Hospital & Health System Resources

• Transforming Hospitals
• Users of Public Reports of Hospital Quality: Who, What, Why, and How?

Policymaker Resources

• Preventable Hospitalization Costs and Mapping Tool

Full Research Reports

September 1 2012 20120901

Transforming Hospitals

September 1 2012 20120901

Users of Public Reports of Hospital Quality: Who, What, Why, and How?

Other Research & Data

• Language barriers related to increased hospital readmissions for Chinese- and Spanish-speaking patients
• Low health literacy linked to higher risk of death and more emergency room visits and hospitalizations
• Re-engineered discharge project dramatically reduces return trips to the hospital

Press Releases

September 10 2012 20120910

AHRQ Patient Safety Project Reduces Bloodstream Infections by 40 Percent

News & Numbers

March 7 2012 20120307

Hospital Readmission Rates Higher for Chronic Conditions

December 1 2011 20111201

Cost of Hospitalization Highest Among the Nonelderly

October 6 2011 20111006

Blood Infections Most Costly Hospital Care in 2009

September 14 2011 20110914

Hospital Readmissions for COPD Highest Among Black Patients

August 4 2011 20110804

Arizona and Maryland See Great Drop in In-Hospital Deaths From Pneumonia

May 12 2011 20110512

More Rural Americans Treated in Emergency Departments for Eye Injuries

August 4 2010 20100804

Heart Bypass Surgery Death Rates Drop Sharply

May 20 2010 20100520

Hospital Heart Attack Deaths Plummet

Other News & Events

• No consistent association found between volume or quality and outcomes of complex surgeries for cancer
• 24-hour staffing of intensive care units with intensivists has benefits as well as some tradeoffs for patients and physicians
• A few preoperative factors can be used to predict inpatient deaths following surgery
• A high percentage of patients with sickle cell disease self-discharge from hospital care
• A hospital's ability to rescue patients from complications after high-risk surgery determines mortality rates
• A large proportion of hospitalized children receive numerous medications during their hospitalization
• A small number of drugs are used most commonly during pediatric hospitalizations
• AHRQ Patient Safety Project Reduces Bloodstream Infections by 40 Percent
• AHRQ patient safety indicator can be used to identify cases of hospital-acquired collapsed lung
• AHRQ safety project reduces bloodstream infections by 40 percent
• AHRQ toolkit helps hospitals improve antibiotic selection to reduce deadly C. difficile infections
• Accuracy of ultrasound for ectopic pregnancy in the emergency department is not helped by measuring a key pregnancy hormone
• Aching back sends more than 3 million to emergency departments
• Adjusting hospital admissions by day can help with overcrowding in children's hospitals
• Administration of antimicrobials just prior to surgery reduces the risk of surgical site infections
• Admission rates from emergency departments vary widely
• Adverse drug event surveillance tailored to hospitalized children
• Adverse drug reactions a major cause of unplanned hospitalizations of elderly veterans
• Adverse events occurring during pediatric sedation are recorded in charts but not always reported
• Alcohol screening questionnaire can help identify high-risk drinkers with increased postoperative health care use
• Aldosterone antagonist therapy at hospital discharge linked to modest reduced risk of rehospitalization for heart failure
• Arizona and Maryland see great drop in in-hospital deaths from pneumonia
• Assessment of hospital computerized physician order entry systems finds many medication errors are missed
• Automated screening of patient electronic medical records is only the first step to identifying a medication problem
• Being overweight prior to transplant surgery slows improvement in the physical functioning of liver transplant patients
• Benefits and risks of helicopter transport for trauma patients investigated
• Better adherence to diabetes medications means fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits
• Better hospital quality of care for the elderly is associated with lower mortality after discharge
• Birth defects may be linked to high blood pressure, not use of ACE inhibitors in early pregnancy
• Black children are more likely to be hospitalized for a ruptured appendix than white children
• Blacks and patients at hospitals with a high percentage of black patients more likely to suffer adverse events
• Blood infections most costly hospital care in 2009
• Body fat distribution in obese trauma patients is not linked to increased inflammation, infections, or mortality
• Bundled payments for heart failure disease management programs can save money while reducing readmissions
• COPD drug triad associated with reduced death and hospitalization rates
• California nurse staffing mandate did not reduce nursing workforce skill levels
• Care process model to treat feverish infants with possible serious bacterial infections improves outcomes, lowers costs
• Certain factors increase risk of medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
