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
- Adverse Events (1)
- Asthma (3)
- Behavioral Health (1)
- Caregiving (2)
- (-) Children/Adolescents (19)
- Chronic Conditions (1)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (1)
- Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) (5)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (1)
- Education: Patient and Caregiver (1)
- Emergency Department (3)
- Evidence-Based Practice (2)
- Guidelines (1)
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (2)
- Hospital Discharge (1)
- Hospitalization (2)
- Hospital Readmissions (3)
- (-) Hospitals (19)
- Implementation (1)
- Inpatient Care (5)
- Low-Income (1)
- Medical Errors (1)
- Outcomes (2)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (2)
- Patient and Family Engagement (1)
- Patient Experience (4)
- Patient Safety (4)
- Prevention (1)
- Provider Performance (1)
- Quality Improvement (9)
- Quality Indicators (QIs) (4)
- Quality Measures (9)
- (-) Quality of Care (19)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1)
- Respiratory Conditions (5)
- Simulation (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 19 of 19 Research Studies DisplayedMilliren 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
Leyenaar JK, Esporas M, Mangione-Smith R
How does pediatric quality measure development reflect the real world needs of hospitalized children?
This study examined to what extent do the Pediatric Quality Measures Program (PQMP) reflect the real world needs of hospitalized children. The authors discussed recent advances in pediatric quality measurement in the context of the current epidemiology of pediatric hospitalization in the US. The history of PQMP is discussed, including AHRQ’s role from 2011 to 2016 as the manager of cooperative agreement grants to seven academic medical centers to develop the initial set of evidence-based quality measures designed to improve children’s quality of care. During the second phase (2016 to 2020), 6 institutions were funded to implement and disseminate these quality measures, with a goal of determining their feasibility and usability. The majority of these measures were developed at large children’s hospitals. However, 20% of children live in rural areas not near a children’s hospital. Among all general hospitals that admit children, 80% have pediatric volumes of less than 375 hospitalizations per year. Unique strategies will be needed to evaluate healthcare quality at these hospitals. The role of interhospital transfer to larger children’s hospitals is also discussed and how it impacts quality of care.
AHRQ-funded; HS025291.
Citation: Leyenaar JK, Esporas M, Mangione-Smith R .
How does pediatric quality measure development reflect the real world needs of hospitalized children?
Acad Pediatr 2022 Apr;22(3s):S70-s72. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2021.01.019..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Quality Indicators (QIs), Hospitals
Jaladanki S, Schechter SB, Genies MC
Strategies for sustaining high-quality pediatric asthma care in community hospitals.
This study’s objective was to identify strategies associated with sustained guideline adherence and high-quality pediatric asthma care in community hospitals. Hospitals who were part of the Pathways for Improving Pediatric Asthma Care (PIPA) national quality improvement (QI) intervention were included. Clinicians (n = 19) involved in clinical care of children hospitalized with asthma were interviewed from five higher- and three lower-performing hospitals. Higher-performing hospitals had dedicated local champions who consistently provided reminders of evidence-based practices and delivered ongoing education. These champions also modified/developed electronic health record (EHR) tools. Lower-performing hospital clinicians described unique barriers, including delays in modifying the EHR and lack of automation of EHR tools. For all hospitals, barriers to sustainability included challenges with quality monitoring, decreasing focus of local champions over time, and ongoing difficulties developing around evidence-based practices.
AHRQ-funded; HS027041.
Citation: Jaladanki S, Schechter SB, Genies MC .
Strategies for sustaining high-quality pediatric asthma care in community hospitals.
Health Serv Res 2022 Feb;57(1):125-36. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.13870..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Asthma, Respiratory Conditions, Chronic Conditions, Hospitals, Quality of Care
Schechter S, Jaladanki S, Rodean J
Sustainability of paediatric asthma care quality in community hospitals after ending a national quality improvement collaborative.
Community hospitals, which care for most hospitalised children in the USA, may be vulnerable to declines in paediatric care quality when quality improvement (QI) initiatives end. In this study, the investigators aimed to evaluate changes in care quality in community hospitals after the end of the Pathways for Improving Paediatric Asthma Care (PIPA) national QI collaborative. The investigators concluded that the end of the paediatric asthma QI collaborative was associated with concerning declines in guideline adherence in community hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS027041.
Citation: Schechter S, Jaladanki S, Rodean J .
Sustainability of paediatric asthma care quality in community hospitals after ending a national quality improvement collaborative.
BMJ Qual Saf 2021 Nov;30(11):876-83. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2020-012292..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Asthma, Respiratory Conditions, Hospitals, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Quigley DD, Slaughter ME, Gidengil C
Usefulness of child HCAHPS survey data for improving inpatient pediatric care experiences.
