National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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- Adverse Events (6)
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- Comparative Effectiveness (1)
- Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) (1)
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- Elderly (1)
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- Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) (2)
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- Nursing (1)
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- Obesity (1)
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- (-) Patient Safety (21)
- Payment (2)
- Policy (1)
- Pressure Ulcers (1)
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- Provider (1)
- Provider: Physician (1)
- Provider Performance (5)
- Quality Improvement (9)
- (-) Quality Indicators (QIs) (21)
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- Research Methodologies (1)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 21 of 21 Research Studies DisplayedWaters TM, Burns N, Kaplan CM
Combined impact of medicare's hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed.
The authors examined the combined impact of Medicare's pay for performance (P4P) programs on clinical areas and populations targeted by the programs, as well as those outside their focus. Using HCUP data, and consistent with previous studies for individual programs, they detected minimal, if any, effect of Medicare's hospital P4P programs on quality and safety. They recommended a redesigning of the P4P programs before continuing to expand them.
AHRQ-funded; HS025148.
Citation: Waters TM, Burns N, Kaplan CM .
Combined impact of medicare's hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed.
BMC Health Serv Res 2022 Jul 28;22(1):958. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-08348-w..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Medicare, Payment, Provider Performance, Hospitals, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Patient Safety
Zrelak PA, Utter GH, McDonald KM
Incorporating harms into the weighting of the revised Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety for Selected Indicators Composite (Patient Safety Indicator 90).
The purpose of this study was to reweight AHRQ’s Patient Safety for Selected Indicators Composite (Patient Safety Indicator 90) from weights based solely on the frequency of component Patient Safety Indicators (PSIs) to those that incorporate excess harm reflecting patients' preferences for outcome-related health states. Findings showed that including harms in the weighting scheme changed individual component weights from the original frequency-based weighting. In the reweighted composite, PSIs 11, 13, and 12 contributed the greatest harm. The investigators concluded that reformulation of PSI 90 with harm-based weights is feasible and results in satisfactory reliability and discrimination.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 290201200003I.
Citation: Zrelak PA, Utter GH, McDonald KM .
Incorporating harms into the weighting of the revised Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Patient Safety for Selected Indicators Composite (Patient Safety Indicator 90).
Health Serv Res 2022 Jun;57(3):654-67. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13918..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Adverse Events, Medicare
Milliren CE, Bailey G, Graham DA
Relationships between pediatric safety indicators across a national sample of pediatric hospitals: dispelling the myth of the "safest" hospital.
This observational study aimed to explore the covariance of pediatric hospital quality indicators and evaluate the use of a single composite score. Pediatric hospital performance across 13 safety indicators were extracted from the Pediatric Health Information System, a comparative database of children’s hospitals in the U.S. Patients discharged from 36 hospitals from 2016 to 2019 were included. The authors investigated relationships among patient safety measures from AHRQ pediatric quality indicators and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospital-acquired conditions. They identified 5 orthogonal variance components accounting for 68% of variation in pediatric hospital quality indicators. The ranking comparison and summary found greater within-hospital variation compared with between-hospital variation. They observed discordant rankings among commonly used summary measures and concluded that these measures demonstrate at least 2 underlying variance components.
AHRQ-funded; HS026246.
Citation: Milliren CE, Bailey G, Graham DA .
Relationships between pediatric safety indicators across a national sample of pediatric hospitals: dispelling the myth of the "safest" hospital.
J Patient Saf 2022 Jun 1;18(4):e741-e46. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000938..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Quality of Care
Yount N, Zebrak KA, Famolaro T
Linking patient safety culture to quality ratings in the nursing home setting.
This study examined the relationship between scores on the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS®) Nursing Home Survey (NH SOPS) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Ratings. The authors used data on 186 nursing homes to conduct multiple regression analyses predicting the Five-Star Quality Ratings from the NH SOPS survey measures. Five NH SOPS measures were related to the Overall, Health Inspections, and Quality Five-Star Ratings; four NH SOPS measures were related to at least two of the four Five-Star Quality Ratings and three SOPS measures were related to one Five-Star Rating. No NH SOPS measures were significantly associated with the Staffing Five-Star Rating.
AHRQ-funded; 233201500026I.
Citation: Yount N, Zebrak KA, Famolaro T .
Linking patient safety culture to quality ratings in the nursing home setting.
J Appl Gerontol 2022 Jan;41(1):73-81. doi: 10.1177/0733464820969283..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Patient Safety, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Tedesco D, Moghavem N, Weng Y
Improvement in patient safety may precede policy changes: trends in patient safety indicators in the United States, 2000-2013.
