David Knutson, MS, has been named director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)’s Center for Delivery, Organization, and Markets.

The center aims to improve the quality and efficiency of healthcare by providing evidence to decision-makers on organization, payment, delivery and markets. Its research portfolio covers four areas: organizational behavior, delivery systems, markets and external factors.

Knutson previously was senior research fellow in the Division of Health Policy and Management at the University of Minnesota where his research focused on insurance markets, risk adjustment, performance-based provider contracting, quality and efficiency measurement, and organizational issues associated with care delivery transformation. While on leave from the University of Minnesota during 2011 and 2012, he served as a senior program analyst and acting director of the Division of Outcomes and Quality at the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services.

He previously served as director of health systems studies at the Park Nicollet Institute in Minneapolis. He has also directed provider contracting for two managed-care organizations and held management positions in healthcare provider organizations. Knutson’s published articles and book chapters have dealt with healthcare financing, provider payment, risk adjustment, managed care and chronic illness care. He holds a Master of Science degree in health economics from Curtin University of Technology in Perth, Australia.