National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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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 25 of 992 Research Studies DisplayedAuerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the prevalence, underlying causes, and harms of diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who were transferred to an intensive care unit or who died. Data was taken from 29 academic medical centers in the U.S. in a random sample of adults hospitalized with general medical conditions. Errors were found to have contributed to temporary harm, permanent harm, or death in nearly 18% of patients; among patients who died, diagnostic error was judged to have contributed to death in 6.6% of cases. The researchers noted that problems with choosing and interpreting tests and the processes involved with clinician assessment were a high priority for improvement efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369.
Citation: Auerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC .
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
JAMA Intern Med 2024 Feb; 184(2):164-73. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7347..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Adverse Events
Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
This paper describes the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study, whose aim was to define the prevalence and underlying causes of diagnostic errors (DEs) in patients who die in the hospital or are transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) after the first 48 hours. This study was conducted at 31 hospitals with more than 2500 cases reviewed using electronic health records. The authors identified some insights into key requirements into building a robust DE surveillance program by developing these steps: 1) Develop a shared understanding of what constitutes a diagnostic error; 2) Use validated tools to identify diagnostic errors and classify process failures, but respect your context; 3) Develop a standard approach to using electronic health records for case reviews; 4) Ensure reliability and consistency of the case review process; and 5) Link diagnostic error case reviews to institutional safety programs. They also developed steps to establish a diagnosis error review process at the hospital level with six processes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369; HS026613.
Citation: Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K .
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
J Hosp Med 2024 Feb; 19(2):140-45. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13136..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals
Ali KJ, Goeschel CA, DeLia DM
The PRIDx framework to engage payers in reducing diagnostic errors in healthcare.
The authors conducted a literature review and interviewed subject matter experts to develop a multi-component Payer Relationships for Improving Diagnoses (PRIDx) framework. The PRIDx framework can be used to encourage public and private payers to take specific actions to improve diagnostic safety. The authors noted that implementation of the PRIDx framework will require new types of partnerships, including external support from public and private payer organizations, and also require the creation of strong provider incentives.
AHRQ-funded; 2332015000221.
Citation: Ali KJ, Goeschel CA, DeLia DM .
The PRIDx framework to engage payers in reducing diagnostic errors in healthcare.
https://www.pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37795579.
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Quality of Care, Patient Safety
Newman-Toker DE, Nassery N, Schaffer AC
Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.
Americans who experience serious harm from misdiagnosis annually. Serious harm is defined as permanent morbidity or morality. This cross-sectional analysis used nationally representative observational data. The authors estimated annual incident vascular events and infections from 21.5 million (M) sampled US hospital discharges (2012-2014). US-based cancer registries were used to find annual new cancers. They derived diagnostic errors and serious harms by multiplying by literature-based rates for disease-specific incidences for 15 major vascular events, infections and cancers ('Big Three' categories). Extrapolating to all diseases (including non-'Big Three' dangerous disease categories), they estimated total serious harms annually in the USA to be 795,000 (plausible range 598,000-1,023,000). Using more conservative assumptions they estimated 549,000 serious harms. These results were compatible with setting-specific serious harm estimates from inpatient, emergency department and ambulatory care. Fifteen dangerous diseases accounted for 50.7% of total serious harms and the top 5 (stroke, sepsis, pneumonia, venous thromboembolism and lung cancer) accounted for 38.7%.
AHRQ-funded; HS027614; HS029350.
Citation: Newman-Toker DE, Nassery N, Schaffer AC .
Burden of serious harms from diagnostic error in the USA.
BMJ Qual Saf 2024 Jan 19; 33(2):109-20. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2021-014130..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Adverse Events
Li J
Home health agencies with high quality of patient care star ratings reduced short-term hospitalization rates and increased days independently at home.
Accurate Medicare Quality of Patient Care home health star ratings are crucial to helping patients find high-quality care, yet critics of these ratings indicate that they are not valid. The purpose of this retrospective study was to assess whether using the highest-rated home health agency available in a ZIP code improves outcomes. The researchers included 1,870,080 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries using home health care from July 2015 through July 2016 in the United States. The study found that treatment by the highest-rated agencies available decreased risks of hospitalization, emergency department use, and institutionalization during the initial episode, and increased days independently at home by 2.6% or 3.75 days in the 180 days after the end of the initial episode. Treatment effects were stronger for agencies that were above-average, had 1 or more stars than the next-best agency, and nonrural residents. Effects were positive for both postacute and community-entry patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS026836.