This study’s aim was to assess changes in national patient safety trends that corresponded to U.S. pay-for-performance reforms. The study analyzed 13 patient safety indicators (PSIs) that were developed by AHRQ. PSI trends, Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services payment policy changes, and Inpatient Prospective Payment System regulations and notices between 2000 and 2013 were analyzed. Twelve of the thirteen PSIs had decreasing or stable trends in the last 5 years of the study. Central-line bloodstream infections had the greatest annual decrease (-31.1 annual percent change between 2006 and 2013) whereas postoperative respiratory failure had the smallest annual percent change (-3.5 between 2005 and 2013). Significant decreases in trends preceded federal payment reform initiatives in all but postoperative hip fracture. These findings suggest that intense public discourses targeting patient safety may drive national policy reforms.
AHRQ-funded; HS018558.
Citation: Tedesco D, Moghavem N, Weng Y .
Improvement in patient safety may precede policy changes: trends in patient safety indicators in the United States, 2000-2013.
J Patient Saf 2021 Jun 1;17(4):e327-e34. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000615..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Policy
Mixon AS, Smith GR, Mallouk M
Design of MARQUIS2: study protocol for a mentored implementation study of an evidence-based toolkit to improve patient safety through medication reconciliation.
The first Multi-center Medication Reconciliation Quality Improvement Study (MARQUIS1) demonstrated that implementation of a medication reconciliation best practices toolkit decreased total unintentional medication discrepancies in five hospitals. In this study, the investigators sought to implement the MARQUIS toolkit in more diverse hospitals, incorporating lessons learned from MARQUIS1.
AHRQ-funded; HS023757; HS025486.
Citation: Mixon AS, Smith GR, Mallouk M .
Design of MARQUIS2: study protocol for a mentored implementation study of an evidence-based toolkit to improve patient safety through medication reconciliation.
BMC Health Serv Res 2019 Sep 11;19(1):659. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4491-5.
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Keywords: Evidence-Based Practice, Medication, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Tools & Toolkits
Li Y, Cen X, Cai X
Perceived patient safety culture in nursing homes associated with "Nursing Home Compare" performance indicators.
This study examined the association between the use of “Nursing Home Compare” performance indicators and improved patient safety culture in nursing homes. A survey was conducted in 2017 using AHRQ’s Survey on Patient Safety Culture for Nursing Homes which collects data on 12 core domains of safety culture scores. Out of 2254 nursing homes sampled, there was a response rate of 36%. It was found that for every 10 percentage points increase in overall positive response rate for safety culture, there was an association with 0.56 fewer health care deficiencies, 0.74 fewer substantiated complaints, reduced fines by $2285.20, and 20% increased odds of being designed as 4-star or 5-star.
AHRQ-funded; HS024923.
Citation: Li Y, Cen X, Cai X .
Perceived patient safety culture in nursing homes associated with "Nursing Home Compare" performance indicators.
Med Care 2019 Aug;57(8):641-47. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001142..
Keywords: Surveys on Patient Safety Culture, Patient Safety, Nursing Homes, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Provider Performance
Sankaran R, Sukul D, Nuliyalu U
Changes in hospital safety following penalties in the US Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program: retrospective cohort study.
This study evaluated the association between hospital penalization in the US Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) and changes in clinical outcomes. Out of the total of 724 hospitals were penalized in fiscal year 2015, 708 were included in the study. The majority of the penalized hospitals were large teaching institutions and have a greater share of low-income patients than non-penalized hospitals. After penalization, there was a non-significant change in hospital acquired conditions, 30-day readmission rates, and 30-day mortality. This might mean that disparities in care could be exacerbated.
AHRQ-funded; HS026244.
Citation: Sankaran R, Sukul D, Nuliyalu U .
Changes in hospital safety following penalties in the US Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program: retrospective cohort study.
BMJ 2019 Jul 3;366:l4109. doi: 10.1136/bmj.l4109..
Keywords: Health Insurance, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Hospitals, Medicare, Patient Safety, Provider Performance, Payment, Quality of Care, Quality Indicators (QIs)
Ward ST, Dimick JB, Zhang W
Association between hospital staffing models and failure to rescue.
The purpose of this study was to identify hospital staffing models associated with failure to rescue (FTR) rates at low- and high-performing hospitals. The investigators concluded that low FTR hospitals had significantly more staffing resources than high FTR hospitals. They indicated that although hiring additional staff may be beneficial, there remain significant financial limitations for many hospitals to implement robust staffing models.
AHRQ-funded; HS023621; HS024403.
Citation: Ward ST, Dimick JB, Zhang W .
Association between hospital staffing models and failure to rescue.
Ann Surg 2019 Jul;270(1):91-94. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000002744..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Hospitals, Workforce, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Healthcare Delivery
Vergis A, Hardy K, Stogryn S
Fellow and attending surgeon operative notes are deficient in reporting established quality indicators for Roux-en-y gastric bypass: a preliminary retrospective analysis of operative dictation.
