Whois & Analysis for ahrq.gov

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), located in Rockville, MD, a suburb of Washington, D.C., is one of 12 Agencies within the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

The Agency was established as the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) as a constituent unit of the Public Health Service (PHS) under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (103 Stat.

2159), December 19, 1989, to enhance the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of health care services and access to care by conducting and supporting research, demonstration projects, and evaluations; developing guidelines; and disseminating information on health care services and delivery systems.

Health care or healthcare is the maintenance or improvement of health via the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in human beings.

Healthcare is delivered by health professionals (providers or practitioners) in allied health professions, chiropractic, physicians, physician associates, dentistry, midwifery, nursing, medicine, optometry, pharmacy, psychology, and other health professions.

It includes the work done in providing primary care, secondary care, and tertiary care, as well as in public health.

Public health refers to "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting human health through organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals." It is concerned with threats to health based on population health analysis.

The population in question can be as small as a handful of people, or as large as all the inhabitants of several continents (for instance, in the case of a pandemic).

The dimensions of health can encompass "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity," as defined by the United Nations' World Health Organization.

Public health incorporates the interdisciplinary approaches of epidemiology, biostatistics and health services.

Environmental health, community health, behavioral health, health economics, public policy, mental health and occupational safety and health are other important subfields.

Higher education, post-secondary education, or third level education is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completion of secondary education.

Often delivered at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, conservatories, and institutes of technology, higher education is also available through certain college-level institutions, including vocational schools, trade schools, and other career colleges that award academic degrees or professional certifications.

Tertiary education at non-degree level is sometimes referred to as further education or continuing education as distinct from higher education.