How does studying women’s health, in general, fit into AHRQ’s mission?
Dr. Clancy: AHRQ’s mission is to improve the quality, safety, efficiency and effectiveness of healthcare for all Americans, so that means that we have to be focused on some of those conditions that are unique to women or for which women will be treated differently than men are. In addition to that, a big part of our focus is on how patients interact with the healthcare system themselves, and very interestingly, women are much more likely to be active participants in their own care, to ask questions and so forth, than men are. Rand: Now one of the very visible ways that AHRQ has promoted women’s health is by highlighting the recommendations of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force in a booklet called, “Women: Stay Healthy At Any Age.” Can you touch on what the Task Force does, and some of the recommendations that are in the booklet? Dr. Clancy: Certainly. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is a nationally renowned panel of experts that provides evidence-based recommendations to p