This retrospective analysis investigated the completeness of reporting documentation for Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass (RYGB) surgery. A total of 40 bariatric fellow and 40 attending RYGB narrative reports were analyzed. Fellows had a mean completion rate of 66.4% compared to 61.5% for attendings. Fellows also did a better job of completing subsections, with the exception of closure details. This information is important to communicating operative events and can make an impact on patient safety and quality.
AHRQ-funded; HS018546.
Citation: Vergis A, Hardy K, Stogryn S .
Fellow and attending surgeon operative notes are deficient in reporting established quality indicators for Roux-en-y gastric bypass: a preliminary retrospective analysis of operative dictation.
Cureus 2019 Apr 24;11(4):e4535. doi: 10.7759/cureus.4535..
Keywords: Obesity, Quality of Care, Quality Indicators (QIs), Patient Safety, Provider, Provider: Physician, Surgery
Blay E, Huang R, Chung JW
Evaluating the impact of the venous thromboembolism outcome measure on the PSI 90 composite quality metric.
Patient Safety Indicator (PSI) 90 is a composite measure widely used in federal pay-for-performance and public reporting programs. A component metric of PSI 90, venous thromboembolism (VTE) rate, has been shown to be subject to surveillance bias and not a valid measure for hospital quality comparisons. A study was conducted to examine how hospital PSI 90 scores would change if the VTE measure were removed from calculation of this composite measure.
AHRQ-funded; HS021857.
Citation: Blay E, Huang R, Chung JW .
Evaluating the impact of the venous thromboembolism outcome measure on the PSI 90 composite quality metric.
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2019 Mar;45(3):148-55. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjq.2018.08.009..
Keywords: Blood Clots, Patient Safety, Quality Measures, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care
Hsu YJ, Kosinski AS, Wallace AS
Using a society database to evaluate a patient safety collaborative: the Cardiovascular Surgical Translational Study.
The authors assessed the utility of using external databases for quality improvement (QI) evaluations in the context of an innovative QI collaborative aimed to reduce three infections and improve patient safety across the cardiac surgery service line. They compared changes in each outcome between 15 intervention hospitals and 52 propensity score-matched hospitals, and found that improvement trends in several outcomes among the studied intervention hospitals were not statistically different from those in comparison hospitals. They conclude that using external databases may permit comparative effectiveness assessment by providing concurrent comparison groups, additional outcome measures, and longer follow-up.
AHRQ-funded; HS019934.
Citation: Hsu YJ, Kosinski AS, Wallace AS .
Using a society database to evaluate a patient safety collaborative: the Cardiovascular Surgical Translational Study.
J Comp Eff Res 2019 Jan;8(1):21-32. doi: 10.2217/cer-2018-0051..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Surgery, Cardiovascular Conditions, Comparative Effectiveness, Data, Hospitals, Research Methodologies, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Bhise V, Sittig DF, Vaghani V
An electronic trigger based on care escalation to identify preventable adverse events in hospitalised patients.
Researchers refined the methods of the Institute of Healthcare Improvement's Global Trigger Tool application and leveraged electronic health record data to improve detection of preventable adverse events, including diagnostic errors. In the studied sample, preventable adverse events were identified, including adverse drug events, patient falls, procedure-related complications, and hospital-associated infections. The authors concluded that such e-triggers can help overcome limitations of currently available methods to detect preventable harm in hospitalized patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087; HS023602.
Citation: Bhise V, Sittig DF, Vaghani V .
An electronic trigger based on care escalation to identify preventable adverse events in hospitalised patients.
BMJ Qual Saf 2018 Mar;27(3):241-46. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2017-006975..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitalization, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Prevention, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs)
Baernholdt M, Hinton ID, Guofen Y
A national comparison of rural/urban pressure ulcer and fall rates.
Despite recent decline in hospital acquired conditions (HACs), rates for pressure ulcers (PURs) and falls (FRs) remain at levels that require improvement. Contextual factors and care processes may impact HACs. Using the National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators (NDNQI®) this study examined differences in care processes and community, hospital, and nursing unit characteristics that influence PURs and FRs in 4238 rural and urban nursing units.
AHRQ-funded; HS023147.
Citation: Baernholdt M, Hinton ID, Guofen Y .
A national comparison of rural/urban pressure ulcer and fall rates.
Online J Issues Nurs 2017 May;22(2):1-12. doi: 10.3912/OJIN.Vol22No02PPT60..
Keywords: Injuries and Wounds, Nursing, Patient Safety, Pressure Ulcers, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Rural Health, Urban Health
Calderwood MS, Kleinman K, Huang SS
Surgical site infections: volume-outcome relationship and year-to-year stability of performance rankings.
