Congressional Briefing Highlights Value of AHRQ Research

January 31, 2014—AAMC joined AcademyHealth and the Friends of AHRQ in hosting a Jan. 29 congressional briefing describing how research and resources supported by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) have helped to strengthen the health care system.

Panelists described how the research, datasets, and tools supported by AHRQ are used by a wide range of stakeholders — including patients, health care providers, hospitals and health systems, policymakers, and payers — to make health care safer, more accessible, and more affordable.

The Friends of AHRQ also released a report at the briefing, “AHRQ: 15 Years of Transforming Care and Improving Health.” Originally established in 1974, the agency celebrates 15 years under its current name and structure in 2014.

Speakers at the briefing included:

• Lisa Simpson, M.B., B.Ch., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer, AcademyHealth;
• Karen Minyard, Ph.D., executive director, Georgia Health Policy Center;
• Stephen Parente, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.S., Minnesota Insurance Industry Professor of Health Finance and Insurance, Carlson School of Management, and director, Medical Industry Leadership Institute, University of Minnesota; and
• Lucy Savitz, Ph.D., director of research and education, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Healthcare.

AAMC is a member of the Friends of AHRQ, a coalition of organizations representing patients, health care providers, public health professionals, hospitals, medical centers, delivery systems, health plans, employers, and scientists, working together to promote AHRQ’s continued role in improving the nation’s health.