Citation: Li J .
Home health agencies with high quality of patient care star ratings reduced short-term hospitalization rates and increased days independently at home.
Med Care 2024 Jan; 62(1):11-20. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001930..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Quality of Care, Hospitalization, Provider Performance
Ray M, Zhao S, Wang S
Improving hospital quality risk-adjustment models using interactions identified by hierarchical group lasso regularisation.
This study’s goal was to see if using hierarchical group lasso regularization (HGLR) improved hospital quality risk adjustment (RA) models. The authors analyzed patient discharge de-identified data from 14 State Inpatient Databases, AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, California Department of Health Care Access and Information, and New York State Department of Health. They used HGLR to identify first-order interactions in several AHRQ inpatient quality indicators (IQI) - IQI 09 (Pancreatic Resection Mortality Rate), IQI 11 (Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Repair Mortality Rate), and Patient Safety Indicator 14 (Postoperative Wound Dehiscence Rate). These RA models were compared with stratum-specific and composite main effects models with covariates selected by least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO). HGLR identified clinical meaning interactions for all models, with model performance similar or superior for composite models with HGLR-selected features, compared to those with LASSO-selected features. HGLR was found to be scalable to handle a large number of covariates and their interactions and is customizable to use multiple CPU cores to reduce analysis time.
AHRQ-funded; 290201200003I.
Citation: Ray M, Zhao S, Wang S .
Improving hospital quality risk-adjustment models using interactions identified by hierarchical group lasso regularisation.
BMC Health Serv Res 2023 Dec 15; 23(1):1419. doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-10423-9..
Keywords: Quality of Care, Hospitals, Risk
Schnipper JL, Raffel KE, Keniston A
Achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT) study protocol: a multicenter, prospective quality and safety program to improve diagnostic processes in medical inpatients.
This paper describes the protocol for a study that will build surveillance for hospital diagnostic errors into usual care, benchmark diagnostic performance across sites, pilot test interventions, and evaluate the program's impact on diagnostic error rates. The authors will test achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT), a multicenter, real-world quality and safety program utilizing interrupted time-series techniques to evaluate outcomes. They will use a randomly sampled population of medical patients hospitalized at 16 US hospitals who died, were transferred to intensive care, or had a rapid response during the hospitalization. There will be surveillance for diagnostic errors on 10 events per month per site using a previously established two-person adjudication process. With guidance from national experts in quality and safety, study sites will report and benchmark diagnostic error rates, share lessons regarding underlying causes, and design, implement, and pilot test interventions using both Safety I and Safety II approaches aimed at patients, providers, and health systems. The primary outcome sought after will be the number of diagnostic errors per patient, using segmented multivariable regression to evaluate change in y-intercept and change in slope after initiation of the program.
AHRQ-funded; HS029366.
Citation: Schnipper JL, Raffel KE, Keniston A .
Achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT) study protocol: a multicenter, prospective quality and safety program to improve diagnostic processes in medical inpatients.
J Hosp Med 2023 Dec; 18(12):1072-81. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13230..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Inpatient Care
Watnick S, Blake PG, Mehrotra R
System-level strategies to improve home dialysis: policy levers and quality initiatives.
This article discusses trends in home dialysis use, reviews the evolving understanding of what constitutes high quality care for the home dialysis population (as well as how this can be measured), and discusses policy and advocacy efforts that continue to shape the care of US patients, and compares with experiences in other countries. The authors conclude by discussing future directions for quality and advocacy efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS028684.
Citation: Watnick S, Blake PG, Mehrotra R .
System-level strategies to improve home dialysis: policy levers and quality initiatives.
