The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is among federal partners and stakeholders that have joined a new initiative to strengthen primary health care nationwide. The effort, launched by the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), follows a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report that documented the weakening of primary care and called upon the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to take a leadership role in ensuring high-quality primary care for all. Judith Steinberg, MD, MPH, a leader in primary healthcare transformation and former chief medical officer at HRSA Bureau of Primary Health Care (BPHC), will lead development of an HHS plan to strengthen primary healthcare with the aim of improving health outcomes and advancing health equity.
The plan, which will be presented to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra for his review, will include the role of HHS in leading this effort and specific actions to be taken across HHS.