The mission, focus, strategic goals, and customers of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) are summarized here.
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AHRQ Mission
The Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ) is the lead
Federal agency charged with improving
the quality, safety, efficiency, and
effectiveness of health care for all
Americans. As one of 12 agencies
within the Department of Health and
Human Services, AHRQ supports
health services research that will
improve the quality of health care and
promote evidence-based
decisionmaking.
AHRQ Facts
Director: Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.
Agency Staff:
Approximately 300.
FY 2005 Budget:
$318.7 million.
Research:
Approximately 80 percent of
AHRQ's budget is invested in
grants and contracts focused on
improving health care.
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AHRQ's Focus and Strategic Goals
- Safety and quality: Reduce the risk of harm by promoting delivery of the best possible health care.
- Effectiveness: Improve health care outcomes by encouraging the use of evidence to make informed health care decisions.
- Efficiency: Transform research into practice to facilitate wider access to effective health care services and reduce unnecessary costs.
- Organizational excellence: Use efficient and responsive business processes to maximize the Agency's resources and the effectiveness of its programs.
AHRQ's Customers
- Clinicians and other health care providers, such as hospitals.
- Consumers and patients.
- Health care policymakers at the Federal, State, and local levels.
- Purchasers and payers, such as employers and public and private insurers.
- Other health officials, such as hospital systems and medical school faculty.
For More Information
Select to find out more detailed information about AHRQ's Research Agenda.
To order Agency publications, contact AHRQ by calling the Clearinghouse toll
free at 1-800-358-9295 or by E-mail (AHRQPubs@ahrq.hhs.gov).
Call the AHRQ Clearinghouse to begin a free subscription to AHRQ's monthly
research bulletin, Research Activities.
AHRQ Publication No. 06-P003-1
Current as of November 2005
Internet Citation:
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) At A Glance.
AHRQ Publication No. 06-P003-1, November 2005. Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/about/ataglance.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850