Creating a 21st-century health information infrastructure to improve health care can only be done in collaboration with affected parties. AHRQ works closely with Federal, State, local, and private partners to leverage investments in health IT. AHRQ brings a long history of health IT and patient safety research and investment, strength in producing and evaluating evidence, and a culture of information-sharing, to our partnerships. Some of our key partners are listed here:

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
AHRQ collaborates closely with CMS on grants to perform pilot testing of the standards used in electronic prescribing. AHRQ is involved in the evaluation of the effects of CMS's Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration, in which physicians in four States will be paid to use health IT and evidence-based outcome measures. In addition, AHRQ works with CMS's Doctors' Office Quality-Information Technology (DOQ-IT) project, which promotes the adoption of electronic health record and IT systems in small and medium-sized physician practices.

Food and Drug Administration  (FDA)
AHRQ has been a strong supporter of FDA efforts to improve patient safety through the standardization of information and tracking of the effects of clinical interventions. These efforts include structured product labeling, electronic product listing, substance registration, and standardized listing of drug ingredients.

Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)
HRSA and AHRQ have an important Federal partnership in care delivery for underserved and vulnerable populations.  With the essential and comprehensive programs providing access to health care services managed by HRSA, and the health services research, health IT infrastructure building, and other evidence translation programs administered by AHRQ, complementary expertise is brought to bear on the uniquely challenging aspects of transforming care for specific populations. Both operating divisions of HHS work closely with priority underserved populations, including rural and minority populations, women, and children.  Through its health IT Portfolio, AHRQ has worked closely with HRSA's Office of Rural Health Policy, Office for the Advancement of Telehealth, and Bureau of Primary Health Care. 

Indian Health Service (IHS)
AHRQ and the IHS are working to modernize the Service's electronic health record.  IHS has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to share the IHS electronic health record system.

National Institutes of Health (NIH)
AHRQ partners with National Institutes of Health (NIH) to advance clinical research through the use of health IT. An improved health information infrastructure can greatly assist in the conduct of research, while protecting individual patient rights and confidentiality. AHRQ and NIH are co-sponsoring workshops that bring together the clinical research community and health IT adopters.

Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) 
ONC's mission is to implement President Bush's vision for widespread adoption of interoperable electronic health records by 2014.  AHRQ is partnering with ONC to study security and privacy issues around health information exchange.

Standards Collaboration
In addition, AHRQ has been a long-term partner and investor in efforts to develop health data content, terminology, and exchange standards across health care application areas. AHRQ strongly supports the work of leading standards development organizations and HHS partners, such as the National Library of Medicine (NLM), FDA, and the Health IT Standards Panel.

Regional Health Information Exchanges
Recent interest in health information exchange has fostered many conversations among organizations interested in collaboration to exchange clinical data. Working with State governments and communities, AHRQ has been engaging with regional initiatives through technical assistance telephone calls, meetings, and workshops. AHRQ brings the expertise of its program staff, grantees, and contractors to facilitate regional discussions and spread the lessons learned from across the country.

Foundations and Private Partners
AHRQ partners with the private sector to fund and conduct research in health IT, to participate in discussions, and to disseminate findings. A partial list of partners includes:

American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA)
American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA)
Center for Studying Health Systems Change (HSC)
Foundation for eHealth Initiative (eHI)
Health Tech Strategies
Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
Kaiser Family Foundation
Markle Foundation
National Institute for Health Care Management (NIHCM)
National Opinion Research Center (NORC)
RAND Corporation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)