AHRQ Views Blog: Helping Healthcare Systems Reduce Carbon Pollution

AHRQ Stats: Adult Hospital Stays With Operating Room Procedures by Race

Among patients aged 18 to 64 years, Black non-Hispanic patients had the highest rate of nonmaternal hospital stays with an operating room procedure in 2019. White patients had the highest rate of stays among patients aged 65 and older. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #297, Differences in Hospital Stays With Operating Room Procedures by Patient Race and Ethnicity, 2019.)

Today's Headlines:

• AHRQ Views Blog: Helping Healthcare Systems Reduce Carbon Pollution.
• Larger Metro-Area Nursing Homes More Advanced in Health Information Technology.
• AHRQ Selects Diagnostic Safety Centers of Excellence.
• AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice Center Program: 25 Years of Supporting Healthcare With Evidence.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Register Now for Nov. 7 Webinar on Understanding AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ Views Blog: Helping Healthcare Systems Reduce Carbon Pollution

In a new blog post, AHRQ experts highlight the recent publication of Reducing Healthcare Carbon Emissions: A Primer on Measures and Actions for Healthcare Organizations to Mitigate Climate Change. David Meyers, M.D., AHRQ’s deputy director, and Brent Sandmeyer, M.P.H., who leads the agency’s climate change working group, explain that the primer serves as an action guide for healthcare systems to begin reducing greenhouse gas emissions. It is estimated that up to 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change can be attributed to the healthcare industry. The new primer, developed in partnership with the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, provides strategies for organizations to prioritize decarbonization goals, manage new initiatives and monitor progress.  Access the blog post. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address and select “AHRQ Views Blog.”

Larger Metro-Area Nursing Homes More Advanced in Health Information Technology

Larger nursing homes in metropolitan areas were more likely than smaller ones to have advanced health information technology (IT) capabilities, an AHRQ-funded study has found. The study, published in JMIR Aging, reported on a survey of “health IT maturity,” in how advanced nursing homes are in their health IT capabilities, use and integration within resident care, clinical support and administrative activities. Of the 719 nursing homes around the country that responded to the survey, researchers found that the number of certified beds and nursing home location were associated with health IT maturity, while ownership, chain status and occupancy rate were not. The authors called for more opportunities for smaller and less advantaged nursing homes to enhance IT adoption. Access the abstract.

AHRQ Selects Diagnostic Safety Centers of Excellence

Ten research institutions have been selected by AHRQ as Diagnostic Safety Centers of Excellence. Each of the grantees will receive approximately $1 million per year for up to four years to develop systems, measures and new technology solutions to improve diagnostic safety and quality. Among topics to be explored will be advancing diagnostic accuracy through effectively using electronic health records, learning from marginalized patients who received delayed diagnoses and achieving diagnostic excellence though prevention and teamwork. Access more information about each project’s aims.

AHRQ’s Evidence-based Practice Center Program: 25 Years of Supporting Healthcare With Evidence

AHRQ is pleased to recognize the 25th anniversary of its Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program, a groundbreaking initiative dedicated to synthesizing scientific evidence and disseminating research findings to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Since its inception, the $325 million invested in EPC Program projects has resulted in more than 800 evidence reports, and over 400 clinical practice guidelines and U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommendation statements. Today’s EPCs are the backbone of AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program, producing reports on medications, devices and other healthcare services. Access more information about this foundational program.

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:

• The effect of a system-level tiered huddle system on reporting patient safety events: an interrupted time series analysis.
• Hospital-acquired conditions reduction program, racial and ethnic diversity, and Magnet designation in the United States.
• Developing the Safer Dx Checklist of Ten Safety Recommendations for Health Care Organizations to address diagnostic errors.

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 Nov. 7 Webinar on Understanding AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture

Registration is open for a webinar on Nov. 7 at 1 p.m. ET on how AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) ask healthcare providers and staff about the extent to which their organizational culture supports patient safety. Speakers will describe the SOPS program, surveys, supplemental item sets, databases and resources available to users.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Geographic proximity to primary care providers as a risk-assessment criterion for quality performance measures. Bell N, Lòpez-De Fede A, Cai B, et al. PLoS One 2022 Sep 6;17(9):e0273805. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Mammography and decision aid use for breast cancer screening in older women. Ross RL, Rubio K, Rodriguez HP. Am J Prev Med 2022 Oct;63(4):630-5. Epub 2022 Jun 16. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Understanding hazards for adverse drug events among older adults after hospital discharge: insights from frontline care professionals. Xiao Y, Smith A, Abebe E, et al. J Patient Saf 2022 May 22. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Trends in surgical treatment of early-stage breast cancer reveal decreasing mastectomy use between 2003 and 2016 by age, race, and rurality. Roberson ML, Nichols HB, Olshan AF, et al. Breast Cancer Res Treat 2022 Jun;193(2):445-54. Epub 2022 Mar 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

"These are our kids": qualitative interviews with clinical leaders in general emergency departments on motivations, processes, and guidelines in pediatric sepsis care. Scott HF, Kempe A, Bajaj L, et al. Ann Emerg Med 2022 Oct;80(4):347-57. Epub 2022 Jul 13. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Inequity in telemedicine use among patients with cancer in the Deep South during the COVID-19 pandemic. Shao CC, McLeod MC, Gleason LT, et al. Oncologist 2022 Jul 5;27(7):555-64. Epub 2022 Mar 30. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Geographic variation in Medicare fee-for-service health care expenditures before and after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. Sood N, Yang Z, Huckfeldt P, et al. JAMA Health Forum 2021 Dec 10;2(12):e214122. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Applying machine learning in distributed data networks for pharmacoepidemiologic and pharmacovigilance studies: opportunities, challenges, and considerations. Wong J, Prieto-Alhambra D, Rijnbeek PR, et al. Drug Saf 2022 May;45(5):493-510. Epub 2022 May 17. Access the abstract on PubMed®.