Attachment H-Cover Email for Interview

Attachment H: Cover Email for Interview

Dear ________,

As you may recall, you received a letter from Jean Slutsky, Director of AHRQ Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness, a few weeks ago regarding an evaluation of AHRQ’s Effective Health Care (EHC) program. AHRQ is conducting an evaluation of the EHC program’s governance approach to engaging stakeholders and prioritizing research topics as part of our ongoing effort to provide reliable and practical data to patients, health care providers, and policymakers to make the best health care decisions,.

As part of the evaluation process IMPAQ International will be conducting interviews with staff involved with the EHC program and stakeholders or users of the program. I am hoping you will consider participating in the interview upon request. You will be contacted by a researcher from IMPAQ.

Your participation is voluntary and any information you provide will remain confidential to the extent permitted by law. Study findings will be presented at an aggregate-level and your name will not be identified in any reports to AHRQ or the general public, so as to ensure your confidentiality. However, there may be a slight risk that someone very knowledgeable of your research or your organization might be able to recognize the source of information or the organization you represent.

The interview will take approximately one-hour and will be conducted by phone (or in person if you are in the Washington, D.C./Baltimore area and prefer to do so). A copy of the interview guide is attached to this email for your reference. The interview will be audio recorded, with your permission, to enhance the reliability of data collection.

If you do not wish to participate in the interview, or if you prefer that the interview not be audio recorded, please contact IMPAQ’s Project Director, Dr. Ying Wang at ywang@impaqint.com or me at lia.hotchkiss@ahrq.hhs.gov.

We appreciate your input and ongoing support of the EHC program.

Many thanks,

Lia Hotchkiss

Director, Comparative Effectiveness Portfolio

AHRQ, Center for Outcomes and Evidence