2020 Health Equity Call for Research: AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access

Introduction
In recognition of the importance of research and the dissemination of evidence-based solutions to achieve health equity, the AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) founded the Collaborative for Health Equity: Act, Research, Generate Evidence (CHARGE), a forum for investigators, clinicians, and community partners to collaborate and improve upon research that aims to minimize disparities in health and health care. The use of established AAMC data, such as those from the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, serves as a unique opportunity for participants of AAMC CHARGE to build the evidence base necessary to facilitate health equity solutions.

The AAMC Workforce Studies team and Health Equity Research and Policy team are soliciting research proposals for access to data from the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access. The AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, launched in 2010, takes an inclusive approach to defining access to care. The survey collects information ranging from insurance coverage and usual source of care to travel time and the quality of patient-provider communications, as well as extensive data on demographic characteristics, health history, and the care received (such as the type of place and provider).

Applicants should submit a health equity-focused research proposal with research questions that can be answered using data from the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access, described below. The proposed studies should promote innovative, actionable, relevant research that uses the available data to answer important health equity- focused questions and inform health care policy. Download the full Call for Research RFP.

About the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access
Each wave of the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access consists of a core sample of approximately 2,000 respondents who needed health care in the last 12 months, stratified by age and health insurance status (quotas are set for age-insurance combinations). In addition to the core sample, every other survey wave includes an oversample of an additional 1,500 respondents from select subgroups (minority, rural, and/or Medicaid recipients). The survey is fielded twice each year; to date there have been 19 waves of the survey, starting in 2010 and continuing through 2019. To better represent the adult population as measured by the U.S. Census Bureau, data are weighted by sex, age, race and ethnicity, employment status, household income, educational attainment, and geographic region.

For more information about what data are available for analysis, please refer to the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access Data Dictionary and Codebook.

Eligibility Criteria
Between three and five researchers or research teams will be selected to receive access to data from the AAMC Consumer Survey of Health Care Access through a competitive application process. To be eligible, all applicants must be participants in AAMC CHARGE. To join AAMC CHARGE, simply email healthequityresearch@aamc.org with your name, title, and organization. AAMC CHARGE participants do not need to be from an AAMC-member institution.

Awards

• Successful applicants will be given access to the selected data at no cost to the awardee. Awardees will be required to sign a Data Use Agreement (DUA) with AAMC prior to receiving the data.
• Data access will be provided for up to 12 months.
• Upon completion of studies and remittance of summary findings to AAMC, the AAMC will consider support for researchers to present their findings on additional platforms (e.g. webinars or conferences).

How To Apply
Applicants must submit a brief proposal online that describes the project. The proposal should contain the following information:

• Project Title.
• Name of researcher(s), institutional affiliation(s) and contact information. Multi-institution and multi-sector collaborations are welcomed.
• Project timeline, including projected completion date.
• The research question(s) being asked or the hypothesis(es) being tested (250-word limit).
• Description of the study's potential to generate significant and new knowledge to advance the field of health equity research (750-word limit).
• An outline of the approach and ability to use the available data sources (500-word limit) Please include the names of the variables you intend to use, found in the Codebook.
• The Curriculum Vitae (CV) for each member of the research team.