National Hospital Week Spotlight on Patient Safety Tools

AHRQ Stats: Changes in Healthcare Spending Among Highest Spenders

People in the top 1 percent of healthcare expenses spent an average of $147,071 in 2022, a decrease of approximately $30,000 from 2021. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #560, Concentration of Healthcare Expenditures and Selected Characteristics of People with High Expenses, United States Civilian Noninstitutionalized Population, 2018-2022.)

Today’s Headlines:

• National Hospital Week Spotlight on Patient Safety Tools.
• Register Now for AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds May 22.
• Explore the Relationship Between Diet and Chronic Condition Expenditures in AHRQ’s Latest Statistical Brief.
• AHRQ Analyses: Psychotherapy Grows While Medication-Only Treatment Declines; Gains Have Mostly Benefitted Higher Socioeconomic Statuses.
• AHRQ Provides Strategies for Addressing Risky Drinking in Primary Care.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• Learn More About the AHRQ Safety Program for Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

National Hospital Week Spotlight on Patient Safety Tools

Join us in observing National Hospital Week (May 11–17), an annual event sponsored by the American Hospital Association. Hospitals play a crucial role in the U.S. healthcare system, saving lives and keeping communities healthy. AHRQ is proud to contribute to this mission by providing hospitals and health systems with tools and resources to advance patient safety in their facilities. For example, insights from AHRQ’s 2024 Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture® reveal key areas for improvement—like communication, teamwork and staffing—that directly impact care quality. Further, TeamSTEPPS® 3.0 offers practical tools to strengthen communication and teamwork in healthcare. The latest version includes flexible, evidence-based strategies to support hospital teams in building safer, more efficient systems of care. During National Hospital Week, learn how AHRQ tools can support your hospital’s patient safety culture.

Register Now for AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds May 22

Join a virtual session of the AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program Grand Rounds series on May 22 from 3 to 5 p.m. ET. The series highlights the work of AHRQ’s EPC Program, which promotes and facilitates the use of evidence in healthcare decisions. The session will focus on awareness and implementation of findings in three EPC reports: 

• ADHD Diagnosis and Treatment in Children and Adolescents.
• Diagnosis and Management of Obsessive Compulsive Disorders in Children.
• Management of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Youth.

Presenters include EPC report authors along with industry experts:

• April Joy Damian, Ph.D., vice president and director, Weitzman Institute.
• Jennifer Poon, Ph.D., chairperson of the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics; professor at the Medical College of Georgia Department of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, Augusta University.
• Michelle Zabel, executive director of the Innovations Institute and Associate Extension Professor, University of Connecticut School of Social Work.

Register now for the event.

Explore the Relationship Between Diet and Chronic Condition Expenditures in AHRQ’s Latest Statistical Brief

Between 2021 and 2022, one-third of U.S. adults received treatment for a key diet-related condition, costing an average of $334 billion per year. A new statistical brief from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey estimates spending on cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, breast cancer and colorectal cancer. Explore the latest data on the number of adults impacted by each condition, what insurance programs spent treating them and which conditions could have the most impact on reducing healthcare spending.  

AHRQ Analyses: Psychotherapy Grows While Medication-Only Treatment Declines; Gains Have Mostly Benefitted Higher Socioeconomic Statuses

Two new AHRQ studies have identified that the use of psychotherapy is growing while medication-only treatments are on the decline. In addition, recent gains in psychotherapy, including teletherapy, have mainly benefited more socioeconomically advantaged groups. 

• The first study, published in The American Journal of Psychiatry, analyzed data from AHRQ’s Medical Expenditure Panel Survey from 2018 to 2021 and found that more patients are opting solely for therapy, and the average number of therapy sessions has increased, along with national spending on psychotherapy. In addition, psychiatrists are providing less of the therapy, with more patients being seen by non-physician therapists rather than psychiatrists. Access the abstract.
• The second study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, analyzed the same MEPS data and found that psychotherapy use increased most among women, younger adults, college graduates, those with private insurance, higher-income individuals and urban residents. Video-based teletherapy was also more common among these groups. These data highlight the need for clinical interventions and healthcare policies to broaden psychotherapy access, the authors said. Access this study’s abstract.

