Legislation Calls for New Federal Office To Work on Health Care Quality
On Monday, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) introduced a bill calling for the creation of a new executive branch office that focuses on improving the quality of patient care in all federal health programs, Politico reports.
The bill also would re-establish a council to coordinate efforts among agencies and grant more power to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Under the bill, the AHRQ director would be a Senate-confirmed position.
According to Rockefeller, the bill is intended to serve as an alternative to the health care delivery reform proposals outlined last week by senior members of the Senate Finance Committee (Budoff Brown, Politico, 5/4). This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.