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2023 Dec; 18(12):1616-25. doi: 10.2215/cjn.0000000000000299..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Kidney Disease and Health, Policy, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Bingham CA, Harris JG, Qui T
Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network's quality measure set to improve care of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
The objective of this study was to describe the selection, development, and implementation of quality measures for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) by the Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network (PR-COIN), a multihospital learning health network. Clinicians in PR-COIN and parents of children with JIA collaboratively selected outcome quality measures and a committee of rheumatologists and data analysts developed operational definitions. Initial measures were clinical inactive disease, low pain score, and optimal physical functioning; the revised set included additional measures of disease activity, data quality, and a balancing measure. The authors concluded that PR-COIN's set of JIA quality measures is the first comprehensive set used at the point-of-care for a large cohort of JIA patients in a variety of pediatric rheumatology practice settings.
AHRQ-funded; HS021114.
Citation: Bingham CA, Harris JG, Qui T .
Pediatric Rheumatology Care and Outcomes Improvement Network's quality measure set to improve care of children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
Arthritis Care Res 2023 Dec; 75(12):2442-52. doi: 10.1002/acr.25168.
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Arthritis, Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Outcomes, Evidence-Based Practice
Pak TR, Young J, McKenna CS
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Important studies indicate that every hour of sepsis that elapses until antibiotics are administered increases mortality. The researchers of this study found determined that analyses in the influential studies often adjusted for limited covariates, included patients with long delays until antibiotic administration, combined sepsis and septic shock, and used linear models presuming each hour of delay has equal impact on the sepsis and the patient. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of the analytic decisions on the relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. The researchers retrospectively identified 104,248 adults admitted from 2015-2022 to five hospitals with suspected infection. The patients included 25,990 with suspected septic shock and 23,619 with sepsis without shock. The study found that changing covariates, maximum time-to-antibiotics, and severity stratification altered the magnitude, direction, and significance of observed relationships between time-to-antibiotics and mortality. In a fully adjusted model of patients treated within 6 hours, every hour related with higher mortality for septic shock, but not sepsis without shock or suspected infection alone. Modeling every hour independently confirmed that every hour delay was related with greater mortality for septic shock, but only delays of greater than 6 hours were related with greater mortality for sepsis without shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS027170.
Citation: Pak TR, Young J, McKenna CS .
Risk of misleading conclusions in observational studies of time-to-antibiotics and mortality in suspected sepsis.
Clin Infect Dis 2023 Nov 30; 77(11):1534-43. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad450..
Keywords: Antibiotics, Medication, Sepsis, Mortality, Quality of Care
Goldberg DG, Owens-Jasey C, Haghighat S
Implementation strategies for large scale quality improvement initiatives in primary care settings: a qualitative assessment.
This study focused on gaining a comprehensive understanding of perspectives from research participants and research team members on the value of implementation strategies and factors that influenced the AHRQ-funded EvidenceNOW initiative in Virginia. The goal of EvidenceNOW’s Advancing Heart Health in Primary Care initiative is to assist primary care practices in the US in implementing evidence-based practices in cardiovascular care and building capacity for quality improvement. In 2018, the authors conducted 25 focus groups with clinicians and staff at participating practices, including 80 physicians, advanced practice clinicians, practice managers, and other practice staff. They also conducted face-to-face and telephone interviews with 22 research team members, including lead investigators, practice facilitators, physician expert consultants, and evaluators. They used the integrated-Promoting Action on Research Implementation in the Health Services (i-PARIHS) framework in their qualitative data analysis and organization of themes. Implementation strategies that were valued by both practice representatives and research team members included the kick-off event, on-site practice facilitation, and interaction with physician expert consults. Day-to-day activities often overwhelmed clinicians and staff, which hindered their ability to fully participate in the EvidenceNOW initiative.
AHRQ-funded; HS023913.
Citation: Goldberg DG, Owens-Jasey C, Haghighat S .
Implementation strategies for large scale quality improvement initiatives in primary care settings: a qualitative assessment.
BMC Prim Care 2023 Nov 17; 24(1):242. doi: 10.1186/s12875-023-02200-8..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Primary Care, Quality of Care, Implementation
O'Leary KJ, Johnson JK, Williams MV
Effect of complementary interventions to redesign care on teamwork and quality for hospitalized medical patients: a pragmatic controlled trial.
