Learning Collaboratives: Insights And A New Taxonomy From AHRQ's Two Decades Of Experience

Learning collaboratives are increasingly used as mechanisms to support and hasten the diffusion and implementation of innovation, clinical evidence, and effective models of care. Factors contributing to the collaboratives' success or failure are poorly understood. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has sponsored collaboratives for nearly two decades to support improvements in health care quality and value by accelerating the diffusion and implementation of innovation. We examined AHRQ's experience with these collaboratives to characterize their attributes, identify factors that might contribute to their success or failure, and assess the challenges they encountered. Building on the literature and insights from AHRQ's experience, we propose a taxonomy that can offer guidance to decision makers and funders about the factors they should consider in developing collaboratives and planning their evaluation, as well as to researchers who seek to conduct research that will ultimately help decision makers make better investments in diffusing innovation and evidence.