Organizational Excellence Portfolio
Funding Summary, Program Support
Funding History
Rationale for the FY 2005 Request
This activity supports the overall direction and management of the AHRQ. This includes the formulation of policies and program objectives; and administrative management and services activities.
AHRQ continues to work towards efficiencies in the areas of administrative consolidation, strategic workforce planning, as well as organizational delayering. Utilizing the experience of a national leader in the field of health services research, Dr. Clancy, Director, AHRQ, and senior AHRQ leadership, crafted an organizational structure which will allow for a greater emphasis on translational activities related to the Agency's core business while also ensuring the Agency is responsive to the President's Management Agenda and Departmental goals and objectives. This paradigm shift in how the Agency does business will concentrate resources on mission critical activities and overall performance issues.
The principles which still guide the systematic evolution of the Agency include:
The new Agency structure reduces the number of organizational components from 10 to eight and has created a flattened organizational structure which will allow us to achieve a 1:15 supervisor/employee ratio encouraged by the Department. This modification allows for Office synergy in the areas of performance, budgeting, and accountability; review, education and priority populations; as well as knowledge transfer and communications. The elimination of one research component will focus the remaining Centers on improving information for policymakers and legislators on health care access, economic trends and system financing; devising strategies to improve the efficiency of the health care system; improving the effectiveness and outcomes of care through the use of evidence based clinical information by patients and providers; improving the quality and safety of health care; and increasing consumer and patient use of health care information, as well as a strategic focus on primary care.
Based on the new structure, senior leadership is working collaboratively to evaluate the current and future needs of the Agency with a focus on redeploying current AHRQ staff to support critical flagship programs while also becoming more "citizen centered" in its approach on how business is conducted.
The Agency is also proactive in its efforts with regard to A-76 (Competitive Sourcing) and has a renewed focus on business process reviews of administrative functions which will assist us to streamline and eliminate redundancies where possible while also working towards the Department's goal of a 15 percent reduction in administrative management.
In addition to the changes to the overall organizational structure, AHRQ is also in the process of implementing a matrix management model of program development that focuses on outcomes rather than outputs. This approach will allow for collaboration across Agency programs without the need for establishing unnecessary formal structures and management layers to support AHRQ research and dissemination activities.
There are several tangible benefits to this reorganization. First and foremost, it allows the Agency to emphasize its priority on transforming the health care system by effectively translating research findings and tools into practice for use by health care practitioners, the general public, and other users of AHRQ research. Secondly, the Agency will be able to integrate and align activities which typically functioned independently from one another (e.g., the budget and planning process) as well as consolidate administrative management functions. The Agency's new structure will also result in "horizontal delayering" and will allow decisions to be made more quickly and efficiently within AHRQ. Lastly, AHRQ's retooling of the organizational structure will allow us to eliminate at least two supervisory positions and continue the process of redeploying staff, when possible, from administrative management positions to positions deemed as mission-critical in nature.
The Agency's reorganization plan recently received approval from the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management and aggressive measures are being taken to administratively implement this innovative model.
AHRQ continues to partner with the Department on HHS-wide activities including the Emerging Leaders Program. The Agency was successful in hiring two junior level staff to help support mission-critical functions in the areas of clinical informatics and bioterrorism. This effort, combined with other internal strategies for succession planning, will help to ensure a vital AHRQ workforce in successive years.
Select to access Table 18 for performance goals of the Organizational Excellence Portfolio.
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| FY 2003 Actual | FY 2004 Enacted | FY 2005 Request | Increase or Decrease | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Total Budget Authority PHS Evaluation Funds |
$0 ($2,700,000) |
$0 ($2,700,000) |
$0 ($2,700,000) |
$0 +(0) |
| Full-Time Equivalents | 22 | 22 | 22 | 0 |
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Funding for the Program Support during the last 5 years has been as follows:
| Year | Budget Authority |
PHS Evaluation Funds |
FTEs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 2,585,000 | — | 22 |
| 2002 | 2,585,000 | — | 22 |
| 2003 Actual | — | 2,700,000 | 22 |
| 2004 Enacted | — | 2,700,000 | 22 |
| 2005 Request | — | 2,700,000 | 22 |
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The FY 2005 request for Program Support is maintained at the FY 2004 enacted level. AHRQ will absorb increases for current services including mandatory increases for the annualization of the FY 2004 pay raise and the FY 2005 pay raise.
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Current as of February 2004
Internet Citation:
Program Support. From: Justification for Budget Estimates for Appropriatation Committees, Fiscal Year 2005, February 2004. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/cj2005/prog05.htm