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
Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Care Coordination (1)
- Children/Adolescents (1)
- Communication (1)
- Data (1)
- Emergency Department (2)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Healthcare Costs (1)
- Healthcare Delivery (2)
- (-) Health Services Research (HSR) (10)
- Health Systems (1)
- Hospital Discharge (1)
- Hospitals (2)
- Learning Health Systems (1)
- Maternal Care (1)
- Medicare (1)
- Organizational Change (2)
- Outcomes (1)
- Payment (2)
- Policy (1)
- Pregnancy (1)
- Provider Performance (2)
- (-) Quality Improvement (10)
- (-) Quality of Care (10)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1)
- Registries (1)
- Research Methodologies (2)
- TeamSTEPPS (1)
- Women (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
Sign up: AHRQ Research Studies Email updates
Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 10 of 10 Research Studies DisplayedHernandez AV, Roman YM, White CM
Developing criteria and associated instructions for consistent and useful quality improvement study data extraction for health systems.
This paper describes AHRQ’s efforts to collate and assess quality improvement studies to support learning health systems (LHS). The authors identified quality improvement studies and evaluated the consistency of data extraction from two experienced independent reviewers at three time points: baseline, first revision, and final revision. Six investigators looked at the data extracted by the independent reviewers and determined the extent of similarity on a scale of 0 to 10. Two LHS participants were then asked to assess the relative value of their criteria. The consistency of extraction improved from a mean 1.17 score at baseline to 6.07 at first revision, and 6.81 at the final revision. There was not a significant improvement from the first to final revision. However, the LHS participants rated the value of these ratings a 9 and a 6, demonstrating that there is value in developing criteria.
AHRQ-funded; 290201500012I.
Citation: Hernandez AV, Roman YM, White CM .
Developing criteria and associated instructions for consistent and useful quality improvement study data extraction for health systems.
J Gen Intern Med 2020 Nov;35(Suppl 2):802-07. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-06098-1..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Learning Health Systems, Health Systems, Health Services Research (HSR), Research Methodologies
Carroll AR, Johnson DP
Know it when you see it: identifying and using special cause variation for quality improvement.
This article concerning an article that appears in the same issue discusses statistical process control charts. The authors conclude that by understanding the rules of special cause variation and applying them to data in real time, teams will be provided with information that will inform hypotheses testing, bolster knowledge about a system, and ultimately accelerate improvement work.
AHRQ-funded; HS026122.
Citation: Carroll AR, Johnson DP .
Know it when you see it: identifying and using special cause variation for quality improvement.
Hosp Pediatr 2020 Nov;10(11):e8-e10. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2020-002303..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Health Services Research (HSR)
I Auerbach, M Badaki-Makun, O
AHRQ Author: Barata
A research agenda to advance pediatric emergency care through enhanced collaboration across emergency departments.
In 2018, the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and the journal Academic Emergency Medicine (AEM) convened a consensus conference entitled, "Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference: Aligning the Pediatric Emergency Medicine Research Agenda to Reduce Health Outcome Gaps." This article is the product of the breakout session, "Emergency Department Collaboration-Pediatric Emergency Medicine in Non-Children's Hospital."
AHRQ-funded; HS026101.
Citation: I Auerbach, M Badaki-Makun, O .
A research agenda to advance pediatric emergency care through enhanced collaboration across emergency departments.
Acad Emerg Med 2018 Dec;25(12):1415-26. doi: 10.1111/acem.13642..
Keywords: Care Coordination, Children/Adolescents, Emergency Department, Evidence-Based Practice, Health Services Research (HSR), Outcomes, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Phillippi JC, Hartmann KE
Differentiating research, quality improvement, and case studies to ethically incorporate pregnant women.
This article discusses the need to involve pregnant women in research, quality improvement, and case studies and how to involve them in an ethical way with high standards to protect participants. This review includes vignettes to distinguish between the different types of studies and emphasizes that perinatal care providers will need to seek institutional review board approval for all research to be conducted.
AHRQ-funded; HS024733.
Citation: Phillippi JC, Hartmann KE .
Differentiating research, quality improvement, and case studies to ethically incorporate pregnant women.
J Midwifery Womens Health 2018 Jan;63(1):104-14. doi: 10.1111/jmwh.12673..
Keywords: Health Services Research (HSR), Healthcare Delivery, Maternal Care, Pregnancy, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Research Methodologies, Women
Kronick R, Casalino LP, Bindman AB
AHRQ Author: Kronick R
Apple pickers or federal judges: strong versus weak incentives in physician payment.
