Over 70 research abstracts were submitted to the Measuring Safety, Quality, and Value (MSQV) theme for presentation at this year’s AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) holding in Minneapolis from June 7-10. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to the diverse panel of U.S.-based and international reviewers who diligently read and rated each one under consideration. As theme leaders, Dr. Andrew Anderson and I were charged with curating the accepted abstracts into speaker and poster sessions for the conference. Serving in this capacity for the first time gave me a unique outlook on the depth and breadth of these impressive submissions—an opportunity I rue at every ARM where time seems to fly so quickly and it is rarely feasible to engage fully with every study I would love to.
From across the U.S. to Ethiopia, this year’s conference will showcase innovations our colleagues have developed or applied to inform how we evaluate both the desired and unintended outcomes of health services and interventions in a myriad of research domains. The MSQV podium sessions focus on three salient topics:
- novel approaches to quantifying the barriers to attaining optimal outcomes for all (Room for Improvement: Insights from National Evaluations of Health Care Quality on Saturday, June 7 at 4pm)
- incorporating data from multiple sources and stakeholders to improve conventional evaluation methodologies (Innovative Approaches to Measuring Quality, Equity & Patient-Centered Care on Monday, June 9 at 1:45pm)
- the importance of adapting measures for new and varying contexts (Characterizing, Challenging, and Refining Quality and Outcome Measures on Monday, June 9 at 3:30pm)
There is a panel discussion under this theme that promises to be insightful (Patient-Reported Outcome Collection As a Tool for Advancing Reproductive Health Equity on Saturday, June 7 at 12:30pm). A multi-stakeholder group of researchers, policymakers and care providers will discuss how they modified a person-centered, visit-specific measure for quality of contraceptive counseling into a tool for assessing population health and reproductive health equity at statewide and national levels. ARM attendees should also not miss the opportunity to engage directly with presenters during the theme’s poster session (Poster Session C on Monday, June 9 at 8am). The mix of analytic techniques on display is certain to whet the investigative mind’s appetite, but the main course is the practical implications of findings from these studies for assessing quality of care, patient-provider continuity, cost effectiveness, and clinical outcomes.
In the current climate where the science we conduct is dogged by declining trust and a perceived communication gap with the public, health services researchers must make a stronger case for the necessity and benefits of our work beyond the confines of our academic community. The ARM’s main theme “Valuable Evidence, Vibrant Community, Vital Conversations” emphasizes that effective advocacy for health services research lies in engagement to identify and study outcomes that matter the most to people, in boldness to address misinformation and misconceptions critically, and in clarity to communicate our findings impactfully to a more general audience.
Could we see as many abstracts submitted to the MSQV theme for next year’s ARM? It would be overly optimistic to answer positively in light of ongoing drastic cuts to federal research funding, loss of public data, the contrived stigma imposed on research into structural and social issues, and especially the precarious status of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which for decades has been a top funder and stalwart champion for advancing quality measurement and care delivery. I hope that our gathering in Minneapolis this summer will reinvigorate and mobilize us to face these challenges defiantly and concertedly. This is our joyful burden of responsibility to the lives, livelihoods, and systems that rely on our expertise, humanity, and voices to thrive.