Quality improvement (QI) requires data, indicators, and national benchmarks. Knowledge about the usefulness of Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (Child HCAHPS) data are lacking. In this study the investigators examined quality leader and frontline staff perceptions about patient experience measurement and use of Child HCAHPS data for QI. The investigators surveyed children's hospital leaders and staff about their use of Child HCAHPS for QI, including measures from other studies. They compared scale and item means for leaders and staff and compared means to other studies.
AHRQ-funded; HS025920.
Citation: Quigley DD, Slaughter ME, Gidengil C .
Usefulness of child HCAHPS survey data for improving inpatient pediatric care experiences.
Hosp Pediatr 2021 Oct;11(10):e199-e214. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2020-004283..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Patient Experience, Quality Improvement, Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Marshall TL, Ipsaro AJ, Le M
Increasing physician reporting of diagnostic learning opportunities.
This study investigated methods to improve physician reporting of diagnostic errors at the pediatric division of a hospital. In that pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) division only 1 diagnostic-related safety event was reported in the preceding 4 years. The authors aimed to improve attending physician reporting of suspected diagnostic errors from 0 to 2 per 100 PHM patient admissions within 6 months. The improvement team used the Model for Improvement and used the term diagnostic learning opportunity (DLO) with clinicians as opposed to diagnostic error to lessen the stigma. They developed an electronic reporting form and encouraged its use through reminders, scheduled reflection time, and monthly progress reports. Over the course of 13 weeks, there was an increase from 0 to 1.6 per patient admission reports files. Most events (66%) were true diagnostic errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS023827.
Citation: Marshall TL, Ipsaro AJ, Le M .
Increasing physician reporting of diagnostic learning opportunities.
Pediatrics 2021 Jan;147(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2400..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Luo B, McLoone M, Rasooly IR
Analysis: protocol for a new method to measure physiologic monitor alarm responsiveness.
A team of researchers including biomedical engineers, human factors engineers, information technology specialists, nurses, physicians, facilitators from a hospital’s simulation center, clinical informaticians, and hospital administrative leadership worked with three units at a pediatric hospital to design and conduct simulations on newly implemented monitoring technology that will be used for patient critical alarms. The system was tested using a simulation with existing hospital technology to transmit an unambiguously critical alarm that appeared to originate from an actual patient to the nurse’s mobile device, with discreet observers measuring responses.
AHRQ-funded; HS026620.
Citation: Luo B, McLoone M, Rasooly IR .
Analysis: protocol for a new method to measure physiologic monitor alarm responsiveness.
Biomed Instrum Technol 2020 Nov/Dec;54(6):389-96. doi: 10.2345/0899-8205-54.6.389..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Simulation, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Bryan MA, Tyler A, Zhou C
Associations between quality measures and outcomes for children hospitalized with bronchiolitis.
The authors used adherence to the Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES) indicators to evaluate the strength of associations for individual indicators with length of stay (LOS) and cost for bronchiolitis. They found that three indicators were significantly associated with shorter LOS and lower cost, while two underuse indicators were associated with higher cost. They concluded that a subset of PRIMES quality indicators for bronchiolitis were strongly associated with improved outcomes and can serve as important measures for future quality improvement efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS026512.
Citation: Bryan MA, Tyler A, Zhou C .
Associations between quality measures and outcomes for children hospitalized with bronchiolitis.
Hosp Pediatr 2020 Nov;10(11):932-40. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2020-0175..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Respiratory Conditions, Hospitals, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Kaiser SV, Lam Cabana, MD
Best practices in implementing inpatient pediatric asthma pathways: a qualitative study.
The objective of this study was to identify potential best practices in pathway implementation. Building upon a previous observational study in which the researchers identified higher and lower performing children's hospitals based on hospital-level changes in asthma patient length of stay after implementation of a pathway, they conducted semi-structured interviews with a sample of healthcare providers involved in pathway implementation at these hospitals. They identified several potential best practices to support pathway implementation. They recommended that hospitals implementing pathways consider applying these strategies to ensure success in improving quality of asthma care for children.
AHRQ-funded; HS024592.
Citation: Kaiser SV, Lam Cabana, MD .
Best practices in implementing inpatient pediatric asthma pathways: a qualitative study.
J Asthma 2020 Jul;57(7):744-54. doi: 10.1080/02770903.2019.1606237..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Asthma, Respiratory Conditions, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Guidelines, Evidence-Based Practice, Implementation, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Marcin JP, Romano PS, Dayal P
Provider-level and hospital-level factors and process measures of quality care delivered in pediatric emergency departments.
