Research Conference Spotlights Importance of AHRQ’s Work

AHRQ’s work to ensure safe, high-quality care is essential to the U.S. health system, according to speakers who addressed nearly 1,000 attendees during the October 5 opening plenary session of the 2015 AHRQ Research Conference in Arlington, Virginia. Calling the agency’s contributions “a necessity and not a nicety,” HHS Acting Deputy Secretary Mary Wakefield, Ph.D., R.N., praised AHRQ’s research, tools and work with the Partnership for Patients program, which helped the U.S. health care system prevent 1.3 million medical errors, save 50,000 lives and avoid $12 billion in wasteful spending between 2010 and 2013. Dr. Wakefield, who has been an AHRQ grantee, chair of AHRQ’s National Advisory Council and a partner during her tenure as administrator of HRSA, said she is “especially proud of our work to bolster the care delivered to tens of millions of Americans in federally qualified health centers.” AHRQ’s work to boost patient and family engagement in health care was also applauded by speakers Bruce Siegel, M.D., who heads America’s Essential Hospitals; Alice Rivlin, Ph.D., who directs the health policy center at the Brookings Institution; and Beverley Johnson, who heads the board of the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care. AHRQ Director Richard Kronick, Ph.D., noted that the agency’s work provides a good return on investment for American taxpayers. "AHRQ's budget is approximately 0.01 percent of national health expenditures,” Dr. Kronick said. “This is a minuscule investment in making the remaining 99.99 percent of health care safer, higher quality, more accessible, equitable and affordable." Presentations from the October 4-6 conference, which was co-hosted by AcademyHealth, will be available on the AHRQ website in the coming weeks.