The Agency for Healthcare Resources and Quality’s (AHRQ) mission is to produce evidence to make health care safer, of a higher quality, more accessible, equitable, and affordable, and to work within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that evidence is understood and applied.
On May 2, 2016, the HHS announced the appointment of Andrew Bindman, MD, as the new director of AHRQ. U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia M. Burwell said, “As AHRQ Director, Dr. Bindman will drive the Agency’s three core missions of producing research and evidence to improve the quality and safety of health care and the functioning of the health care system, producing tools and training materials to make sure that evidence is understood and used, and investing in data and measures used by providers, patients, and policy makers.”
Bindman, a primary care physician and former Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Biostatistics and faculty member at Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco, has experience with federal and state policy. He’s also taught, practiced and researched in the San Francisco area. His past work focused on improving the care of underserved and vulnerable populations in California.