PCORI Welcomes New AHRQ Director Andrew Bindman to Board of Governors

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) today welcomed Andrew Bindman, MD, the newly named Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), to PCORI’s Board of Governors. PCORI also thanked AHRQ’s Acting Director Sharon Arnold, PhD, for her service as a Board member.

AHRQ’s director, or the director’s designee, serves as a member of PCORI’s Board as stipulated by PCORI’s 2010 authorizing law. As announced by U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Sylvia Burwell in late April, Bindman joined AHRQ at the beginning of May as its director, taking over from Arnold who served as Acting Director since March.

Prior to joining AHRQ, Dr. Bindman taught medicine and epidemiology and biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. He is a primary care physician with federal and state health policy experience, and he has practiced, taught, and conducted health services research at San Francisco General Hospital, an urban safety-net hospital, for almost 30 years. During that time, he led the development of a nationally recognized academic division focused on improving the care of vulnerable populations and a state-university partnership with California’s Medicaid program that promotes translating research into policy.

“Dr. Bindman’s experience training primary care physicians and health services researchers as well as his large body of work focused on low-income individuals will enrich our Board’s discussions, providing a clear voice advocating for evidence-driven practice,” said PCORI Executive Director Joe Selby, MD, MPH. “We look forward to working with Andrew, whose vast experience will make him a valuable member of our Board.”

PCORI Board Chairperson Grayson Norquist, MD, MSPH, expressed PCORI’s appreciation for Arnold’s service to PCORI.

“We appreciate Dr. Arnold’s service to our Board during her tenure as AHRQ’s acting director,” Norquist said. “We benefited from her contributions and wish her well going forward.”