Health care research generally falls into one of two categories. Efficacy studies examine the effectiveness of new types of treatment. Implementation studies examine the feasibility of actually implementing these treatments in a health care setting. A new category of research should be created aimed solely on reducing cost of implementing currently established methods.
However, funding for the major health funding agency for medical research, i.e. the National Institute of Health (NIH), has been reduced by the sequester to previously unreached levels. We call on the president to petition congress to free additional funding for NIH to fund studies that are solely focused on reducing the cost of health care while keeping current funding allocated towards efficacy and implementation.