AHRQ Provides Strategies for Addressing Risky Drinking in Primary Care

Binge drinking and regular heavy drinking are forms of risky alcohol consumption that can lead to liver or cardiovascular disease, pancreatitis, cancer or alcohol use disorder, according to an AHRQ-supported article in The New England Journal of Medicine. The article discusses an array of recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force and AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW: Managing Unhealthy Alcohol Use initiative, including tools and strategies that clinicians can use to identify their patients’ level of alcohol use, assess potential harm and intervene when necessary to improve patients’ health for the short and long term.

• Screening—Evidence shows that brief patient-completed screening forms (paper or digital as opposed to verbal) are effective indicators of alcohol use. These include the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test–Consumption (AUDIT-C) and the Single Alcohol Screening Question tools.
• Treatment—The article details several effective evidence-based pathways for treating unhealthy alcohol use, including counseling, medications and psychosocial interventions.
• Implementation—Summarizing their work from EvidenceNOW, the authors stated that clinical teams can, with support, make changes to more effectively implement screening for and treatment of unhealthy alcohol use. Essential tasks include defining the workflow, roles and standards of practice for the care team; committing to using validated screening instruments; having patients complete screening questionnaires before visits; assembling educational materials, decision aids and other support material for patients; prescribing medications; identifying local counseling and treatment programs; automating screening; and creating an accepting, nonjudgmental environment. 

The article contains practical tips as well as educational resources for primary care teams to help them support their patients in making progress toward living healthier lives. Access the abstract.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Rapid Evidence Product: Examining the Impact of Implementing High-Reliability Organization Principles on Patient Safety Outcomes.
• Rapid Evidence Product: Interventions To Prevent Nonventilator Hospital-Acquired Pneumonia.
• Systematic Review (draft open for comment through May 30): Mindfulness-Based Interventions for Wellbeing and Mental Health in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.

Learn More About the AHRQ Safety Program for Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention

AHRQ is recruiting adult intensive care units (ICUs) and non-ICUs to participate in a free nine-month program to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infections. Participants will receive continuing education credits, training to enhance teamwork and communication, regular benchmarking reports comparing progress with similar units and expert consultation and tools to promote infection prevention procedures and patient safety culture. 

Enrollment for the cohort is open through June 2025. Visit the website for more information about the program and sign up for one of these upcoming informational webinars:

• May 14, 2–2:30 p.m. ET.
• June 5, 10:30–11 a.m. ET.
• June 11, 1:30–2 p.m. ET.
• June 24, noon–12:30 p.m. ET. 

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Burnout prevalence among U.S. internal medicine physicians: a cross-sectional study. Houchens N, Greene MT, Sen S, et al. Ann Intern Med 2025 May 6. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The effect of protein intake on bone disease, kidney disease, and sarcopenia: a systematic review. Lamina T, Brandt S, Abdi HI, et al. Curr Dev Nutr 2025 Mar;9(3):104546. Epub 2025 Jan 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Antibiotic prescribing for respiratory tract infections in urgent care: a comparison of in-person and virtual settings. Martinez KA, Deshpande A, Stanley E, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2025 Feb 5;80(1):7-13. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Health care delivery of clinical preventive services for people with disabilities : a systematic review. Buckley DI, Hsu F, Dana T, et al. Ann Intern Med 2025 Mar 11. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Technological barriers to providing pediatric mental and behavioral healthcare in emergency departments. Bhosekar MS, Madathil CK, Joseph A, et al. Appl Ergon 2025 May;125:104426. Epub 2024 Dec 6. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Challenges related to out-of-pocket costs in heart failure management. Rao BR, Allen LA, Sandhu AT, et al. Circ Heart Fail 2025 Mar;18(3):e011584. Epub 2025 Feb 28. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The association between care integration and care quality. Aaron MB, Kerrissey M, Novikov Z, et al. Health Serv Res 2024 Dec;59(6):e14214. Epub 2023 Aug 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Home and community-based services: a systematic review and evidence map. Murad MH, Nayfeh T, Saadi S, et al. J Gen Intern Med 2024 Dec;39(16):3315-21. Epub 2024 Aug 13. Access the abstract on PubMed®.