The authors provide an introduction for five papers commissioned by AHRQ focusing on incentives for physicians that are featured in this special issue of Health Services Research. These papers concentrate on suggesting a conceptual framework for the use of financial incentives in health care, key implications of the evidence to date on pay for performance and public reporting in health care and several related topics.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Kronick R, Casalino LP, Bindman AB .
Apple pickers or federal judges: strong versus weak incentives in physician payment.
Health Serv Res 2015 Dec;50 Suppl 2:2049-56. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12424.
.
.
Keywords: Payment, Provider Performance, Policy, Health Services Research (HSR), Quality of Care, Healthcare Costs, Quality Improvement
Layton TJ, Ryan AM
Higher incentive payments in Medicare Advantage's pay-for-performance program did not improve quality but did increase plan offerings.
The researchers evaluated the effects of the size of financial bonuses on quality of care and the number of plan offerings in the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration. They concluded that at great expense to Medicare, double bonuses in the Medicare Advantage Quality Bonus Payment Demonstration were not associated with improved quality but were associated with more plan offerings.
AHRQ-funded; HS018546.
Citation: Layton TJ, Ryan AM .
Higher incentive payments in Medicare Advantage's pay-for-performance program did not improve quality but did increase plan offerings.
Health Serv Res 2015 Dec;50(6):1810-28. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12409..
Keywords: Medicare, Payment, Provider Performance, Health Services Research (HSR), Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Zingmond DS, Parikh P, Louie R
Improving hospital reporting of patient race and ethnicity--approaches to data auditing.
This study investigated new metrics to improve the reporting of patient race and ethnicity (R/E) by hospitals. It examined agreement between hospital reported R/E versus self-report among mothers delivering babies and a cancer cohort in California. It concluded that comparison between reported R/E and R/E estimates using zip code level data may be a reasonable first approach to evaluate and track hospital R/E reporting.
AHRQ-funded; HS019963.
Citation: Zingmond DS, Parikh P, Louie R .
Improving hospital reporting of patient race and ethnicity--approaches to data auditing.
Health Serv Res 2015 Aug;50 Suppl 1:1372-89. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12324..
Keywords: Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Hospitals, Hospital Discharge, Health Services Research (HSR), Registries, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Data
Nembhard IM, Labao I, Savage S
Breaking the silence: determinants of voice for quality improvement in hospitals.
The researchers examined the drivers of “voice” for health professionals in hospitals. “Voice” is understood as the discretionary communication of ideas, suggestions, concerns, or opinions about work-related issues with the intent to improve organizational or unit functioning. They found that factors related to individuals (e.g., tenure), work (e.g., work configuration), organizational context (e.g., culture), data (e.g., benchmarking), and the external environment (e.g., attention) influenced health professionals’ voice.
AHRQ-funded; HS018987.
Citation: Nembhard IM, Labao I, Savage S .
Breaking the silence: determinants of voice for quality improvement in hospitals.
Health Care Manage Rev 2015 Jul-Sep;40(3):225-36. doi: 10.1097/hmr.0000000000000028..
Keywords: Hospitals, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Communication, Organizational Change, Health Services Research (HSR)
Mutter R, Clancy C
AHRQ Author: Mutter R, Clancy C
Investing in emergency medicine to improve health care for all Americans: the role of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
This article provides a description of the portfolio of emergency care-related activities that AHRQ sponsors. The discussion includes these areas: conduct of research; tool development; quality indicators; data and analytic capacity; and training of young investigators.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Mutter R, Clancy C .
Investing in emergency medicine to improve health care for all Americans: the role of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Ann Emerg Med 2014 May;63(5):580-3. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2013.06.021.
.
.
Keywords: Emergency Department, Quality of Care, Health Services Research (HSR), Quality Improvement, TeamSTEPPS
Kleinman LC, Dougherty D
AHRQ Author: Dougherty D
Assessing quality improvement in health care: theory for practice.
The authors reviewed the role of theory as a means to enhance the practice of quality improvement (QI) research and to propose a novel conceptual model focused on the operations of health care. They concluded that such a theory can promote opportunities for moving the field forward and organizing the planning and interpretation of comparable studies.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Kleinman LC, Dougherty D .
Assessing quality improvement in health care: theory for practice.
Pediatrics 2013 Mar;131 Suppl 1:S110-9. doi: 10.1542/peds.2012-1427n.
.
.
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Healthcare Delivery, Organizational Change, Quality of Care, Health Services Research (HSR)