National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Blood Pressure (1)
- Cancer (2)
- Cancer: Breast Cancer (1)
- Cancer: Lung Cancer (1)
- (-) Diagnostic Safety and Quality (8)
- Emergency Department (2)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (1)
- Imaging (1)
- Medical Errors (2)
- Neurological Disorders (1)
- Patient Safety (2)
- Primary Care (1)
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- Quality of Care (6)
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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 8 of 8 Research Studies DisplayedMurphy 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
Rauscher GH, Tossas-Milligan K, Macarol T
Trends in attaining mammography quality benchmarks with repeated participation in a quality measurement program: going beyond the mammography quality standards act to address breast cancer disparities.
The Mammography Quality Standards Act requires that mammography facilities conduct audits, but there are no specifications on the metrics to be measured. In this study, the authors present trends from the first 5 years of data collection to examine whether continued participation in this quality improvement program was associated with an increase in the number of benchmarks met for breast cancer screening.
AHRQ-funded; HS018366.
Citation: Rauscher GH, Tossas-Milligan K, Macarol T .
Trends in attaining mammography quality benchmarks with repeated participation in a quality measurement program: going beyond the mammography quality standards act to address breast cancer disparities.
J Am Coll Radiol 2020 Nov;17(11):1420-28. doi: 10.1016/j.jacr.2020.07.019..
Keywords: Cancer: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Women, Screening, Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Aragaki D, Basu A, Conlon C
Quality of electrodiagnostic testing for carpal tunnel syndrome: adherence to quality measures.
This study examined the quality of electrodiagnostic testing for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). The authors prospectively recruited 477 adults with workers’ compensation claims for CTS from 30 occupational health clinics and evaluated whether electrodiagnostic testing adhered to five process-oriented quality measures. Among the patients who had CTS surgery, nearly all had the recommended preoperative electrodiagnostic testing. Most (77.8%) included essential components but few documented skin temperature and criteria were seldom met for interpreting test findings as consistent with CTS or severe CTS.
AHRQ-funded; HS018982.
Citation: Aragaki D, Basu A, Conlon C .
Quality of electrodiagnostic testing for carpal tunnel syndrome: adherence to quality measures.
Muscle Nerve 2020 Jul;62(1):50-59. doi: 10.1002/mus.26858.
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Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Shetty KD, Robbins M, Aragaki D
The quality of electrodiagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome: Implications for surgery, outcomes, and expenditures.
The quality of electrodiagnostic tests may influence treatment decisions, particularly regarding surgery, affecting health outcomes and health-care expenditures. In this study, the investigators evaluated test quality among 338 adults with workers' compensation claims for carpal tunnel syndrome. The investigators found that in simulations, suboptimal quality tests rendered surgery inappropriate for 99 of 309 patients (+32 percentage points). They also found that test quality was not associated with overall health, actual receipt of surgery, or expenditures.
AHRQ-funded; HS018982.
Citation: Shetty KD, Robbins M, Aragaki D .
The quality of electrodiagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome: Implications for surgery, outcomes, and expenditures.
Muscle Nerve 2020 Jul;62(1):60-69. doi: 10.1002/mus.26874..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Neurological Disorders, Surgery, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Kocher KE, Arora R, Bassin BS
Baseline performance of real-world clinical practice within a statewide emergency medicine quality network: the Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC).
The Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC) has baseline performance data to identify practice variation across 15 diverse emergency departments on key emergency care quality indicators. The authors assessed MEDIC quality measures and found that performance varied greatly, with demonstrated opportunity for improvement. They conclude that MEDIC provides a robust platform for emergency physician engagement across emergency department practice settings to improve care and is a model for other states.
AHRQ-funded; HS024160.
Citation: Kocher KE, Arora R, Bassin BS .
Baseline performance of real-world clinical practice within a statewide emergency medicine quality network: the Michigan Emergency Department Improvement Collaborative (MEDIC).
Ann Emerg Med 2020 Feb;75(2):192-205. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2019.04.033..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Imaging, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Goldberg EM, Wilson T, Saucier C
Achieving the BpTRUth: emergency department hypertension screening and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quality measure.
The aims of this study were to (1) assess the reliability of ED triage blood pressure (BP) as a metric to establish when the CMS threshold (>/=120/80 mm Hg), and other clinically relevant BP thresholds (>/=140/90 and >/=160/100 mm Hg) have been met; and (2) determine whether correct identification varies by gender, race, or triage acuity. At the three suggested BP thresholds, 66.1 percent, 74.0 percent, and 88.8 percent of patients were confirmed to meet the CMS threshold, respectively. There were no differences by gender, race, or triage acuity.
AHRQ-funded; HS000011.
Citation: Goldberg EM, Wilson T, Saucier C .
Achieving the BpTRUth: emergency department hypertension screening and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services quality measure.
J Am Soc Hypertens 2017 May;11(5):290-94. doi: 10.1016/j.jash.2017.03.003.
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Keywords: Blood Pressure, Emergency Department, Quality Measures, Screening, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Quality of Care
Singh H, Sittig DF
Setting the record straight on measuring diagnostic errors. Reply to: 'Bad assumptions on primary care diagnostic errors' by Dr Richard Young.
This letter responds to a letter by Dr. Richard Young who criticizes Singh’s article on measuring diagnostic error. Singh defends his systems-based approach to advancing the science of measuring diagnostic error and acknowledges some of the uncertainties and evolution in the diagnostic process that Dr. Young writes about.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087
Citation: Singh H, Sittig DF .
Setting the record straight on measuring diagnostic errors. Reply to: 'Bad assumptions on primary care diagnostic errors' by Dr Richard Young.
BMJ Qual Saf. 2015 May;24(5):345-8. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2015-004140..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Primary Care, Quality Measures
Singh H, Sittig DF
Advancing the science of measurement of diagnostic errors in healthcare: the Safer Dx framework.
The authors developed a multifaceted framework to advance the science of measuring diagnostic errors (The Safer Dx framework). They described how their framework serves as a conceptual foundation for system-wide safety measurement, monitoring, and improvement of diagnostic error. They posited that the Safer Dx framework can be used by a variety of stakeholders including researchers, clinicians, health care organizations, and policymakers, to stimulate both retrospective and more proactive measurement of diagnostic errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Singh H, Sittig DF .
Advancing the science of measurement of diagnostic errors in healthcare: the Safer Dx framework.
BMJ Qual Saf 2015 Feb;24(2):103-10. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003675.
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Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Health Information Technology (HIT), Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality Measures