Andrew Bindman, MD
Andrew Bindman, MD, a primary care physician with federal and state health policy experience who has practiced, taught, and conducted health services research at San Francisco General Hospital, has been named the new Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Dr. Bindman began his new role on May 2.
In announcing the appointment, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell said, “As AHRQ Director, Dr. Bindman will drive the Agency’s three core missions of producing research and evidence to improve the quality and safety of health care and the functioning of the health-care system; producing tools and training materials to make sure that evidence is understood and used; and investing in data and measures used by providers, patients, and policymakers.”
Strong Policy Background
Dr. Bindman recently served as Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology & Biostatistics and affiliated faculty member within the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. Through his work, he helped to establish the association between access to care and preventable hospitalizations for ambulatory care–sensitive conditions.
In 2009–2010, Dr. Bindman was a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow who worked as a Staff Member on the Energy and Commerce Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. From September 2011 until June 30, 2014, he served as a Senior Advisor within the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation’s Office of Health Policy, where he worked to establish new Medicare payment codes for transitional care and chronic care management.
From July 2014 until November 2015, Dr. Bindman was a Senior Advisor to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, where he helped to launch the Innovation Accelerator Program to support care transformation in State Medicaid programs. ■