The objective of this pragmatic controlled trial was to evaluate the effect of interventions to redesign hospital care delivery on teamwork and patient outcomes. Survey participants were healthcare professionals and hospitalized medical patients in medical units at four U.S. hospitals. The results showed that the median teamwork climate score was higher after the intervention among nurses, but that interventions to redesign care for hospitalized patients were not associated with improved patient outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS02564.
Citation: O'Leary KJ, Johnson JK, Williams MV .
Effect of complementary interventions to redesign care on teamwork and quality for hospitalized medical patients: a pragmatic controlled trial.
Ann Intern Med 2023 Nov; 176(11):1456-64. doi: 10.7326/m23-0953..
Keywords: Teams, Inpatient Care, Hospitals, Quality of Care, Outcomes
Chen VW, Chidi AP, Dong Y
Risk-adjusted cumulative sum for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality.
This study’s goal was to compare the risk-adjusted cumulative sum (CUSUM) with episodic evaluation for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality. The study cohort included 697,566 patients treated at 104 Veterans’ Affairs hospitals across 24 quarters with a mean age of 60.9 years and 91.4% male. These patients underwent a noncardiac operation at a Veterans Affairs hospital, had a record in the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2016), and were aged 18 years or older. For each hospital, the median number of quarters detected with observed to expected ratios, at least 1 CUSUM signal, and more than 1 CUSUM signal was 2 quarters (IQR, 1-4 quarters), 8 quarters (IQR, 4-11 quarters), and 3 quarters (IQR, 1-4 quarters). Outlier hospitals were identified 33.3% of the time (830 quarters) with at least 1 CUSUM signal within a quarter, 12.5% (311 quarters) with more than 1 CUSUM signal, and 11.0% (274 quarters) with observed to expected ratios at the end of the quarter. The CUSUM detection occurred a median of 49 days (IQR, 25-63 days) before observed to expected ratio reporting (1 signal, 35 days [IQR, 17-54 days]; 2 signals, 49 days [IQR, 26-61 days]; 3 signals, 58 days [IQR, 44-69 days]; ≥4 signals, 49 days [IQR, 42-69 days]. Of 274 hospital quarters detected with observed to expected ratios, 72.6% were concurrently detected by at least 1 CUSUM signal vs 42.7% by more than 1 CUSUM signal. There was a dose-response relationship between the number of CUSUM signals in a quarter and the median observed to expected ratio (0 signals, 0.63; 1 signal, 1.28; 2 signals, 1.58; 3 signals, 2.08; ≥4 signals, 2.49).
AHRQ-funded; HS013853.
Citation: Chen VW, Chidi AP, Dong Y .
Risk-adjusted cumulative sum for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality.
JAMA Surg 2023 Nov; 158(11):1176-83. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2023.3673..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Surgery, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Mortality, Quality of Care
Woods-Hill CZ, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA
Sustainability of the Bright STAR diagnostic stewardship program to reduce blood culture rates among critically ill children.
From 2017 to2020, 14 pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) participated in the Bright STAR (Testing Stewardship for Antibiotic Reduction) QI collaborative to reduce unnecessary blood cultures for PICU patients. The collaborative project found that 4 sites demonstrated a 33% decrease in blood culture rates and a 13% decrease in broad spectrum antibiotic use. The purpose of this current study was to assess whether sites sustained reduced blood culture rates after completion of the formal project. The study found that all sites had lower blood culture rates during the sustainability period when compared with the pre-implementation period. The blood culture rate increased 8% during the sustainability period compared with the postimplementation period but was 27% lower than during the pre-implementation period.
AHRQ-funded; HS025642.
Citation: Woods-Hill CZ, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA .
Sustainability of the Bright STAR diagnostic stewardship program to reduce blood culture rates among critically ill children.
JAMA Pediatr 2023 Nov; 177(11):1234-37. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.3229..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Critical Care, Quality Improvement, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Quality of Care
Silva GC, Gutman R
Reformulating provider profiling by grouping providers treating similar patients prior to evaluating performance.
