VCU Health Administration's Mick appointed chair of federal panel through 2006

By Michael Ford
University News Services

A Virginia Commonwealth University professor has been appointed chairman of the scientific review study section for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) - the nation's lead federal agency for research on health care quality, costs, delivery and patient safety.

Stephen S. Mick, Ph.D., Arthur Graham Glasgow professor and chair of the Department of Health Administration in the VCU School of Allied Health Professions, will chair the study section that focuses on health systems research. Health systems research examines health delivery organizations, access to health care, how much it costs and what happens to patients as result of this care.

Mick's four-year term as chair will begin later this month. He had previously served as a study section member from 1998 to 2002.

"It is an honor to be chosen as the chairperson of a national, federal study section. This will raise the visibility of VCU at the AHRQ and among the representatives of other major research universities," said Dolores G. Clement, Dr.P.H., professor and associate dean, VCU School of Allied Health Professions. "We are quite pleased that Dr. Mick's national reputation has earned him such an honor."

Mick earned his doctoral degree in sociology from Yale University. Prior to coming to VCU in 1999, Mick taught health administration at Yale, Oklahoma University, the University of Washington, Johns Hopkins University and the University of Michigan. The author of four books and nearly 75 journal articles and book chapters, Mick is currently conducting funded research for AHRQ and the Health Resources and Services Administration. His teaching and research interests include health care management and organization, rural health and health services.

Ranked by US News & World Report among the nation's top five health administration programs, the VCU Masters of Health Administration program is one of the oldest in the country and has maintained its mission of educating men and women to lead complex health

care organizations.

AHRQ is the health services research arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, complementing the biomedical research mission of its sister agency, the National Institutes of Health. A science partner, AHRQ works with the public and private sectors to build the knowledge base for what works - and does not work - in health and health care and translates this knowledge into everyday practice and policymaking.

Membership on AHRQ study sections is reserved for researchers with substantial national reputations in the broad field of health services research.