National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
Latest available findings on quality of and access to health care
Data
- Data Infographics
- Data Visualizations
- Data Tools
- Data Innovations
- All-Payer Claims Database
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)
- Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS)
- AHRQ Quality Indicator Tools for Data Analytics
- State Snapshots
- United States Health Information Knowledgebase (USHIK)
- Data Sources Available from AHRQ
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Key Drivers
Change Strategies
EvidenceNOW: Tools and Resources
The Agency for Healthcare and Quality (AHRQ) offers practical, research-based tools and other resources to help a variety of health care origanizations, provider, and others make care safer in all health care settings. AHRQ's evidence-based tools and resources are used by organizations nationwide to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of health care. Improving health care quality by increasing the capacity of small primary care practices to implement the best clinical evidence is our aim. These tools and resources can be searched by the key drivers and the change strategies of the EvidenceNOW Key Driver Diagram.
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1 to 10 of 11 Tools and Resources DisplayedRegistries can complement paper records or electronic health records (EHRs), which frequently do not have the functions needed for population management. This resource discusses the advantages and disadvantages of creating and using registries.
Practices can use this clinical flowchart to implement the 5As [ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange for follow-up] to help patients quit smoking, based on their readiness to quit.
This modifiable flow chart allows practices to adapt steps to reflect the practice’s preferred protocol for controlling hypertension in adult patients, including blood pressure goals and medication names.
In this webinar, American Medical Association (AMA) staff discuss how primary care practices can implement each of the 7 steps for implementing self-measured blood pressure (SMBP): (1) Identify patients for SMBP; (2) Confirm device validation and cuff size; (3) Train patients; (4) Have patients perform SMBP; (5) Average results; (6) Interpret results; and (7) Document plans and communicate to patients.
This handbook provides in-depth information and techniques to help primary care practices use electronic health records and other health IT for quality improvement efforts. The handbook covers the following topics: clinical decision support, patient portals and other technologies, using patient-generated data, clinical quality measures, and risk stratification in primary care. The handbook also features helpful tips, examples, and use cases to support the use of health IT for QI efforts.
A video story of Willie Morgan, a patient, who talks about the importance of working closely with his pharmacist to manage his chronic conditions. The Tennessee Heart Health Network disseminates patient stories in their newsletters to healthcare professionals and shares them with their Patient Advisory Councils to support patient engagement in quality improvement.
This one-page job description outlines the responsibilities of a Registry Coordinator. These duties include engaging primary care practice members in registry activities and overseeing data entry, validation, and use.
This resource offers a set of the latest evidence-based changes to improve delivery of clinical interventions for the treatment of tobacco use and dependence.
This toolkit includes information, tools, and links to additional information that medical assistants and others in primary care practices can use to implement improve tobacco cessation support for their patients.
This toolkit guides practice facilitators and primary care clinic staff in using health information technology to support quality improvement.