Advances in Patient Safety through Simulation Research (R18)
National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) announces the availability of grants to develop, test, and evaluate the impact of various simulation approaches for the purpose of improving the safe delivery of health care. As a training technique, simulation in health care uses a variety of approaches – mannequins, task trainers, virtual reality, in situ scenarios, hybrid configurations, and standardized patients – to expose individuals and teams to realistic clinical challenges. A distinguishing feature of simulation is that it allows participants to experience, in real- or near real-time, the consequences of their decisions and actions as they learn new skills and address system anomalies in an environment that does not put patients at risk. Simulation also can be used as a test-bed to identify failure modes and other areas of concern in new clinical processes, procedures, and technologies that might threaten patient safety. Another use of simulation is as a vehicle to help establish performance competency benchmarks of interest to credentialing and certification initiatives. AHRQ is seeking applications that address a variety of clinical settings. Yet other investigators have used computerized modeling as a way of representing a system that is infeasible to study directly for the purpose of forecasting the effect of changes under different conditions. The projects funded under this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will inform providers, health educators, payers, policy makers, AHRQ, patients, and the public about the effective use of simulation in improving patient safety.

Additional comments: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is interested in funding a diverse set of projects that develop, test and evaluate various simulation approaches for the purpose of improving the safe delivery of health care. Simulation in health care serves multiple purposes. As a training technique, it exposes individuals and teams to realistic clinical challenges through the use of mannequins, task trainers, virtual reality, standardized patients or other forms, and allows participants to experience in real-time the consequences of their decisions and actions. The principal advantage of simulation is that it provides a safe environment for health care practitioners to acquire valuable experience without putting patients at risk. Simulation also can be used as a test-bed to improve clinical processes and to identify failure modes or other areas of concern in new procedures and technologies that might otherwise be unanticipated and serve as threats to patient safety. Yet another application of simulation focuses on the establishment of valid and reliable measures of clinical performance competency and their potential use for credentialing and certification purposes. Applications that address a variety of simulation techniques, clinical settings, provider groups, priority populations, patient conditions, and threats to safety are welcomed. An application with a budget that exceeds $250,000 total costs in any given year or 36 months in duration will not undergo peer review.

How to apply? For further eligibility requirements and the application process, please visit: Official Funding website

This entry has been last updated: 2020-05-23 19:01:37