The purpose of this study was to explore a novel approach to comparing health providers' performance that identifies groups of providers treating similar populations of patients and then assesses providers' performance within each group. To compare the performance of the proposed approach, the researchers utilized patient-level data from 119 Massachusetts skilled nursing facilities. Simulated and observed outcome data were utilized to examine the performance of the methods in different settings. In simulations, the proposed method classified providers to groups with the admission attributes of similar patients. In the presence of limited overlap in patient attributes across providers and misspecifications of the outcome model, the provider-level estimates created utilizing the novel approach identified providers that under- and overperformed when compared to the existing approaches.
AHRQ-funded; HS026830.
Citation: Silva GC, Gutman R .
Reformulating provider profiling by grouping providers treating similar patients prior to evaluating performance.
Biostatistics 2023 Oct 18; 24(4):962-84. doi: 10.1093/biostatistics/kxac019..
Keywords: Provider Performance, Quality of Care, Healthcare Delivery
Agniel D, Cabreros I, Damberg CL
A formal framework for incorporating equity into health care quality measurement.
This paper examines how tying incentives on the basis of stratification or disparities in quality measurement may have unintended consequences or limited effects. Addressing one aspect of equity may be in competition with addressing others. The authors proposed equity weighting, a new measurement framework to advance equity on multiple fronts that addresses the shortcomings of existing approaches and explicitly calibrates incentives to align with equity goals. They used colorectal cancer screening data derived from 2017 Medicare claims to illustrate how equity weighting fixes unintended consequences in other methods and how it can be adapted to policy goals.
AHRQ-funded; HS024067.
Citation: Agniel D, Cabreros I, Damberg CL .
A formal framework for incorporating equity into health care quality measurement.
Health Aff 2023 Oct; 42(10):1383-91. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.01483..
Keywords: Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Disparities
Xie A, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA
Application of participatory ergonomics to the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use.
The overuse of blood cultures in pediatric ICUs (PICUs) may lead to the unnecessary utilization of antibiotics and related resistance to antibiotics. The purpose of this study was to utilize a participatory ergonomics (PE) approach to disseminate a quality improvement (QI) program for optimizing blood culture use in PICUs and assess the dissemination process and its impact on blood culture reduction. The study found that overall, the participating sites were able to implement the program successfully and reduce their blood culture rates from 149.4 blood cultures per 1,000 patient-days/month before implementation to 100.5 blood cultures per 1,000 patient-days/month after implementation. Differences in the dissemination process, as well as in local interventions and implementation strategies, were observed across sites. Site-specific variations in the rates of blood cultures were weakly negatively associated with the number of preintervention interactions with the coordinating team but not associated with their experiences with the six domains of the dissemination process or their interventions.
AHRQ-funded; HS025642; HS025238.
Citation: Xie A, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA .
Application of participatory ergonomics to the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use.
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2023 Oct; 49(10):529-38. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjq.2023.06.004..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Children/Adolescents, Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Lefrak L, Schaffer KE, Bohnert J
Blood culture procedures and practices in the neonatal intensive care unit: a survey of a large multicenter collaborative in California.
The objective of this Web-based survey was to describe variation in bedside and laboratory-level blood culture practices in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Participants were 28 NICUs in an antimicrobial stewardship quality improvement program in the California Perinatal Quality Care Collaborative. Results showed that recommended practices for blood culturing were not routinely performed. Most NICUs did not have a procedural competency, did not document sample volume, did not receive a culture contamination report, and/or did not require reporting to the provider if less than 1 mL of blood was drawn. Skin asepsis procedure varied across NICUs.
AHRQ-funded; HS026168.
Citation: Lefrak L, Schaffer KE, Bohnert J .
Blood culture procedures and practices in the neonatal intensive care unit: a survey of a large multicenter collaborative in California.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2023 Oct; 44(10):1576=81. doi: 10.1017/ice.2023.33..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Inpatient Care, Quality of Care
Yu J, Huckfeldt PJ, Mink PJ
Evaluating the association between expanded coverage of direct-to-consumer telemedicine and downstream utilization and quality of care for urinary tract infections and sinusitis.