The objective of this study was to determine whether process measures of quality of care delivered to patients receiving care in children's hospital emergency departments were associated with physician-level or hospital-level factors. Subjects were children under 18 years old who presented to any of the 12 emergency departments that participated in the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network (PECARN).he researchers found that process measures of quality of care delivered to children was higher among patients treated at freestanding children's hospitals but lower among patients treated at higher volume emergency departments.
AHRQ-funded; HS019712.
Citation: Marcin JP, Romano PS, Dayal P .
Provider-level and hospital-level factors and process measures of quality care delivered in pediatric emergency departments.
Acad Pediatr 2020 May-Jun;20(4):524-31. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2019.11.007..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Emergency Department, Hospitals, Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Feng JY, Toomey SL, Elliott MN
Factors associated with family experience in pediatric inpatient care.
Researchers assessed which aspects of pediatric inpatient experience have the strongest relationships with parents' willingness to recommend a hospital. Their cross-sectional study examined surveys completed by parents of children hospitalized at hospitals using the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey. They found that child comfort and nurse-parent communication showed the strongest relationships with willingness to recommend, followed by preparing to leave the hospital, doctor-parent communication, and keeping parents informed. They recommended improvement efforts focusing on creating an age-appropriate environment, improving the effectiveness of provider interactions, and engaging parents to share their values and concerns.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513; HS025299.
Citation: Feng JY, Toomey SL, Elliott MN .
Factors associated with family experience in pediatric inpatient care.
Pediatrics 2020 Mar;145(3): e20191264. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-1264..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Children/Adolescents, Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Inpatient Care, Patient Experience, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Patient and Family Engagement, Clinician-Patient Communication
Leary JC, Walsh KE, Morin RA
Quality and safety of pediatric inpatient care in community hospitals: a scoping review.
This study’s aim was to conduct a scoping review and synthesize literature on the quality and safety of pediatric inpatient care in nonpediatric hospitals in the United States. A systematic literature review was performed in October 2016 to identify pediatric studies that reported on safety, effectiveness, efficiency, timeliness, patient-centeredness, or equity set. A total of 44 articles were included using inclusion criteria. There was a moderate or high risk of bias for 72% of the studies. This study shows there is very limited research currently and would benefit from more multicenter collaborations.
AHRQ-funded; HS024133.
Citation: Leary JC, Walsh KE, Morin RA .
Quality and safety of pediatric inpatient care in community hospitals: a scoping review.
J Hosp Med 2019 Nov 1;14(10):694-703. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3268..
Keywords: Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Evidence-Based Practice, Children/Adolescents, Inpatient Care, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Quality of Care
Montalbano A, Quinonez RA, Hall M
Achievable benchmarks of care for pediatric readmissions.
This study’s objective was to calculate mean readmission rates and the Achievable Benchmarks of Care (ABCs) for pediatric diagnoses by different hospital types: metropolitan teaching, metropolitan nonteaching, and nonmetropolitan hospitals. The authors used a cross-sectional retrospective study of 30-day, all-cause same-hospital readmission of patients less than 18 years of age using the 2014 HCUP National Readmission Database. They calculated mean readmission and corresponding ABCs for the 17 most common readmission diagnosis. They found that sickle cell disease (SCD), bipolar and major depressive disorders were the most common reasons for readmission.
AHRQ-funded; HS024554.
Citation: Montalbano A, Quinonez RA, Hall M .
Achievable benchmarks of care for pediatric readmissions.
J Hosp Med 2019 Sep;14(9):534-40. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3201..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Children/Adolescents, Hospital Readmissions, Hospitals, Quality of Care
Desai AD, Starmer AJ
Process metrics and outcomes to inform quality improvement in pediatric hospital medicine.
This article provides an overview of the selection, development, and use of process and outcome measures for pediatric hospital medicine quality improvement initiatives. It reviews commonly used categories of process and outcome measures, provides a list of common sources and repositories of previously validated measures, and provides a blueprint for the development of novel measures.
AHRQ-funded; HS024299.
Citation: Desai AD, Starmer AJ .
Process metrics and outcomes to inform quality improvement in pediatric hospital medicine.
Pediatr Clin North Am 2019 Aug;66(4):725-37. doi: 10.1016/j.pcl.2019.03.002..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Quality Measures, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Zaslavsky AM
Improving response rates and representation of hard-to-reach groups in family experience surveys.
This study examined the use of an audio-enabled tablet to survey parents of children discharged from 4 units of a children’s hospital. Normal mail survey response rates are very low, especially for black, Latino, and low-income respondents. This survey was done day of discharge at the hospital and there was a response rate of 71.1% via tablet versus 16.3% for mail only. The Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey was used. Tablet response rates were highest with fathers, those more likely to have a high school education or less, less likely to be white, and more likely to be publicly insured. The results are promising for future surveys using tablet administration.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513; HS025299.
