Work

Aligning quality improvement, research, and health system goals using the QUERI priority‐setting process: A step forward in creating a learning health system

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: Timely generation and use of research evidence and methods to benefit patients, providers, and health systems continues to be a challenge for many health systems.The Quality Enhancement Research Initiative (QUERI) was established under the Office of Research and Development to help close this gap in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system, the largest national integrated health system in the United States, by accelerating the uptake of research findings into health care practice and policy.1,2 QUERI funds investigators embedded in VA health care facilities to partner with multilevel leaders, providers and other frontline staff, managers, and Veterans to scale-up, spread, and sustain promising and evidence-based practices that address the needs of Veterans and the health system.Each year, QUERI identifies its funding priorities through a systematic process that is grounded in the Learning Health System Framework.3 The development and implementation of this prioritysetting process to guide QUERI implementation, evaluation, and quality improvement investments has been described previously.3 Briefly, the QUERI priority-setting process involves engaging leaders across the VA to identify their top priorities, funding initiatives to address these priorities, and communicating the results and impacts of these initiatives to VA leaders and other interested/impacted groups.The success of the QUERI priority-setting process is evidenced by its adaptation by the VA Office of Research and Development, which uses QUERI's process to identify VA research priorities with the goal of ensuring VA research is aligned with health system and Veteran needs.The goal of this commentary is to describe the application of QUERI's priority-setting process to identify Veteran-centered research priorities for chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD).The four-step process involves identifying research gaps and priorities through an environmental scan, incorporating input from various interested parties and impacted groups, finalizing priorities through an executive committee, and integrating the priorities into funding announcements.

Source: Health Services Research

DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.14388

Authors: Kara L. Beck, Amy M. Kilbourne, Stefanie I. Gidmark, Melissa Z. Braganza