The purpose of this study was to compare rates of testing, follow-up health care use, and quality for urinary tract infections (UTIs) and sinusitis between direct-to-consumer (DTC) telemedicine and in-person visits. Primary outcomes included number of laboratory tests, antibiotics filled, office and outpatient visits, emergency department (ED) visits, and standardized spending, based on standardized health service prices. The UTI and sinusitis samples included 215,134 and 624,630 episodes of care, respectively. Following the introduction of coverage for DTC telemedicine, 15.7% of UTI episodes and 8.9% of sinusitis episodes were initiated with DTC telemedicine. When compared to episodes without coverage for DTC telemedicine, UTI episodes with coverage had 0.25 fewer lab tests, lower standardized spending for the first UTI visit, and no change in office and outpatient visits, ED visits, antibiotics filled, or standardized medical spending. Sinusitis episodes with coverage for DTC telemedicine had fewer antibiotics filled and a minor increase in ED visits but no difference in lab tests, office and outpatient visits, or standardized medical spending.
AHRQ-funded; HS026088.
Citation: Yu J, Huckfeldt PJ, Mink PJ .
Evaluating the association between expanded coverage of direct-to-consumer telemedicine and downstream utilization and quality of care for urinary tract infections and sinusitis.
Health Serv Res 2023 Oct; 58(5):976-87. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14129..
Keywords: Telehealth, Health Information Technology (HIT), Healthcare Utilization, Quality of Care
Smith K, Padmanabhan P, Chen A
The impacts of the 340B Program on health care quality for low-income patients.
This study’s objective was to assess the effects of hospital 340B eligibility on quality of inpatient care provided to Medicaid and uninsured patients and for all patients. HCUP State Inpatient Data, Hospital Cost Reporting Information System Data, Office of Pharmacy Affairs Information System Data, and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey were all used to extract inpatient data from general acute care hospitals from 2008 to 2014 in 15 states. Data was linked on hospital 340B eligibility and participation. The authors did not find discontinuities in inpatient care quality across the Program eligibility threshold for Medicaid and uninsured patients; specifically, on all-cause mortality, 30-day readmission rates, or other measures. Among insured and non-Medicaid patients, they found discontinuities for acute myocardial infarction and postoperative sepsis mortality.
AHRQ-funded; HS026980.
Citation: Smith K, Padmanabhan P, Chen A .
The impacts of the 340B Program on health care quality for low-income patients.
Health Serv Res 2023 Oct; 58(5):1089-97. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.14204..
Keywords: Low-Income, Hospitals, Vulnerable Populations, Medicaid, Uninsured, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care
McHugh M, Heinrich J, Philbin S
Declining participation in primary care quality improvement research: a qualitative study.
This qualitative study’s aim was to identify factors leading primary care practices to decline participation in quality initiative (QI) projects, and strategies to improve the feasibility and attractiveness of QI projects in the future. The authors contacted 109 representatives of practices that had declined participation in 1 of 4 AHRQ-funded EvidenceNOW projects. The representatives were invited to either participate in a 15-minute interview or complete a 5-question questionnaire. Representatives from 31 practices responded. Reasons for declining included staff turnover, staffing shortages, and general time constraints, exacerbated by the pandemic, preventing participation in the QI projects. Secondary reasons included challenges with electronic health records, an expectation of greater financial compensation for participation, and confidence in the practices' current care practices. Tying participation to value-based programs and offering greater compensation were identified as strategies to facilitate recruitment. However, none of the respondents’ recommendations addressed the primary issues of staffing challenges and time constraints.
AHRQ-funded; HS027954.
Citation: McHugh M, Heinrich J, Philbin S .
Declining participation in primary care quality improvement research: a qualitative study.
