Research Grants

Addressing Health Inequities

AMCP and AMCP Foundation are committed to addressing disparities in medication use and access, including through research. There are three key areas where managed care pharmacists could leverage additional evidence to improve benefit design to address health inequities. As described in the managed care pharmacy research agenda, health care decision makers seek to:

• Identify how the ability to navigate managed care benefit designs may impact inequities;
• Understand the connection between health inequities and medication adherence;
• Evaluate the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) on medication affordability.

Health Equity Research Grants

Selected projects will generate foundational evidence to improve access and affordability of medications. Selected research teams will be collaborative, with a cross-section of managed care stakeholders working together to inform development of viable solutions for populations impacted by inequities.

AMCP Foundation has awarded two $25,000 research grants. Proposals are continuously accepted on a rolling basis.

Supported by a grant from Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc.

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Proposed Research Projects

• Research must use real-world data (RWD) and generate real-world evidence (RWE), in alignment with the managed care pharmacy research agenda.
• Research should be designed for applicability to managed care organizations. Examples include studies that:
  • Assess how managed care tools may intersect with health inequities. Health inequities can be based on racial and ethnic group, gender, geography, SDOH or other disparities. Managed care tools can include benefit designs, utilization management, pharmacy networks, formulary management or other processes.
  • Assess results from an intervention that can be scaled as a model for other health plans in their organizational efforts to reduce health disparities.

Research Teams

• Research teams must be composed in a collaborative, interprofessional manner, with representatives from diverse work settings.
  • Successful submissions will include multiple collaborators and/or advisors. We particularly encourage representatives from managed care; local, community-based groups; patient advocacy organizations; academia; and/or employers.
• Primary investigators, collaborators and/or advisors can be at any career level.

Eligibility and Application

• All submissions welcome. Funding may be applied to:
  • New studies;
  • Pilot studies with small sample sizes;
  • Existing studies that are already underway;
  • Re-examinations of prior studies.
• Successful submissions will attempt to integrate principles from community-based participatory research, to the degree possible and in partnership with collaborators from community and/or patient advocacy organizations. 
• Apply online. The brief application requires uploading a simple, one-page letter of intent. Incomplete applications will not be accepted.
• Investigators should be willing to partner with AMCP Foundation on robust dissemination. The grant includes publication and travel support to share findings with AMCP members and stakeholders.

Resources

• "Advancing a Managed Care Pharmacy Research Agenda: Generating Real-World Evidence to Support US FDA Accelerated Approvals and Improving Benefit Design to Address Health Inequities," Aug. 2022. Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy, 2022 Aug;28(8):911-917.
• Managed care pharmacy research agenda background.
• AMCP and AMCP Foundation strategic priority addressing disparities in medication use and access.

Questions

Contact AMCP Foundation with questions, such as:

• Requests from primary investigators who wish to meet with AMCP Foundation while developing their submission.
• Inquiries from collaborators looking to join a research team.
• Inquiries from companies looking to fund research teams by providing grant, sponsorship or other funding to AMCP Foundation.