October 28, 2024- The Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ), the premier federal agency that works to improve the safety and quality of healthcare for all Americans, is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year. The operational theme for this anniversary is “Today’s Research, Tomorrow’s Healthcare,” positioning the agency’s history in providing a solid scientific evidence base for tomorrow’s healthcare delivery and policy.
Because improving healthcare is a communal effort, AHRQ will celebrate this anniversary by highlighting the successful partnerships and collaborations formed with co-founders, partners, grantees, stakeholders, staff members, and alumni that enhance the quality and safety of the healthcare industry.
Congress decided to elevate the National Center for Health Services Research and Health Care Technology Assessment to full agency status in 1989, creating the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research. “This pivotal moment recognized health services research (HSR) as a fundamental component of healthcare and a key to improving healthcare delivery. In 1999, Congress renamed the Agency as AHRQ, reaffirming and codifying our role not just as a funder of scientific research, but as the federal home of HSR,” Dr. Robert Otto Valez, Ph.D., MHSA, wrote in a blog post to commemorate the anniversary.
Read more in the latest issue of JHC.