Newly sworn-in HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to address major health challenges like chronic diseases and poor health outcomes—issues that have burdened Americans for decades. As he seeks solutions, AcademyHealth encourages the Secretary to look to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) for the evidence and insights he needs. AHRQ is an underappreciated gem in the department’s health research crown, having long funded, conducted, and implemented research to reduce the chronic disease burden in America.
AHRQ Addresses the Root Causes of Poor Health
AHRQ’s view of cause and effect is broad. Secretary Kennedy and the Make America Healthy Again Commission can improve health outcomes by leveraging AHRQ’s research into chronic diseases, low-value care, and barriers to health care access. AHRQ is efficient and practical, providing transparent, evidence-based insights that help policymakers and health systems make informed decisions. It focuses on improving health care quality, effectiveness, and accessibility through health services research, the science that determines what works, how, for whom, and at what cost. AHRQ studies the patient in the world they live in, ensuring its findings drive meaningful change.
Take for example root causes of poor health. AHRQ has supported studies on the impact of nutrition—one of Secretary Kennedy’s key concerns—including investigations into how ultra-processed foods contribute to childhood obesity. Additionally, AHRQ datasets helped identify a link between “food swamps” (areas saturated with unhealthy food options) and increased diabetes-related hospitalizations). By examining these critical factors, AHRQ informs effective preventive measures to improve the connection between nutrition and good health outcomes.
AHRQ also recognizes that effective health care solutions must be tailored to local context and needs. For example, AHRQ-funded research has explored behavioral factors linked to childhood obesity in urban versus rural settings and examined strategies to increase cancer screening rates . This type of research guides policies and interventions that improve health in communities and environments where it is most needed.
AHRQ Assesses and Develops High Quality Preventative Care
AHRQ’s prevention portfolio plays a crucial role in improving population health by evaluating and developing reliable, evidence-based care strategies. A key strength of AHRQ is ensuring that cures and treatments developed in both public and private sectors are effectively implemented in real-world settings. For example, AHRQ is currently funding a study on best practices for preventing mental health disorders in children and adolescents. Studies such as these can help to provide Secretary Kennedy, who has been openly skeptical about the impact of mental health care interventions on minors, with relevant and timely evidence and give him the tools to efficiently examine these programs.
Chronic diseases and mental health conditions are not only a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. but also account for 90 percent of our nation’s health care costs – placing a large burden on the health care system overall. AHRQ is poised to answer the question: why, despite our country’s high health care spending, does America continue to see poor health outcomes? AHRQ supports studies that analyze the financial impact of chronic illness, specific interventions/programs, and general health care spending. A recently published AHRQ evidence report identified and analyzed existing research of primary care spending in the U.S. and called for more research better our understanding of primary healthcare spending in the U.S. Additional AHRQ-funded research assessed the Medicare’s Annual Wellness Visit’s clinical and financial value, finding that the program has the potential to increase high-value preventive services while also highlighting clinic barriers that Secretary Kennedy can work to eliminate.
AHRQ Ensures Healthcare Professionals are Guided by Proven Best Practices
Beyond research, AHRQ directly supports health care professionals by publishing resources such as a toolkit for primary care providers on managing obesity—another priority for Secretary Kennedy. AHRQ’s longstanding Evidence-Based Practice Center Program produces trustworthy and comprehensive research reports on medications, devices, and health care services to improve health care quality in America. Research conducted through this program has supported over 200 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommendation statements, informed 35 Medicare and Medicaid insurance coverage, been included in 40 National Institutes of Health (NIH) research prioritization meetings, and has been used to develop over 200 clinical practice guidelines in the first 25 years of the program. Additionally, AHRQ contributed to the National Clinical Care Commission Report on how to best prevent and treat diabetes which recommended an all-government approach to address social and environmental conditions that contribute to the development of diabetes and diabetes complications.
Capitalizing on AHRQs capacity for delivering actionable, and transparent evidence is a winning strategy for ensuring more effective, less costly care and better health for Americans. Secretary Kennedy should Make America Health Again through evidence-based interventions focused on real life people and their needs.