AHRQ's National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR): A New Home for Primary Care Research

For the past 30 years, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has continuously supported primary care research, funding the first ECHO grant, pioneering patient-centered medical home models, and supporting primary care practice-based research networks. Until recently, these efforts were dispersed across AHRQ's centers and difficult to recognize as a unified portfolio of work. In 2022, the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR) was funded to act as the home for primary care research at AHRQ. NCEPCR has recently developed a mission and vision and begun to coordinate primary care research efforts across AHRQ, curate and disseminate information and materials about primary care research, build a robust primary care research workforce, and convene key primary care partners. In the future, NCEPCR plans to continue to grow its work in each of these areas and expand its role as a national hub for primary care research.