Margie Shofer, the Director of the General Patient Safety Program within the Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety (CQuIPS) at the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), manages the Agency’s activities related to general patient safety issues including funding of grants and contracts, and development and dissemination of evidence-based patient safety tools and resources. She has a particular interest in engaging patients and families to improve patient safety and oversaw the work to develop three different AHRQ resources to engage patients and families in their care in ways that improve patient safety.  More recently she has led the Agency's work to improve diagnostic safety and quality. Before working in CQuIPS she worked in AHRQ's Office of Communication where she oversaw several different AHRQ learning networks, including the Medicaid Medical Directors Learning Network and the High Reliability Organizations Learning Network. Prior to working at AHRQ, Ms. Shofer was a senior policy analyst with the American Association of Health Plans, assistant staff to the Health Committee at the National Conference of State Legislatures, and committee staff for the House Environmental Matters Committee of the Maryland General Assembly.  Ms. Shofer began her health care career working as an RN at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.   She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and from Boston University’s MBA program where she concentrated in health care management.