Citation: Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Zaslavsky AM .
Improving response rates and representation of hard-to-reach groups in family experience surveys.
Acad Pediatr 2019 May - Jun;19(4):446-53. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2018.07.007..
Keywords: Caregiving, Children/Adolescents, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals, Low-Income, Patient Experience, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Kaiser SV, Lam R, Joseph GB
Limitations of using pediatric respiratory illness readmissions to compare hospital performance.
Researcher sought to determine if a National Quality Forum (NQF)-endorsed measure for pediatric lower respiratory illness (LRI) 30-day readmission rates can meaningfully identify high- and low-performing hospitals. Subjects were children with LRI (bronchiolitis, influenza, or pneumonia as primary diagnosis, or with an LRI as a secondary diagnosis with a primary diagnosis of respiratory failure, sepsis, bacteremia, or asthma) from all hospital admissions in California from 2012 to 2014. The researchers were unable to identify meaningful variation in hospital performance without broadening the metric definition and merging multiple years of data. They recommend that utilizers of pediatric-quality measures consider modifying metrics to better evaluate the quality of pediatric care at low-volume hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS024385; HS022835; HS024592; HS025297.
Citation: Kaiser SV, Lam R, Joseph GB .
Limitations of using pediatric respiratory illness readmissions to compare hospital performance.
J Hosp Med 2018 Nov;13(11):737-42. doi: 10.12788/jhm.2988..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Respiratory Conditions, Provider Performance, Hospital Readmissions, Hospitals, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Parast L, Bardach NS, Burkhart Q
Development of new quality measures for hospital-based care of suicidal youth.
This study researched the value of 4 new quality measures developed to assess hospital-based care for suicidal youth. The four quality measures focused on counseling caregivers about restricting access to lethal means of self-harm, and the benefits and risks of antidepressant medications. They were divided into measures for the emergency department (ED) and inpatient measures. Survey field tests were conducted with caregivers of youth who were admitted to the ED or inpatient care for suicidality at 1 of 2 children’s hospitals between July 2013 and June 2014. Most caregivers did receive counseling about restricting their child’s access to lethal means of self-harm and also reported higher rates of counseling of benefits on antidepressants both in the ED and in the inpatient setting than the risks.
AHRQ-funded; HS020506.
Citation: Parast L, Bardach NS, Burkhart Q .
Development of new quality measures for hospital-based care of suicidal youth.
Acad Pediatr 2018 Apr;18(3):248-55. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2017.09.017..
Keywords: Caregiving, Children/Adolescents, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Education: Patient and Caregiver, Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Behavioral Health, Prevention, Quality of Care, Quality Measures
Sills MR, Macy ML, Kocher KE
Return visit admissions may not indicate quality of emergency department care for children.
The goal of this retrospective analysis was to test the hypothesis that in-hospital outcomes are worse among children admitted during a return ED visit than among those admitted during an index visit. Children who were hospitalized in Florida and New York hospitals during a return visit within 7 days were classified as "ED return admissions" or "readmissions"; in-hospital outcomes for ED return admissions and readmissions were compared to "index admissions without return admission". The results indicate that children who are initially discharged from the ED and then have a return admission had lower severity but similar cost in comparison with children who experienced an index admission without a return admission. The authors conclude that this suggests that ED return visit admissions do not involve worse outcomes than index admissions.
AHRQ-funded; HS024160; HS016418.
Citation: Sills MR, Macy ML, Kocher KE .
Return visit admissions may not indicate quality of emergency department care for children.
Acad Emerg Med 2018 Mar;25(3):283-92. doi: 10.1111/acem.13324..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Emergency Department, Hospital Discharge, Hospital Readmissions, Hospitals, Quality of Care, Outcomes
Toomey SL, Zaslavsky AM, Elliott MN
The development of a pediatric inpatient experience of care measure: Child HCAHPS.
This article describes the development of Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), which included a national field test with 69 hospitals in 34 States, psychometric analysis, and end-user testing of the final survey. The final Child HCAHPS instrument has 62 items, including 39 patient experience items, 10 screeners, 12 demographic/descriptive items and 1 open-ended item.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513.
Citation: Toomey SL, Zaslavsky AM, Elliott MN .
The development of a pediatric inpatient experience of care measure: Child HCAHPS.
Pediatrics 2015 Aug;136(2):360-9. doi: 10.1542/peds.2015-0966..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Patient Experience, Quality of Care