Welcome

Dear Colleague:

In today’s rapidly changing health care environment, it’s more critical than ever to know what constitutes safe, high-quality care, and how to deliver that care as efficiently and effectively as possible.

Our goal at AHRQ is precisely that: to improve the health and health care of all Americans by supporting and conducting research that provides evidence-based information on health care outcomes; quality; and cost, use, and access to care. In addition, the Agency works with a wide variety of partners to ensure that the results of that research are brought to the point of care, and available for use by Federal, state, and local policymakers.

That’s why I’m excited to invite you to take part in AHRQ’s first-ever annual conference, September 26-28, 2007, at the Bethesda North Marriott Convention Center, in Bethesda, MD. This event is intended to showcase the best of the Agency’s research and provide examples of how that research is being implemented at all levels in health care delivery.

In particular, the themes for the conference include:

· Data Sharing, Health Care Reporting, and the Public Trust
· Medication Management and Safety
· Strategies and Tools for Quality/Safety Improvement
· Value and Sustainability in Health IT
· Improving Health Care Decision Making
· System Design and Organizational Change

I’m also excited that on Friday, September 28, we will focus on HHS’ Value-driven Health Care Initiative. We will have content that is geared specifically toward individuals and organizations that are interested in becoming Value Exchanges. Sessions will be held related to data aggregation and use, provider incentives, and consumer engagement.

Last, I would like to highlight the Innovations Café that will be a feature of the conference on both Thursday and Friday. The Innovations Café will feature nearly two dozen interactive displays of new quality improvement tools and applications that attendees can try out themselves. In addition, there will be posters describing results of ongoing AHRQ-supported research efforts.

To summarize, if you are interested in learning more about ways that we can improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of our nation's health care, I hope you’ll agree that attending AHRQ’s inaugural annual conference is a must!

I look forward to seeing you there!

Carolyn M Clancy, MD
Director, AHRQ