• Certain factors linked to risk of early death of intensive care patients after discharge
• Certain hospital characteristics influence mortality after complications following high-risk surgery
• Certain hospital strategies lower mortality rates for heart attack patients
• Certain patients with lupus are more likely to end up in the emergency department three or more times a year
• Children with cerebral palsy who undergo gait assessment before surgery are less likely to need additional surgery later
• Children's hospitals are pressed to capacity by response to pandemic outbreaks
• Clinical algorithm can identify and locate serious internal bleeding related to oral anticoagulant use
• Clopidogrel increases bleeding risk in cardiac patients with drug-eluting stents
• Combining strategies cuts hospitals’ healthcare-associated infection rates
• Communication problems between hospitalists and primary care providers lead to postdischarge problems for seniors
• Community hospitals care for psychiatric patients in medical-surgical beds when psychiatric units are full
• Complications and in-hospital deaths more frequent among patients who undergo anterior rather than posterior spine fusion
• Complications increase mortality of trauma patients
• Computer display helps reduce the rates of ventilator-associated pneumonia in surgical intensive care units
• Connecting local providers to academic medical centers using video improved hepatitis C outcomes
• Contact isolation of new patients reduces adherence to process-of-care quality measures for pneumonia
• Continuing beta blockers after noncardiac surgery improves patient outcome
• Cost of hospital treatment for blood infection surges
• Cost of hospitalization highest among the non-elderly
• Costs of congenital heart operations vary among hospitals
• Deaths from hospital complications drop, disparities remain
• Decision support intervention prompts clinicians to update patients' problem lists in their medical records
• Decision support may aid emergency physicians in interpreting benign from serious eye movement patterns in dizzy patients
• Delays in reporting medical errors at Japanese hospital nearly triple that of United States hospital
• Depending on a woman's age, hysterectomy may be the best option for resolving chronic pelvic pain and heavy bleeding
• Developing community health resources entices more elderly patients to seek hospital care locally
• Diagnostic coding formulas underestimate hospitalizations for acute exacerbations of COPD
• Dilators more cost-effective than surgery for correcting congenital condition in females
• Discharge to skilled nursing facilities after a heart attack or heart failure explains little of variation in hospital readmissions
• Drug-eluting stents appear safe for older patients with chronic kidney disease
• Dual Veterans Administration/Medicare users are not hospitalized more for ambulatory care sensitive conditions
• Duplicate medication order errors increase after computerized provider order entry is implemented
• Early followup with a physician reduces readmissions for Medicare patients hospitalized for heart failure
• Electronic medical records reduce negative outcomes and related costs after patient safety events occur
• Electronic order sets can help treatment conform to guidelines for antibiotic use after surgery
• Emergency department patients and visitors are most interested in education about stress and depression
• Emergency department treatment of asthma with systemic corticosteroids is not always timely
• Emergency departments have increasingly become the health care safety net for adults insured by Medicaid
• Emergency departments treat 3.5 million crash victims a year
• Emergency physicians suggest ways to reduce errors in patient handoffs during shift changes
• Enrollment in Medicare Advantage managed care plans reduces racial/ethnic disparities in primary care quality in some States
• Evidence lacking on optimal transition-of-care programs for heart attack and stroke patients following hospitalization
• Evidence-based strategies substantially reduce the incidence of ventilator-associated pneumonia in ICUs
• Extending use of anti-clotting medication following major orthopedic surgery may help prevent post-operative blood clots
• FACE cards have a small positive effect on hospital patients' ability to identify their physicians
• Fewer public psychiatric hospital beds may lead to higher suicide rates
• Fewer than 1 in 5 emergency departments implement recommendations for HIV screening
• Final 2014 clinical quality measures available
• For 1 in 10 Medicaid patients, it's back to the hospital in a month
• Four million hospital admissions potentially unnecessary
• Fragmentation of care for complex diabetes patients may be associated with greater use of the emergency department
• From the Director
• General hospitals are stepping up specialty services in response to competition from single specialty hospitals
• Going smooth can help relieve weekday crowding at children's hospitals
• Greater use of preventive measures needed for hospitalized patients with suspected venous thromboembolism
