Notice2024-23316
Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of Authority
Primary source
Metadata and text below are from the Federal Register, a public-domain U.S. government work. Always verify the official published version before relying on it for any legal matter.
Published
October 9, 2024
Issuing agencies
Health and Human Services DepartmentAgency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Abstract
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has modified its organizational structure.
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 89 Issue 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 89, Number 196 (Wednesday, October 9, 2024)]
[Notices]
[Pages 81915-81917]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2024-23316]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Statement of Organization, Functions, and Delegations of
Authority
AGENCY: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has modified
its organizational structure.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Part E, chapter E (Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality), of the Statement of Organization, Functions, and
Delegations of Authority for the Department of Health and Human
Services (61 FR 15955-58) April 10, 1996, most recently amended at 81
FR 22271 on April 15, 2016) is amended to reflect recent organizational
changes. The specific amendments are as follows:
I. Under Section E-10, Organization, delete all components and
replace them with the following:
A. Office of the Director.
B. Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement.
C. Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety.
D. Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends.
E. Office of Communications.
F. Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations.
G. Office of Management Services.
II. Under Section E-20, Functions, delete Center for Evidence and
Practice Improvement, Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends,
Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, and Office of the
Director in its entirety and replace with the following:
Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. Conducts and supports
research on health care delivery and practice improvement across the
continuum of care from prevention to chronic care management to end-of-
life care. Specifically: (1) Synthesizes evidence and translates
science for multiple stakeholders; (2) advances decision and
communication sciences to facilitate informed treatment and healthcare
decision-making by patients and their healthcare providers; (3)
explores how digital healthcare research can improve clinical decision-
making and health care quality; (4) catalyzes and promotes
sustainability of improvements in clinical practice across health care
settings through research, demonstration projects, and partnership
development; (5) studies the roles that health professionals, health
systems, and organizations play in the provision of health care
services; (6) examines the role of health systems in improving quality
and efficiency of health care services; and (7) operates the National
Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research.
Shall be organized into the following four divisions:
Division of Evidence-Based Practice Centers: Produces evidence
syntheses by conducting systematic evidence reviews using robust and
rigorous methodologies and advances evidence synthesis methods to
ensure scientific rigor and unbiased reviews.
Division of U.S. Preventive Services Task Force: Provides
scientific, administrative, and dissemination support for the
independent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, enabling the Task
Force to make evidence-based recommendations on clinical preventive
services.
Division of Digital Healthcare Research: Utilizes advanced
analytics to
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enhance healthcare decision-making and research how facets of the
evolving digital healthcare ecosystem can best create transformational
value for patients and their families in delivering safe and effective
care.
Division of Practice Improvement: Advances the science of clinical
practice improvement, including shared decision-making; evaluates and
supports innovative models of practice transformation in diverse
settings; facilitates communities of learning to promote the
implementation of evidence for practice improvement; and serves as a
trusted source of evidence and tool development for methods, measures,
and evaluation of practice improvement.
Center for Financing, Access, and Cost Trends. Conducts and
supports studies of the use of and expenditures for healthcare
services, the sources of payment for that care, the availability and
cost of health insurance, and access to healthcare. Administers large-
scale surveys and develops large data sets to support health care
policy and behavioral research and analysis.
Shall be organized into the following four divisions:
Division of Statistical Research and Methods (DSRM): Provides a
wide range of statistical activities for designing and implementing the
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) and for planning and
researching to help guide and improve these data collection and
analysis.
Division of Research and Modeling (DRM): Conducts studies on access
to, costs, and financing of healthcare services. Provides ongoing
analytic support to MEPS design and implementation. Develops and
maintains various simulation models, components, databases, tools, and
research products that enhance the value of the AHRQ data. Utilizes
these models and databases to conduct microsimulation analyses of the
effects, on households and individuals, of health policies embodied in
current law and the potential impacts of healthcare policies embodied
in generic versions of proposed healthcare reforms.
Division of Survey Operations (DSO): Oversees the MEPS data
collection, processing, and distribution activities. Directs data
collection for the major MEPS surveys, prepares data files for public
use, and conducts workshops on the appropriate use of MEPS data.
Publishes statistical briefs, research findings, and a series of
methodological reports. Manages a data center for researchers that
houses MEPS data and maintains liaisons with Federal and non-federal
individuals and organizations engaged in health services research.