The researchers evaluated the volume-outcome relationship as well as the year-to-year stability of performance rankings following coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery and hip arthroplasty. They concluded that aggregate surgical site infection risk is highest in hospitals with low annual procedure volumes. Even for higher volume hospitals, year-to-year random variation makes past experience an unreliable estimator of current performance.
AHRQ-funded; HS021424.
Citation: Calderwood MS, Kleinman K, Huang SS .
Surgical site infections: volume-outcome relationship and year-to-year stability of performance rankings.
Med Care 2017 Jan;55(1):79-85. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000620.
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Keywords: Surgery, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Adverse Events, Injuries and Wounds, Hospitals, Provider Performance, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Elderly
Hernandez-Boussard TM, McDonald KM, Morrison DE
Risks of adverse events in colorectal patients: population-based study.
The authors sought to assess adverse events in colorectal surgical patients. They found important differential rates of adverse events by diagnostic category, with the highest odds ratio occurring in patients undergoing surgery for ischemic colitis.
AHRQ-funded; HS018558.
Citation: Hernandez-Boussard TM, McDonald KM, Morrison DE .
Risks of adverse events in colorectal patients: population-based study.
J Surg Res 2016 May 15;202(2):328-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2016.01.013.
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Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Adverse Events, Surgery, Patient Safety, Risk, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Quality Measures
Southern DA, Pincus HA, Romano PS
Enhanced capture of healthcare-related harms and injuries in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
The authors presented recommendations made to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the ICD revision's Quality and Safety Topic Advisory Group (Q&S TAG) for a new conceptual approach to capturing healthcare-related harms and injuries in ICD-coded data. They concluded that this new framework for coding healthcare-related harm has great potential to improve the clinical detail of adverse event descriptions and the overall quality of coded health data.
AHRQ-funded; HS020543.
Citation: Southern DA, Pincus HA, Romano PS .
Enhanced capture of healthcare-related harms and injuries in the 11th revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11).
Int J Qual Health Care 2016 Feb;28(1):136-42. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzv099.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs)
Southern DA, Hall M, White DE
Opportunities and challenges for quality and safety applications in ICD-11: an international survey of users of coded health data.
The authors identified opportunities and challenges in improving the utility of ICD-11 for quality and safety applications. The 246 online survey respondents specified desires for the ICD revision: more code content for adverse events/complications; a desire for code clustering mechanisms; the need for diagnosis timing information; and the addition of better code definitions to reference materials. The authors concluded that the World Health Organization's ICD revision process is addressing each of these desires.
AHRQ-funded; HS020543.
Citation: Southern DA, Hall M, White DE .
Opportunities and challenges for quality and safety applications in ICD-11: an international survey of users of coded health data.
Int J Qual Health Care 2016 Feb;28(1):129-35. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzv096.
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Keywords: Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs)
Brown SE, Ratcliffe SJ, Halpern SD
An empirical comparison of key statistical attributes among potential ICU quality indicators.
The researchers assessed the performance of candidate indicators of ICU quality based on face validity, relevance to patients, ability to be measured reliably, sufficient variability to identify poor performers, relative insensitivity to severity adjustment, and the ability to capture what providers do rather than patients' characteristics. They concluded that no indicator performed optimally across assessments and recommended that future research seek to define and operationalize quality in a way that is relevant to both patients and providers.
AHRQ-funded; HS018406.
Citation: Brown SE, Ratcliffe SJ, Halpern SD .
An empirical comparison of key statistical attributes among potential ICU quality indicators.
Crit Care Med 2014 Aug;42(8):1821-31. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000000334.
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Keywords: Quality of Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Hospital Readmissions
Maggard-Gibbons M
The use of report cards and outcome measurements to improve the safety of surgical care: the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
This review summarized the history of American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project and its components, and described the evidence that feeding outcomes back to providers, along with real-time comparisons with other hospital rates, leads to quality improvement, better patient outcomes, cost savings and overall improved patient safety.
AHRQ-funded; 2902007100621.
Citation: Maggard-Gibbons M .
The use of report cards and outcome measurements to improve the safety of surgical care: the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
BMJ Qual Saf 2014 Jul;23(7):589-99. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002223..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Surgery, Patient Safety, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Provider Performance
Weissman JS, López L, Schneider EC
The association of hospital quality ratings with adverse events.
The researchers used a survey of 2,582 patients hospitalized at 16 acute care Massachusetts hospitals to understand how patient-reported quality is related to adverse events (AEs). Although patients with AEs rated hospital quality lower than others, patients with AEs who experienced ‘service recovery’ rated their quality of care at levels similar to those not experiencing AEs.
AHRQ-funded
Citation: Weissman JS, López L, Schneider EC .
The association of hospital quality ratings with adverse events.
Int J Qual Health Care. 2014 Apr;26(2):129-35. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzt092..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Patient Experience, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures