and hospitals by expanding the reach of CDS that has already proven itself.

The main purpose is twofold: implementation at scale and evaluation during that broader rollout. Applicants are expected to move a well-established CDS beyond the original health system, clinic, or institution where it was first developed and implemented, and then study how it performs as it is adopted in new environments. That includes learning what it takes for different organizations to integrate the CDS into their workflows, how well clinicians actually use it, whether it continues to improve care when deployed elsewhere, and what adaptations are needed without undermining the evidence-based intent of the tool. The emphasis on evaluation signals that AHRQ is looking for projects that generate generalizable lessons about dissemination and implementation, not just local quality improvement.

The funding mechanism is a grant under the R18 activity, which commonly supports applied health services research, demonstration projects, and implementation/effectiveness studies. The activity category is Health, and the CFDA listing is 93.226. The FOA was created on 2017-04-20, and the original closing date listed is 2018-12-17. The public summary does not provide an award ceiling or the number of expected awards, indicating those details were not specified in the provided excerpt.

Eligibility is broad and includes many domestic public and private entities that can carry out applied implementation research. Eligible applicants include state, county, and city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; private institutions of higher education; federally recognized Native American tribal governments; tribal organizations that are not federally recognized; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those nonprofit categories as written); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; and small businesses. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicants such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), faith-based or community-based organizations, eligible federal government agencies, regional organizations, Indian/Native American Tribal Governments other than federally recognized, and U.S. territories or possessions.

Foreign eligibility is restricted. Non-domestic (non-U.S.) entities and non-domestic (non-U.S.) components of U.S. organizations are not eligible to apply directly. However, foreign components (as defined by the HHS Grants Policy Statement) may still participate in a limited way, specifically as part of a consortium or as subcontractors, meaning they can contribute expertise or services without being the primary applicant organization.

Overall, this FOA is best understood as an implementation-and-spread initiative for proven CDS: identify a CDS intervention with demonstrated effectiveness, extend it into new clinical contexts, and rigorously evaluate what happens when it is deployed at a broader scale. The intended payoff is wider real-world impact of evidence-based practices, along with practical, transferable knowledge about how to disseminate CDS successfully across different healthcare organizations and patient care environments.

• The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Scaling Established Clinical Decision Support to Facilitate the Dissemination and Implementation of Evidence-Based Research Findings (R18)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.226.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2017-04-20.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2018-12-17. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501 (c) (3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For-profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others.

Apply for PA 17 260

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