The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Evidence-Based Practice Center (EPC) Program, following the program's 25th Anniversary Grand Rounds series in 2022, introduces a new series of Grand Rounds to promote and facilitate the use of EPC evidence reports in healthcare. With support from the Scientific Resource Center (SRC) of the EPC Program and AcademyHealth, these meetings feature presentations from EPC report authors followed by discussions with stakeholders to explore EPC report findings.

April 2024 Grand Rounds: Making Healthcare Safer

On April 29, 2024, AHRQ hosted a webinar on findings in AHRQ’s Making Healthcare Safer IV Report, a suite of rapid evidence reports on patient safety harms and practices. The Grand Rounds focused on awareness and implementation of findings in three reports: (1) Opioid Stewardship Interventions, (2) Engaging Family Caregivers, and (3) Rapid Response Systems. The authors of the reports, Julie Waldfogel, Pharm.D., BCGP, CPE, Jesse Wagner, M.A., and Bradford Winters, M.D., Ph.D., shared the main findings from the reports. Three discussants weighed in on evidence gaps and implications for the field: Tejal Gandhi, M.D., M.P.H., CPPS, chief safety and transformation officer at Press Ganey; Krista Hughes, BCPA, founder and CEO of Hughes Advocacy; and Sarah Scholle, Dr. P.H., M.P.H, principal at Leavitt Partners. Then Elizabeth Cope, Ph.D., M.P.H., vice president of health systems improvement at AcademyHealth, moderated a discussion with the broader audience.

April 2024 Grand Rounds: Making Healthcare Safer (1 hour, 59 minutes)

• Meeting slide deck (PPTX, 3 MB)

November 2023 Grand Rounds: Pain Management

On Nov. 30, 2023, AHRQ hosted a webinar on pain management focused on findings from three recently published evidence reports conducted by the AHRQ EPC Program: (1) Nonopioid Pharmacologic Treatments for Chronic Pain, (2) Living Systematic Review on Cannabis and Other Plant-Based Treatments for Chronic Pain, and (3) Acute Treatments of Episodic Migraine. The authors of the reports, Roger Chou, M.D., FACP, M. Hassan Murad, M.D. and Zhen Wang, Ph.D., shared the main findings from the reports. After initial reactions from stakeholders who weighed in on evidence gaps and implications for the field, Lucy Savitz, Ph.D., M.B.A., AcademyHealth Board Chair, moderated a discussion with the broader audience.

EPC Program Grand Rounds - Pain Management (1 hour, 56 minutes)

• Meeting slide deck (PPTX, 3.6 MB)
• Nonopioid Pharmacologic Treatments for Chronic Pain (full report)
• Living Systematic Review on Cannabis and Other Plant-Based Treatments for Chronic Pain (full report)
• Acute Treatments of Episodic Migraine (full report)

June 2023 Grand Rounds: Maternal Health

On June 14, 2023, AHRQ hosted a webinar on Maternal Health focused on findings from two recently published evidence reports conducted by the AHRQ EPC Program with funding from PCORI: (1) Postpartum Care up to 1 Year After Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis and (2) Management of Postpartum Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy. The authors of the two reports, Ian Saldanha M.B.B.S., M.P.H., Ph.D., and Dale Steele M.D., M.S., respectively, shared the main findings from the reports. Two discussants, Rose Molina, M.D., M.P.H., and Megan McReynolds, PMP, provided initial reactions on evidence gaps and implications for the field. Lucy Savitz, Ph.D., M.B.A., AcademyHealth Board Chair, then moderated a discussion with the broader audience.

EPC Program Grand Rounds - Maternal Health (1 hour, 56 minutes)

• Meeting slide deck (PPTX, 10.4 MB)
• Postpartum Care up to 1 Year After Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (full report)
• Management of Postpartum Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (full report)

March 2023 Grand Rounds: Telehealth

On March 16, 2023, AHRQ hosted a webinar on Telehealth focused on findings from two recently published evidence reports conducted by the AHRQ EPC Program: (1) Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 Era and (2) Improving Rural Health Through Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communications. The authors of the two reports, Elham Hatef, M.D., and Annette Totten, Ph.D., respectively, shared the main findings from the reports. Three discussants, Arshad Rahim, M.D., M.B.A., FACP, Janice Tufte, and Ann Zerr, M.D., provided initial reactions on evidence gaps and implications for the field around policy, equity, and health systems. Lucy Savitz, Ph.D., M.B.A., AcademyHealth Board Chair, then moderated a discussion with the broader audience.

EPC Program Grand Rounds - Telehealth (1 hour, 25 minutes)

• Meeting slide deck (PDF, 3.2 MB)
• Use of Telehealth during the COVID-19 Era (full report)
• Rural Health Through Telehealth-Guided Provider-to-Provider Communications (full report)