Health Insurance Premiums Between 2020 and 2021

AHRQ Stats: Health Insurance Premiums Between 2020 and 2021

Health insurance premiums for single coverage, employee-plus-one coverage and family coverage in 2021 increased by 3.2, 3.1 and 3 percent, respectively, compared with their 2020 levels. (Source: AHRQ, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #543, Trends in Health Insurance at Private Employers, 2008-2021.)

Today's Headlines:

• Practices Lack Behavioral Healthcare Services for Children
• AHRQ Releases COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Learning Modules for Nursing Homes
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network
• Register Now for Aug. 1 Webinar on Measure Dx Diagnostic Safety Tool
• Research Identifies Issues Around Social Care Efforts To Improve Health Outcomes
• AHRQ-Led Pediatric Quality Measures Program 2.0 Tests Usability and Feasibility of Measure Use in Quality Improvement
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Practices Lack Behavioral Healthcare Services for Children

More than 85 percent of primary care practices have difficulty finding advice and services for children with behavioral healthcare needs, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in the Annals of Family Medicine. Researchers conducted a national cross-sectional study involving 1,410 physicians, medical directors, physician managers and practice managers from primary care and specialty practices. Independent and system-owned primary care practices experienced the same difficulty in accessing behavioral healthcare services for children. It was less difficult for practices that had taken on a Medicaid Accountable Care Organization contract and significantly more difficult for rural practices. The authors conclude that these findings are concerning because the rates of childhood anxiety, depression, self-injurious behavior and suicide were increasing before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has worsened existing behavioral healthcare trends. Access the abstract.

AHRQ Releases COVID-19 Vaccination and Testing Learning Modules for Nursing Homes

Two video modules released by AHRQ are designed to help nursing home staff know when to test residents for COVID-19 and how COVID-19 vaccines can guard against the virus and serious illness. Each module takes less than six minutes to complete and is available online in the COVID-19 Resources Catalog for Nursing Homes. Access the modules.

Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network

AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

• Assessment of Changes in Visits and Antibiotic Prescribing During the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use and the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Medication-related medical emergency team activations: a case review study of frequency and preventability
• Implementing root cause analysis and action: integrating human factors to create strong interventions and reduce risk of patient harm

Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

Register Now for Aug. 1 Webinar on Measure Dx Diagnostic Safety Tool

A webinar from 4–5 p.m. on Aug. 1 will highlight AHRQ’s new Measure Dx diagnostic safety tool. The resource helps health system leaders, quality and safety professionals and clinicians advance diagnostic safety by providing strategies to detect and learn from diagnostic safety events in their organizations. It includes a checklist to gauge readiness for implementation, measurement strategies and recommendations for analyzing data and translating findings into improvement. Register for the webinar.

Research Identifies Issues Around Social Care Efforts To Improve Health Outcomes

Two AHRQ-funded articles examine the importance of and challenges to addressing social needs of primary care patients. In one article, published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers sought to understand how healthcare organizations provided social needs referrals to their patients. They found that few healthcare organizations designed social needs referrals programs with the input of patients or community-based organizations and that referral programs required substantial staffing investments. Another article, published in Population Health Management, aimed to understand how healthcare administrators viewed the role of clinicians in formal social care efforts. They found that programs were deliberately structured to shield clinicians from reviewing social risk screening results or being involved in addressing social needs. They conclude healthcare organizations could use guidance from policymakers on structuring social needs referrals and identify ways that clinicians could engage in and increase the effectiveness of social needs referral programs.

AHRQ-Led Pediatric Quality Measures Program 2.0 Tests Usability and Feasibility of Measure Use in Quality Improvement

Building on the Pediatric Quality Measures Program 1.0, version 2.0 explores the feasibility of and barriers to pediatric quality measure implementation through an AHRQ-led learning collaborative. Articles in an Academic Pediatrics supplement report the results of their real-world implementation measures to improve care for children in Medicaid and CHIP, now 1 in 2 children in the United States. Measures in version 2.0 focus on a broad range of clinical care domains of key importance to children in Medicaid and CHIP, including post emergency room discharge follow-ups for children with asthma; post-discharge support for children reporting suicidal ideation; measures to encourage safe antipsychotic use and improve sickle cell care; and pediatric oral healthcare. The articles in the supplement provide insights on what works as well as important lessons on what doesn’t work to inform future quality measure development and quality improvement research to strengthen pediatric care delivery and reduce health and healthcare disparities for children in Medicaid and CHIP.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Risk of second allergic reaction to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Chu DK, Abrams EM, Golden DBK, et al. JAMA Intern Med. 2022 Apr;182(4):376-85. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Data science trends relevant to nursing practice: a rapid review of the 2020 literature. Douthit BJ, Walden RL, Cato K, et al. Appl Clin Inform. 2022 Jan;13(1):161-79. Epub 2022 Feb 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Development and testing of an emergency department quality measure for pediatric suicidal ideation and self-harm. Parast L, Burkhart Q, Bardach NS, et al. Acad Pediatr. 2022 Apr;22(3s):S92-99. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

"Medication is just one piece of the whole puzzle": how nursing homes change their use of antipsychotic medications. Rosenthal M, Poling J, Wec A, et al. J Appl Gerontol. 2022 Jan;41(1):62-72. Epub 2020 Sep 30. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Naturalistic decision making in everyday self-care among older adults with heart failure. Daley CN, Cornet VP, Toscos TR, et al. J Cardiovasc Nurs. 2022 Mar-Apr;37(2):167-76. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

A cohort analysis of statin treatment patterns among small-sized primary care practices. Yu J, Wang AA, Zimmerman LP, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Jun;37(8):1845-52. Epub 2022 Jan 8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Assessment of changes in visits and antibiotic prescribing during the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Safety Program for Improving Antibiotic Use and the COVID-19 pandemic. Keller SC, Caballero TM, Tamma PD, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022 Jul;5(7):e2220512. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

A penalization approach to random-effects meta-analysis. Wang Y, Lin L, Thompson CG, et al. Stat Med. 2022 Feb;41(3):500-16. Epub 2021 Nov 18. Access the abstracton PubMed®.