• Growth in Medicaid patient hospital admissions outpace those for privately insured patients
• HCUP 2010 NEDS database now available
• Half of all annual medical expenditures are for chronic diseases
• Health care-associated infections greatly increase the length and cost of hospital stays
• Health information exchange can save money by reducing admissions from the emergency department
• Heart attack victims should use emergency transport services, not self or family to get to the hospital
• Heart block in children following heart surgery increases length of hospital stay and total costs
• Heart disease, cancer, and trauma-related disorders among the most costly conditions for men
• High-volume hospitals have low rates of adverse events for high-risk surgeries
• Higher in-hospital complication rate for primary posterior versus primary anterior cervical fusion
• Higher nurse-patient ratios result in societal cost benefits for some hospital areas
• Hospital Compare data may not help surgical patients find hospitals with better outcomes
• Hospital boards adopt practices to enhance oversight on quality of care
• Hospital charges for 1 in 20 hospital stays average $18,000 a day
• Hospital charges for the uninsured have soared
• Hospital charges surpass the trillion dollar mark
• Hospital deaths from heart failure cut by half over 7 years
• Hospital discharge software slightly boosts patient and outpatient physician satisfaction
• Hospital heart attack deaths plummet
• Hospital lung cancer surgery volume is not correlated with lower mortality
• Hospital readmissions for COPD highest among black patients
• Hospital readmissions higher for chronic conditions
• Hospital report cards on coronary bypass surgery are more accurate when based on 2-year data
• Hospital risk managers more likely than physicians to recommend error disclosure, but less likely to apologize
• Hospital volume does not predict mortality for patients undergoing lung cancer surgery
• Hospital-acquired infections dramatically increase trauma patients' risk of in-hospital death and hospital stay
• Hospitalists modestly improve quality of care
• Hospitalization rates have declined over 5 years for patients with HIV infection, but disparities still exist
• Hospitalizations for bacterial pneumonia in Texas towns bordering Mexico three times higher than the national average
• Hospitalizations for children with influenza and skin infections increased in the last decade
• Hospitalizations for eating disorders declined, but big increase seen in pica disorder
• Hospitalizations for kids with inflammatory bowel disease are frequent and costly
• Hospitalizations for medication and illicit drug-related conditions on the rise among Americans aged 45 and older
• Hospitals face dilemmas about disclosure of large-scale adverse events
• Hospitals vary greatly in the quality of their trauma care
• Hospitals vary widely in their use of dopamine and dobutamine in preterm/low birthweight neonates
• Hospitals with a high volume of sepsis admissions have lowest mortality rates
• Hospitals with a teamwork culture have better patient safety climates
• Hospitals with more patients who receive angioplasty within 90 minutes of a heart attack have lower mortality rates
• ICU scoring system better predicts the risk of death for trauma patients
• ICUs in Michigan sustain zero bloodstream infections for up to 2 years
• Immersive simulation training for CPR shows no benefit over standard training
• Implantable heart defibrillator is effective in reducing deaths among older heart failure patients
• Increased child hospitalizations are associated with the mother's mental state and confidence in parenting
• Increased estradiol levels during critical illness are associated with higher mortality
• Individuals who seek care for coughs and colds in emergency departments have social support
• Interdisciplinary team training with in-situ simulation helps reduce adverse events in obstetric patients
• Intravenous fentanyl can be given safely to trauma patients for pain in the prehospital setting
• Kidney stone rates in children may be on the rise
• Kidney-sparing surgery for children with renal tumors has equivalent in-hospital results to kidney removal surgery
• Knee replacements up dramatically among adults 45 to 64 years old
• Label changes, manufacturer's warning letter did not reduce use of propofol for conscious sedation in children
• Language barriers related to increased hospital readmissions for Chinese- and Spanish-speaking patients
• Large variations in Medicare payments for surgery underscore savings potential from bundled payment programs
• Large vessel occlusion after a mini stroke predicts functional decline
• Leapfrog survey may not accurately report use of safe practices in trauma centers
• Leaving the emergency department without being seen more likely at hospitals that serve more low-income patients
• Leg compression devices are not a significant factor in in-hospital falls
• Length of stays in emergency departments varies considerably
• Liver transplant patients who taper off or do not take corticosteroids after transplantation have better quality of life
