Disseminating and Implementing Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Evidence into Practice through Interoperable Clinical Decision Support | PA 20 074

Opportunity Information: Apply for PA 20 074

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) funding opportunity titled "Disseminating and Implementing Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Evidence into Practice through Interoperable Clinical Decision Support" (Funding Opportunity Number PA 20-074; CFDA 93.226) supports projects that move proven, patient-centered research findings into real-world clinical care. The focus is not on generating new clinical evidence, but on spreading and putting existing PCOR evidence into routine practice in a way that meaningfully improves care decisions. The mechanism is an R18 grant, which is commonly used for research focused on dissemination, implementation, and system-level improvement in healthcare settings.

At the center of the announcement is the expectation that applicants will scale computer-based clinical decision support (CDS) that is interoperable. In practice, this means building, adapting, or expanding CDS tools that can work across different electronic health record (EHR) systems and clinical environments, rather than being locked into one vendor or one site. The goal is to make it easier for clinicians and care teams to use PCOR evidence at the point of care through workflows that fit day-to-day practice, helping translate research into consistent, evidence-based decisions. "Interoperable" is key here because it signals an emphasis on approaches that can be shared, reused, and implemented in multiple settings with fewer technical barriers, enabling broader uptake and sustainability.

The opportunity is categorized as a discretionary grant in the health area. The listed award ceiling is $1,000,000, indicating that projects are expected to be substantial enough to support multi-site dissemination, technical development or adaptation of CDS artifacts, implementation work, and evaluation of adoption and impact. While the listing shows an original closing date of 2022-09-25, the core purpose and structure of the FOA are clear: fund organizations that can demonstrate a practical plan for scaling interoperable CDS to increase the use of patient-centered evidence in clinical care.

Eligibility is broad across public, private, and nonprofit sectors, reflecting the fact that interoperable CDS and implementation efforts often require partnerships among healthcare providers, academic groups, community organizations, and sometimes vendors or technical developers. Eligible applicants include state, county, 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; other Native American tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofits with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); for-profit organizations other than small businesses; small businesses; and other entities. The FOA also explicitly calls out additional eligible applicant types such as Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions, Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs), faith-based or community-based organizations, Hispanic-serving Institutions, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Indian/Native American Tribal Governments other than federally recognized, regional organizations, Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs), and U.S. territories or possessions. Foreign institutions are not eligible to apply, and non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are also not eligible, reinforcing that the funded work must be carried out within U.S.-based organizational structures and settings.

In summary, this AHRQ R18 opportunity is designed to accelerate the practical use of patient-centered outcomes research by embedding that evidence into interoperable, scalable clinical decision support. Successful projects under this program would generally be expected to show that they can take PCOR evidence that is ready for implementation, translate it into computable CDS interventions, deploy those interventions across multiple care settings or systems, and support adoption through workflow integration, training, and implementation strategies, with an emphasis on reuse and spread rather than one-off, site-specific tools.

• The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Disseminating and Implementing Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Evidence into Practice through Interoperable Clinical Decision Support" 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 2020-08-17.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2022-09-25. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• 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.

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