Ann Fam Med 2023 Sep-Oct; 21(5):388-94. doi: 10.1370/afm.3007..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Primary Care, Quality of Care, Practice Improvement, Organizational Change, Evidence-Based Practice
Waltman A, Konetzka RT, Chia S
Effectiveness of a bundled payments for care improvement program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
This single-site retrospective observational study evaluated the impact of an evidence-based transitions of care program on episode costs and readmission rates, comparing patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbations who received versus those who did not receive the intervention. Between October 2015 and September 2018, 132 received and 161 did not receive the program. Below target mean episode costs were found for six out of eleven quarters for the intervention group, as opposed to only one out of twelve quarters for the control group. Overall, there were non-significant mean savings of $2551 in episode costs relative to target costs for the intervention group, though results varied by index admission diagnosis-related group (DRG). There were additional costs of $4184 per episode for the least-complicated cohort (DRG 192), but savings of $1897 and $1753 for the most complicated index admissions (DRGs 191 and 190, respectively). A significant mean decrease of 0.24 readmissions per episode for intervention was observed in 90-day readmission rates relative to control. Skilled nursing facility readmissions and hospital discharges were factors of higher costs (mean increases of $9098 and $17,095 per episode respectively).
AHRQ-funded; HS027804.
Citation: Waltman A, Konetzka RT, Chia S .
Effectiveness of a bundled payments for care improvement program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
J Gen Intern Med 2023 Sep; 38(12):2662-70. doi: 10.1007/s11606-023-08249-6..
Keywords: Respiratory Conditions, Chronic Conditions, Payment, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Mauskar S, Ngo T, Haskell H
In their own words: safety and quality perspectives from families of hospitalized children with medical complexity.
The purpose of this study was to address the gap of research on inpatient safety/quality experience of Children with medical complexity (CMC) and identify otherwise unrecognized, family-prioritized areas for improving safety/quality of children with medical complexity (CMC). Out of 208 families surveyed, 237 (88%) families completed surveys; 83 families offered 138 free-text safety responses about medications, feeds, cares, and other categories. The study found that themes included unmet expectations of hospital care/environment, lack of consistency, provider-patient communication lapses, families' expertise about care, and the value of transparency.
AHRQ-funded; HS025781.
Citation: Mauskar S, Ngo T, Haskell H .
In their own words: safety and quality perspectives from families of hospitalized children with medical complexity.
J Hosp Med 2023 Sep; 18(9):777-86. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13178..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Chronic Conditions
Zhou S, Yang G, Hou H
Infections following left ventricular assist device implantation and 1-year health-related quality of life.
This study examined number and types of infection following left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation and its adverse effects on patient-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Participants were patients from the Society of Thoracic Surgeons' Interagency Registry for Mechanically Assisted Circulatory Support who had received a primary LVAD. The results showed that each additional infection within the first post-implantation year was associated with an incremental negative effect on patient survival free of impaired HRQOL.
AHRQ-funded; HS026003.
Citation: Zhou S, Yang G, Hou H .
Infections following left ventricular assist device implantation and 1-year health-related quality of life.
J Heart Lung Transplant 2023 Sep; 42(9):1307-15. doi: 10.1016/j.healun.2023.05.006..
Keywords: Heart Disease and Health, Medical Devices, Cardiovascular Conditions, Quality of Care
Murphy DR, Zimolzak AJ, Upadhyay DK
Developing electronic clinical quality measures to assess the cancer diagnostic process.
Electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) to evaluate quality of cancer diagnosis could facilitate quantification and improvement of diagnostic performance. The purpose of this study was to developed 2 eCQMs to evaluate diagnostic assessment of red-flag clinical findings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and lung cancer. At each site the researchers assessed 100 positive and 20 negative randomly chosen records for each eCQM at each site to validate accuracy and categorized missed opportunities associated with system, provider, or patient factors. The researchers applied the CRC eCQM at both sites, while the lung cancer eCQM was only applied at the VA due to an absence of structured data indicating level of cancer suspicion on most chest imaging results at Geisinger. The study found that for the CRC eCQM, the appropriate follow-up took place in 26, 746 out of 74, 314 patients (36.0%) in the VA after removing clinical exclusions and in 1,009 out of 2,461 patients (41.1%) at Geisinger. The appropriate assessment for lung cancer in the VA took place in 25, 166 out of 40, 924 patients (61.5). Provider factors were cited by reviewers the primary source of missed opportunities at both sites.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Murphy DR, Zimolzak AJ, Upadhyay DK .
Developing electronic clinical quality measures to assess the cancer diagnostic process.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Aug 18; 30(9):1526-31. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad089..
Keywords: Cancer: Lung Cancer, Cancer, Quality Measures, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Quality of Care