• Low health literacy linked to higher risk of death and more emergency room visits and hospitalizations
• Lower complications are seen after laparoscopic kidney removal
• Lower mortality rates after surgery at high-volume hospitals due to fewer complications and other factors
• MEPS respondents underreport emergency department and office visits, but accurately report hospital stays
• Majority of conditions treated in emergency departments are treatable in primary care clinics
• Mandated increases in nurse staffing levels unevenly affect uncompensated care growth rates in California hospitals
• Many surgeons do not discuss advance directives with their patients before surgery
• Market competition has only marginal effect on hospital performance for heart failure
• Medicare Advantage enrollees are admitted to hospitals with higher mortality rates than Medicare fee-for-service enrollees
• Medicare managed care reduced preventable hospitalizations in 2004 more than fee-for-service Medicare
• Medicare pays for nearly half of rural hospital stays
• Medication side effects, injuries up dramatically
• Men more likely to be readmitted to hospital after discharge
• Mental demands of pediatric hospital pharmacy staff have varying effects on likelihood of medication errors and adverse events
• Mental disorders and/or substance abuse related to one of every eight emergency department cases
• Mental status deficits a major factor in elderly falls in the hospital
• Midwest hospitals lead in newborn male circumcision rates
• Minimally invasive heart treatments have reduced bypass surgeries and influenced valve repair and replacement
• Minimally invasive prostatectomy in young men has fewer complications
• Minority patients are less likely to have surgery performed by high-volume surgeons and hospitals
• Minority status has no effect on patient outcomes in the intensive care unit
• Minority-serving hospitals have problems with quality of care and patient satisfaction
• More research is needed on outcomes after maternal-fetal surgery
• More rural Americans treated in emergency departments for eye injuries
• More safeguards needed to prevent adverse drug events caused by medication administration errors
• More than 20,000 emergency room visits for air and paintball gun injuries in 2008
• More than half of all hospital procedures are outpatient
• More than one in five hospital patients in 2008 were born in 1933 or earlier
• Most American women experience complications during delivery
• Most acute-care hospitals follow national guidelines for the prevention and treatment of MRSA infections
• Most process-of-care events do not harm transplant patients, but they boost costs and lengthen hospital stays
• Most public hospitals are in rural areas
• Nearly 9 percent of children experience agitation during sedation for nonsurgical procedures
• Nearly one-third of emergency department visits involve nonideal care events
• New approach reduces microemboli responsible for neurologic injury following open-heart surgery
• New effectiveness review discusses treatment options for inguinal hernia
• New rule on when to have a trauma surgeon meet a transported trauma patient is found more sensitive than existing criteria
• New study counters the urban legend that insurers won't cover patients who leave the hospital prematurely
• New study finds rotator cuff injuries treatable, but evidence unclear whether surgery is preferable
• New tool developed to reduce risks to patients during clinical handoffs
• No greater risk or mortality observed for endoscopic vein harvesting for coronary bypass surgery
• Noninvasive positive pressure ventilation improves COPD patient outcomes
• Nonplatinum chemotherapy agents more likely to lead to hospitalizations for older women with ovarian cancer
• Nurses in hospital units with a higher proportion of short-term patients take longer to respond to patient call lights
• Obese patients with hypertension and diabetes have a greater risk of dying after noncardiac surgery
• Obstetrician malpractice claims lead to small reduction in inpatient deliveries, but not C-section rates
• Octogenarians fare well after aortic valve replacements
• One in 16 women hospitalized for childbirth has diabetes
• One in four patients experiences revolving-door hospitalizations
• One patient safety indicator may offer a glimpse at a hospital's overall safety record
• One-fifth of mothers do not receive recommended antenatal corticosteroids before delivery of premature infants
• One-third of patients with hospital-acquired infections are readmitted
• Operating room procedures account for nearly half of hospitals' treatment costs
• Oregon and Vermont show fewest hospitalizations for children with asthma
• Organizational culture distinguishes top-performing hospitals in patient outcomes from heart attack
• Outcomes of trauma patients depend heavily on whether recommended practices are followed
• Over 3 million look to hospitals for headache relief
• Overcrowding in emergency departments increases the risk of preventable medical errors