Division of Healthcare Delivery and Systems Research (DHDSR):
Develops new evidence, tools, and measures to understand how health
care is delivered in the U.S., emphasizing the roles that physicians,
physician practices, hospitals, health systems, other medical
professionals, and organizations play in the provision of health care
services.
Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. Measures the
performance of the U.S. health care system; identifies, promotes, and
supports evidence-based research; and provides information used to
improve the safety and quality of health care. Collaborates with
stakeholders across the health care system to implement evidence-based
practices and accelerate and amplify improvements in quality, including
patient and workforce safety.
Shall be organized into the following five divisions:
Division of General Patient Safety: Leads research efforts on the
risks and harms inherent in delivering healthcare services in various
settings. Develops, tests, and facilitates understanding and use of
evidence-based tools and information to improve the quality and safety
of health care and reduce the risk of patient harm.
Division of Patient Safety Organizations: Administers the Patient
Safety Organization (PSO) Program per the Patient Safety and Quality
Improvement Act 2005. Approves and oversees PSOs that apply for
official federal ``listing.'' Publishes Common Formats for measuring
adverse events in hospitals.
Division of Healthcare-Associated Infections: Leads research
studies and implementation projects that prevent, reduce, and
ultimately eliminate healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and combat
antibiotic resistance. It fosters the creation of new knowledge and the
generation of evidence to develop improved methods for preventing
healthcare-associated infections and improving antibiotic use in
multiple settings. It promotes the wide-scale implementation of
effective interventions for preventing HAIs and promoting antibiotic
stewardship in all these care settings.
Division of Quality Measurement and Improvement: Conducts quality
measurement and evaluates improvement activities to improve healthcare
delivered in the United States. Seeks opportunities to integrate
various measurement efforts to provide a complete picture of quality
and safety. Promotes enhanced collaboration and coordination of
measurement efforts, including integration where possible, to serve the
needs of multiple stakeholders who use measurements, such as front-line
clinicians, patients, safety and quality experts, administrators,
researchers, payers, policymakers, and others. Conducts focused
measurement programs, including the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare
Providers and Systems, Surveys on Patient Safety Culture programs, and
the AHRQ Quality Indicators.
Division of Healthcare Data and Analytics (DHDA): Leads the
development, production, and improvement of healthcare delivery data
and tools for use in research and policy analysis focused on HCUP and
the supply side of the medical care market. Directs, conducts, and
supports research on health care delivery and utilization to examine
issues related to access, utilization, cost, safety, and quality of
hospital, physician, and other services. Disseminates data, tools, and
statistics to facilitate and inform public and private health policy
analysis, clinical studies, and socioeconomic research.
Office of the Director (OD). Provides leadership of the Agency and
is responsible for planning, managing, and coordinating Agency programs
and activities in fulfillment of AHRQ's mission. Principal activities
include ensuring the overall scientific integrity and objectivity of
the Agency's research and programs; directing and coordinating the
Agency's programs, research, training programs, and dissemination
activities; ensuring Agency programs support Administration goals and
objectives; representing the Agency within the Department, at the
highest levels of Government, and to the public.
Shall be organized into the following two sub-offices:
Immediate Office of the Director (IOD). Provides overall leadership
of the Agency and plans, manages, and coordinates the programs and
activities of all AHRQ components. The IOD supports the Director and
Deputy Director in achieving the Agency's mission. Specifically, (1)
provides strategic advice to the Director in support of agency
priorities; (2) coordinates the legislative activities of the Agency;
(3) manages the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Director and
provides administrative support services; and (4) controls the flow of
correspondence and official documents entering and leaving the Agency.
Office of Policy, Planning, and Evaluation. Directs and coordinates
AHRQ's policy, planning, and evaluation. Specifically, (1) directs and
coordinates program planning activities
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in fulfillment of the Agency's mission; (2) plans and manages the
program evaluation activities of the Agency, including evaluations of
dissemination, training, and research programs; (3) provides support
and management for the activities of the Agency's National Advisory
Council; and (4) maintains ongoing liaison with public and private
sector producers and users of health services research.
All delegations and redelegations of authority to officers and
employees of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality officers
and employees immediately before the effective date of this
reorganization shall continue in effect pending further redelegation,
provided they are consistent with this reorganization.
These changes are effective upon the date of signature.
Dated: October 3, 2024.
Robert Otto Valdez,
Director.
[FR Doc. 2024-23316 Filed 10-8-24; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4160-90-P
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