American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA)

Research and Academia

Purpose of ARRA

The overall goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) are to stimulate the economy in the short-term and invest in research and academia and other essential public services to ensure the long-term economic health of our nation. ARRA includes an $800 million appropriation to the Department of Health and Human Services for funding comparative effectiveness research. This research is defined in the Act as that which "compares the clinical outcomes, effectiveness, and appropriateness of items, services and procedures that are used to prevent, diagnose or treat diseases, disorders, and other health conditions and encourage the development and use of clinical registries, clinical data networks, and other forms of electronic health data that can be used to generate or obtain outcomes data."