• Pain management in emergency departments has improved but can still be better
• Paramedics sometimes interrupt CPR to open airway
• Parents and primary care physicians are satisfied with children's use of nonurgent emergency department services
• Parents using electronic kiosk provide more accurate clinical information than emergency room providers
• Patient flow strategies may help to address emergency department crowding
• Patient gender does not influence the management or diagnosis of acute abdominal pain in the elderly, but affects outcome
• Patient outcomes are better than hospital volume for identifying high-quality bariatric surgery centers
• Patient preferences are important when making clinical decisions for those who can't, but other factors also play a role
• Patient surveys are an additional useful tool for identifying adverse events occurring during hospital stays
• Patients admitted to the hospital on weekends wait for major procedures
• Patients at small urban hospitals are more likely to suffer from pressure sores than those at small rural hospitals
• Patients hospitalized for burn injuries in New York have comparable outcomes at major burn centers
• Patients recovering in the hospital from total knee or hip replacement have increased risk of falls
• Patients taking only salmeterol seen in the emergency department for asthma more likely to be hospitalized
• Patients transferred to the intensive care unit within 24 hours of admission
• Patients who suffer strokes and are seen at designated stroke centers fare better in the short and long run
• Patients who take a proton-pump inhibitor with medicine to prevent blood clots are less likely to be hospitalized for bleeding ulcers
• Patients who undergo knee ligament reconstruction do better when the doctor or hospital perform it frequently
• Patients with financial worries or no insurance delay going to the hospital for a heart attack
• Patients with inherited cancer syndrome need help with decisions and long-term support from their surgeons
• Patients with sepsis fare better when admitted via the emergency department rather than directly to the hospital
• Patients' income and where they live influence hospitalization for chronic lung disease
• Pay-for-performance did not spur more rapid quality improvement among low-performing hospitals
• Pay-for-performance project showed early gains but tapered in the fourth and fifth years
• Pediatric emergency department visits surged during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, but few children were hospitalized
• Pelvic ultrasound imaging by emergency physicians is highly effective in ruling out ectopic pregnancy
• People harmed by unintentional, non-fire-related carbon monoxide poisoning results in hospital costs of more than $26 million
• Perceived reputation and other factors influence consumers' hospital choices
• Performance measures requiring antibiotics for pneumonia have not boosted antibiotic use in nonpneumonia patients
• Performing cardiac catheterization and heart surgery on different hospital admissions may reduce risk of kidney damage
• Physician recommendations for defibrillator therapy not influenced by race or gender
• Physicians cultivate colleagues' esteem differently at low- and high-prestige hospitals
• Physicians more reluctant to deactivate some life-sustaining devices than others
• Potential role of physical therapy in ICU patients
• Potentially avoidable hospitalizations for heart failure lowest in mountain States
• Potentially avoidable hospitalizations high among Medicare and Medicaid patients
• Primary anterior cervical fusion has lower in-hospital complication rates and deaths than posterior cervical fusion
• Primary care doctors often don't know that a child sought care for asthma in the emergency department
• Public reporting of performance data seems to motivate and energize improvements to hospital performance
• Quality improvement initiative successful in sustaining reduction in bloodstream infections caused by catheters
• Quality measures are not used with all patients who suffer heart attacks
• Rates of emergency department use greater among women and low-income, older, and rural Americans
• Rates of pneumonia dramatically reduced in patients on ventilators in Michigan intensive care units
• Re-engineered discharge project dramatically reduces return trips to the hospital
• Readmissions in 30 days or less account for 1 in 9 hospital admissions
• Relative inefficiency of rural critical access hospitals must be balanced against their contributions to care access and quality
• Remote intensive care monitoring is cost effective for sickest patients
• Remote supervision of stroke therapy is safe and effective at smaller hospitals
• Respiratory syncytial virus is more serious than the flu in young children
• Risk of venous thromboembolism low for young trauma patients without a central venous catheter
• Risks high for elderly patients receiving angioplasty to fix narrowed heart artery
• Risks, benefits of emerging heart valve replacement technique not fully understood
• Rotavirus was culprit in one-fourth of children's diarrhea-related emergency department visits prior to vaccine
