ECRI Institute Awarded AHRQ Contract to Establish National Scanning System

Plymouth Meeting, Pa.-based ECRI Institute, an independent nonprofit that researches the best approaches to improving patient care, has been awarded a multi-year contract from the Rockville, Md.-based U.S. 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 comprehensive, systematic, transparent process for identifying, tracking, and monitoring new healthcare technologies, including drugs, medical devices, procedures, services, and care delivery innovations that could signal important changes in patient care, health outcomes, or the healthcare system. The horizon scanning process will contribute to AHRQ's deliberations for allocating resources for patient-centered outcomes research, and be a resource for the public more broadly.

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