AHRQ Names New Director

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has a new leader. Health reform researcher Richard Kronick, Ph.D., has replaced longtime director Carolyn Clancy, M.D.

Kronick joined the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in January 2010 as deputy assistant secretary for planning and evaluation. He supervised the Office of Health Policy.

Prior to his HHS stint, Kronick conducted health policy research for the University of California San Diego and also worked as director of policy and reimbursement for the Medicaid Division of the Massachusetts Department of Public Welfare.

His work focused on understanding the causes and consequences of lack of insurance and the ways in which markets work for vulnerable populations. He co-authored the book “Medicare HMOs: Making Them Work for the Chronically Ill.”

In the early 1990s, he served as a senior health policy adviser in the Clinton administration, helping craft the health reform proposal for the White House.

“AHRQ has important work ahead, and I look forward to continuing to work with Dr. Kronick in this new role,” Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement.

Kronick’s work at the agency has been key to implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to the AHRQ announcement of his hire, contained in the organization’s daily electronic newsletter.

Clancy announced in January she was leaving the AHRQ after serving as its director since February 2003. No reason was given for her departure, but she said she would remain on until a successor was found.

Based inRockville, Md., AHRQ was created to improve the quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of American healthcare. Its fiscal 2012 budget totaled $405 million.