Earlier today, Dr. Carolyn Clancy announced that she will step down as director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality after 10 years of service. As director of the lead agency for health services research, Dr. Clancy has been a tireless advocate for the use of evidence in policymaking. Under her leadership AHRQ focused important attention on improving the safety and quality of care for all. She launched the first annual report to Congress on health care disparities and health care quality, led the development of the Affordable Care Act’s National Quality Strategy, and collaborated with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to launch the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) provisions on assessing children’s quality of care.

A clinician and health services researcher, Dr. Clancy has been a key voice on the importance of building the data infrastructure to conduct HSR. She has also been generous with her time and experience, adding unique and valuable insight to AcademyHealth events and committees, including numerous presentations at the Annual Research Meeting and National Health Policy Conference.

Dr. Clancy will remain at AHRQ until a successor is named. We wish her well in her next endeavor, and thank her for her leadership and contributions to the field.

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