INTUIT-PC: Improving Nonsurgical Treatment of Urinary Incontinence among women in Primary Care: Dissemination and Implementation of PCOR Evidence (U18) | RFA HS 21 001

Opportunity Information: Apply for RFA HS 21 001

INTUIT-PC (RFA HS 21-001) is an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funding opportunity under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that supports projects aimed at improving the nonsurgical treatment of urinary incontinence (UI) among women in primary care. The focus is on dissemination and implementation of patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) evidence, meaning applicants are expected to take what research already shows works and then build practical, real-world approaches to get those evidence-based practices consistently adopted in routine primary care settings. A central theme is closing the gap between what is known to be effective for UI and what actually happens in everyday clinical workflows, especially in settings where UI may be under-identified, under-discussed, or inconsistently managed.

The program plans to fund up to five cooperative agreement awards (U18), with an award ceiling of $2,000,000 per project. As a cooperative agreement, this mechanism typically implies substantial involvement from AHRQ during the life of the project, such as collaboration on milestones, technical assistance, shared learning across awardees, or coordination to ensure the work aligns with broader agency goals. The opportunity falls under the Health funding activity category (CFDA 93.226). The notice was created on January 13, 2021, with an original closing date of March 24, 2021.

What AHRQ is looking for are implementation-focused projects that take lessons from prior AHRQ primary care practice improvement initiatives and apply them to UI care for women. In practical terms, that means designing and testing implementation strategies: the methods used to help clinics and health systems adopt evidence-based care. The grant is not primarily about discovering new clinical treatments; it is about improving uptake, consistency, quality, and coordination of existing nonsurgical approaches in primary care. Because UI care often involves both primary care and specialty services (for example, urogynecology or urology), the initiative also emphasizes integrating UI management with specialty care so patients can move smoothly between levels of care when needed and so responsibilities are clear across settings.

Projects are encouraged to incorporate community-based resources and to use multilevel implementation strategies. Community-based resources might include pelvic floor physical therapy providers, community health programs, continence support organizations, or other local services that can reinforce education and self-management outside the clinic. Multilevel strategies means intervening at more than one layer of the health care environment at the same time, such as combining clinician training and decision support tools at the practice level with system-level changes like referral pathways, EHR prompts, performance feedback, leadership engagement, or quality improvement infrastructure. AHRQ also highlights aligning improvement strategies between primary care practices and the broader health care systems they operate within, recognizing that lasting change often requires both frontline workflow support and higher-level organizational policies and incentives.

Eligibility is broad and includes many types of organizations that can lead applied health implementation work. Eligible applicants include state, county, city or township governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; Native American tribal governments (federally recognized) and tribal organizations; public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; nonprofit organizations with or without 501(c)(3) status (other than institutions of higher education); private institutions of higher education; for-profit organizations (other than small businesses); small businesses; and other entities as allowed in the full announcement. This wide eligibility signals that AHRQ is open to partnerships across academic centers, health systems, community organizations, and other implementers that can credibly run primary care improvement efforts and evaluate implementation outcomes.

Overall, INTUIT-PC is designed to speed the real-world adoption of evidence-based, nonsurgical UI care for women by supporting structured implementation and evaluation in primary care, strengthening coordination with specialty care, and leveraging prior AHRQ experience in practice transformation. The intended result is more consistent identification and management of UI in primary care, clearer care pathways, better patient experiences and outcomes, and scalable strategies that can be spread beyond the participating sites.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Health Care Research and Quality in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "INTUIT-PC: Improving Nonsurgical Treatment of Urinary Incontinence among women in Primary Care: Dissemination and Implementation of PCOR Evidence (U18)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.226.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jan 13, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Mar 24, 2021. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,000,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 5 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Private institutions of higher education, For profit organizations other than small businesses, Small businesses, Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

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