Back to the future.

Abstract

The paper by Brad Gray and colleagues summarizes a decade of challenge, growth, and evolution within what is now called the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the field of health services research, and it gives new depth to the old saying, "May you live in interesting times". Their assessment of the significance of the agency's reauthorization and description of continued challenges for AHRQ and the field are insightful. This commentary focuses on continued maturation of AHRQ's mission and focus, recent achievements, new external factors, and emerging policy dilemmas that AHRQ is uniquely poised to address.