A new AHRQ Views blog post in recognition of Earth Day 2022 highlights the Agency’s emerging efforts to reduce the impacts of climate change. David Meyers, M.D., AHRQ’s deputy director, and Brent Sandmeyer, M.P.H., who leads the Agency’s climate change working group, note that AHRQ has not traditionally focused on climate change. Its impacts, however, are having significant consequences on human health and the healthcare system’s capacity to provide care. The blog highlights several ways that AHRQ is aligned with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Climate Action Plan. Among them: a new data analysis that provides first-time insights into emergency department visits resulting from extreme heat; a recent effort to assemble experts to identify key climate change issues; steps aimed at building partnerships with government and private sector entities; and efforts to establish a measurement framework and action guide to accelerate decarbonization in health systems.