• Routine opt-out HIV emergency department screening only slightly improves identification of patients with HIV infection
• Rural elderly with dementia are hospitalized more often for conditions that primary care visits might have caught
• Rural patients with a serious form of gallstone disease are less likely than urban patients to receive treatment
• Serious complications from bariatric surgery are fewer when done by high-volume hospitals and surgeons
• Simulating equipment failures can be useful to hone anesthesia providers' skills
• Simulation training in the operating room improves competency for the entire operating room team
• Six of every 10 rural emergency departments visits made by poor patients
• Sleep apnea and pulmonary hypertension affect in-hospital outcomes of noncardiac surgery
• State Medicaid Policy Changes Increasingly Driven by Evidence
• Stroke education program improves medication knowledge and satisfaction with health care providers' explanations
• Studies explore rapid treatment of sepsis and cardiac arrest
• Studies link adverse drug interactions to elevated risk for hospitalization among the elderly
• Study fails to find link between guideline-based emergency treatment for pediatric asthma and patient outcomes
• Study provides insights into problems confronting quality improvement educational programs in rural hospitals
• Study reveals high rates of rehospitalizations and emergency pain treatment for sickle cell disease
• Study reveals patterns of readmissions to the intensive care unit
• Study suggests caution in interpreting impact of nurse staffing levels on postsurgical complication rates
• Superficial surgical site infections are a reliable measure of hospital quality
• Surgeons are more reluctant to withdraw postoperative life support for patients with complications from surgeon error
• Surgery and imaging rates for children's kidney stones are stable, but vary greatly from hospital to hospital
• Surgery for ureter congenital abnormality results in efficacy and long-term durability
• Surgical infection prevention measures reduce postoperative infections when used together, but not singly
• Surgical simulation training improves speed and confidence in residents learning endoscopic sinus surgery
• Systems to detect adverse drug events need buy-in from leaders and staff to become part of hospital routine
• The quality of children's asthma care is affected by emergency department crowding
• The role of hospital care in general medical care has declined over time
• Thoracic surgeons can help patients stop smoking with a brief smoking cessation program
• To reduce hospital deaths, managing surgical complications may be as important as preventing them
• Trauma care costs less at hospitals with lower mortality rates
• Trauma center patients treated after hours or on weekends have no difference in mortality rates
• Trauma centers vary in screening for deep vein thrombosis
• Trauma patients are more likely to die after a major complication in high-mortality hospitals
• Trauma patients often receive repeat CT imaging that increases radiation exposure and costs
• Trauma triage system tends to overestimate injury severity
• Treating Americans with diabetes cost hospitals $83 billion
• Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases
• Treatment for blocked carotid arteries varies depending on where you live
• Treatment guideline reduces hypoglycemic events in critically ill children
• Trigger tools have potential to detect adverse events following outpatient surgery
• Tumor necrosis factor-antagonists in patients with autoimmune diseases showed no overall increased risk of hospitalizations for serious infections than non-biologic drugs
• Two approaches help identify cardiac surgery patients at risk for postoperative kidney failure
• Two different tools help measure tracheal intubation adverse events and performance in pediatric intensive care units
• Uncertainty surrounds use of terbutaline to prevent preterm birth
• Uncontrolled asthma events among Massachusetts patients declined between 2002 and 2007
• Uninsured and Medicaid-insured emergency department patients are more likely to accept the screening than commercially insured patients
• Uninsured hospital stays surged from 2003 to 2008
• Up to $500 million in Affordable Care Act funding will help health providers improve care
• Use of episiotomy and forceps during childbirth down, C-section rates up
• Use of pulmonary artery catheters provides no patient benefit and increases costs
• Use of standardized feeding evaluation following surgery for congenital heart defect improves growth in affected newborns
• Variations exist in cardiac arrest care provided by emergency medical personnel
• Venous thromboembolism is rare in young trauma patients, but a better understanding of its risk factors is needed
• Vulnerable populations with heart failure less likely to receive early physician followup after discharge
• Ways to reduce contrast-induced acute kidney injury from imaging procedures in patients with cardiovascular disease
• Why women are admitted to the hospital