Translating research into practice: the future ahead

Objective. To summarize and analyze the focus and methodologies of the Translating Research into Practice (TRIP) projects funded in 1999-2000 by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Data sources and study design. An analysis of the successful applications for the TRIP I and II requests for applications in 1999 and 2000 was produced from the data collected. Data collection. The following items were abstracted from each of the successful applications: provider focus, patient population, vulnerable populations, methodologies, interventions for change, outcomes measured, and conceptual framework used. Principal findings. AHRQ funded 27 TRIP grants in 1999 and 2000. A wide variety of health care providers, settings, and patients were the target of the grants. The most common study design was a randomized controlled trial. The most common TRIP interventions were educational and the most common frameworks were either adult learning theory or organizational theory. More than half of the projects planned to use information technology and half the projects had a focus on reducing errors. Conclusions. The TRIP projects encompass a broad range of providers, environments, patients, and interventions. The field of applied research and quality improvements should be considerably enhanced by these research projects.