Society for Medical Decision Making

July 30, 2012

Dear Member of Congress:

The 139 undersigned organizations representing patients, health professionals, hospitals, scientists, patients, employers, and insurers strongly oppose the FY 2013 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill as reported by the subcommittee on July 18. We are gravely concerned by the assault on science and research, particularly the elimination of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

AHRQ’s mission is to generate the evidence necessary to build a high-quality, high-value health care system. AHRQ funded research is being used in hospitals, private practices, health departments, and communities across the nation to fuel innovation and improve quality, identify waste, and enhance efficiency of the health care system. It is being used by patients, their loved ones and their health care professionals to make the right health care decisions for themselves and their families. Put plainly, this research helps Americans get their money’s worth when it comes health care. We need more of it, not less.

To “terminate” AHRQ in the current fiscal environment is pennywise and pound foolish. Our nation spends more than $2.6 trillion annually on health care – the largest share of which are federal purchases through Medicare, Medicaid, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Plan, TRICARE, and veterans’ health care. Americans deserve reliable information on how to deliver the best possible care, at the greatest value, with the best outcomes. AHRQ-funded health services research provides those answers.

We are deeply disappointed by the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies appropriations bill and especially the attack on AHRQ. We urge you, in the strongest possible terms, to oppose any bill that terminates this agency and its important research. For more information on the Friends of AHRQ, contact Emily Holubowich at 202.484.1100 or eholubowich@dc-crd.com.

Sincerely,

Academic Pediatric Association
Academy of Radiology Research
AcademyHealth
Adult Congenital Heart Association
Alliance for Aging Research
American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
American Academy of Family Physicians
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Academy of Physician Assistants
American Association for Dental Research
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Association of Colleges of Nursing
American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM)
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP)
American Association on Health and Disability
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American College of Cardiology
American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP)
American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
American College of Physicians
American College of Preventive Medicine
American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG)
American Health Planning Association
American Heart Association
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
American Medical Student Association
American Nurses Association
American Osteopathic Association
American Pediatric Society
American Physical Therapy Association (APTA)
American Psychiatric Association
American Psychological Association
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
American Society of Hematology
American Society of Nephrology
American Statistical Association
American Thoracic Society
Amputee Coalition
Aplastic Anemia & MDS International Foundation
Arthritis Foundation
Associated Medical Schools of New York (AMSNY)
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, Inc. (APIC)
Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)
Association of Departments of Family Medicine
Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors
Association of Maternal Child and Health Programs (AMCHP)
Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs
Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses
Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston
Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Campaign for Public Health Foundation
Cecil G Sheps Center for Health Services Research
Cedars-Sinai Health System
Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, George Mason University
Child and Adolescent Health Measurement Initiative
Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (CHADD)
Cleveland Clinic
Coalition for Health Funding
Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research
Columbia University Medical Center
Conference of Boston Teaching Hospitals
Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA)
Creighton University Center for Health Services Research and Patient Safety (CHRP)
Creighton University Center for Oral Health Research
CWRU Center for Health Care Research & Policy
Duke Translational Medicine Institute
Duke University Medical Center
High Value Healthcare Collaborative (HVHC)
Indiana University
Institute for Health, Health Care Policy and Aging Research
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
James M Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Johns Hopkins University
Joint Advocacy Coalition of ACRT, APOR, CRF, and SCTS
Kaiser Permanente
Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania
March of Dimes
Marshfield Clinic
Massachusetts General Hospital
Mayo Clinic
McLean Hospital
Medical Group Management Association (MGMA)
Mental Health America
Michigan State University
Montefiore Medical Center and Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine
National Assembly on School-Based Health Care
National Association for Public Health Statistics and Information Systems (NAPHSIS)
National Association of Epilepsy Centers
National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO)
National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH)
National Association of Social Workers
National Business Group on Health (NBGH)
National Osteoporosis Foundation
National Patient Advocate Foundation
National Physicians Alliance
National Rural Health Association
National Viral Hepatitis Roundtable
North American Primary Care Research Group
Northwestern University
NYU Langone Medical Center
Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF)
Palo Alto Medical Foundation Research Institute (PAMFRI)
Partners HealthCare
Penn Medicine
Penn State University
Research!America
RTI International
RWJF Center for Health Policy at Meharry Medical College
Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center
Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Society for Medical Decision Making (SMDM)
Society for Pediatric Research
Society for Public Health Education
Society for Women’s Health Research
Society of General Internal Medicine (SGIM)
Society of Hospital Medicine
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital
Spina Bifida Association
Stony Brook University Medicine
The AIDS Institute
The Lupus Foundation of America
The Regenstrief Institute
The Schneider Institutes for HealthCare Policy
Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance
UCLA Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health
University of Illinois Chicago College of Medicine
University of Massachusetts Medical School
University of Minnesota
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) School of Public Health
University of Texas System
University of Utah Health Sciences
Vanderbilt University
Weill Cornell Medical College