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Search All Research Studies
AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (10)
- (-) Adverse Events (23)
- Ambulatory Care and Surgery (1)
- Blood Pressure (1)
- Children/Adolescents (2)
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS) (3)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (2)
- Communication (2)
- Critical Care (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (4)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (6)
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (2)
- Healthcare Costs (2)
- Healthcare Delivery (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (10)
- Hospitals (1)
- Inpatient Care (2)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1)
- Labor and Delivery (1)
- (-) Medical Errors (23)
- Medical Liability (1)
- Medication (10)
- Medication: Safety (5)
- Patient and Family Engagement (1)
- Patient Safety (20)
- Policy (1)
- Pregnancy (1)
- Prevention (3)
- Quality Improvement (1)
- Quality of Care (1)
- Research Methodologies (1)
- Risk (1)
- Surgery (1)
- Teams (1)
- Tools & Toolkits (1)
- Women (1)
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 23 of 23 Research Studies DisplayedKhan A, Spector ND, Baird JD
Patient safety after implementation of a coproduced family centered communication programme: multicenter before and after intervention study.
The objective of this prospective, multicenter before and after intervention was to determine whether medical errors, family experience, and communication processes improved after implementation of the intervention to standardize the structure of healthcare provider-family communication on family centered rounds. The investigators concluded that although overall errors were unchanged, harmful medical errors decreased and family experience and communication processes improved.
AHRQ-funded; HS00063.
Citation: Khan A, Spector ND, Baird JD .
Patient safety after implementation of a coproduced family centered communication programme: multicenter before and after intervention study.
BMJ 2018 Dec 5;363:k4764. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k4764..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Medical Errors, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient Safety
Wright A, Aaron S, Seger DL
Reduced effectiveness of interruptive drug-drug interaction alerts after conversion to a commercial electronic health record.
This study examined the effects of conversion from a homegrown electronic health record (EHR) system to a commercial system on the effectiveness of drug-drug interaction (DDI) alert. The EHR system included 3277 clinicians in the before and after studies. There was a marked decrease in the acceptance rate (100 to 8.4% for severe alerts, 29.3 to 7.5% for medium severity) at first. The least severe alerts were then disabled, which lowered the alert burden by 50.5% which rose the acceptance of Tier 1 alerts to 12.7%. However, there was no clear explanation after that why the acceptance rate remained so much lower. The authors believe that workflow factors were probably the predominant reasons.
AHRQ-funded; HS016970.
Citation: Wright A, Aaron S, Seger DL .
Reduced effectiveness of interruptive drug-drug interaction alerts after conversion to a commercial electronic health record.
J Gen Intern Med 2018 Nov;33(11):1868-76. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4415-9..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Medication, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety
Schiff G, Mirica MM, Dhavle AA
A prescription for enhancing electronic prescribing safety.
The authors review six areas in which electronic prescribing areas can be improved to transform medication ordering quality and safety. They recommend incorporating medication indications into electronic prescribing, establishing a single shared online medication list, implementing an electronic cancellation mechanism for pharmacies, implementing standardized structured and codified prescription instruction, reengineering clinical decision support, and redesigning electronic prescribing to facilitate ordering of nondrug alternatives.
AHRQ-funded; HS023694.
Citation: Schiff G, Mirica MM, Dhavle AA .
A prescription for enhancing electronic prescribing safety.
Health Aff 2018 Nov;37(11):1877-83. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0725..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Health Information Technology (HIT), Healthcare Delivery, Medical Errors, Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Bates DW, Singh H
Two decades since To Err Is Human: an assessment of progress and emerging priorities in patient safety.
This paper comments on the progress made in improving patient safety since the 1999 report from The Institute of Medicine titled “To Err is Human” was published. This landmark report highlighted problem areas, and since then there has been a number of effective interventions to prevent hospital-acquired infections and improve medication safety. Additional areas for improvement have also been identified in the past two decades, including outpatient care, diagnostic, errors and the use of health information technology. The authors believe that electronic data developments can help increase patient safety even further.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087; HS017820.
Citation: Bates DW, Singh H .
Two decades since To Err Is Human: an assessment of progress and emerging priorities in patient safety.
Health Aff 2018 Nov;37(11):1736-43. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.0738..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medical Errors, Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety, Prevention
Slight SP, Seger DL, Franz C
The national cost of adverse drug events resulting from inappropriate medication-related alert overrides in the United States.
Investigators worked to determine the national cost of adverse drug events (ADEs) in the United States in 2014. They used three different regression models. They used a random sample of 40,990 adult inpatients at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston with over 1.6 million medication orders. They extrapolated the medication orders using 2014 National Inpatient Sample (NIS) data. They estimated that out of 78.8 million total medication alerts, 5.5 million medication alerts would have been inappropriately overridden resulting in 196,660 ADEs. They estimated it would have cost between $871 million and $1.8 billion for treating these preventable ADEs in the United States.
AHRQ-funded; HS021094.
Citation: Slight SP, Seger DL, Franz C .
The national cost of adverse drug events resulting from inappropriate medication-related alert overrides in the United States.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2018 Sep;25(9):1183-88. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocy066..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Health Information Technology (HIT), Healthcare Costs, Medical Errors, Medication
Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, Singh H
Diagnostic error in the critically ill: defining the problem and exploring next steps to advance intensive care unit safety.
Despite progress in ICU safety, diagnostic errors remain largely unexplored and under-studied in critical care. Compared to other safety problems, diagnostic errors are more difficult to identify and, due to the intricacies of the diagnostic process, are more difficult to unravel. This paper discusses diagnostic error in critically ill patients, defines the problem and explores next steps to advance ICU safety.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Bergl PA, Nanchal RS, Singh H .
Diagnostic error in the critically ill: defining the problem and exploring next steps to advance intensive care unit safety.
Ann Am Thorac Soc 2018 Aug;15(8):903-07. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.201801-068PS..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Critical Care, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Stockwell DC, Landrigan CP, Toomey SL
Adverse events in hospitalized pediatric patients.
Patient safety concerns over the past 2 decades have prompted widespread efforts to reduce adverse events (AEs). This study used a validated safety surveillance tool, the Global Assessment of Pediatric Patient Safety, to measure temporal trends (2007-2012) in AE rates among hospitalized children. The study concluded that AE rates in pediatric inpatients are high and did not improve from 2007 to 2012. Pediatric AE rates were substantially higher in teaching hospitals as well as in patients with more chronic conditions.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513
Citation: Stockwell DC, Landrigan CP, Toomey SL .
Adverse events in hospitalized pediatric patients.
Pediatrics 2018 Aug;142(2). doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-3360..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Inpatient Care, Medical Errors
Bell SK, Etchegaray JM, Gaufberg E
A multi-stakeholder consensus-driven research agenda for better understanding and supporting the emotional impact of harmful events on patients and families.
A one-day conference of diverse stakeholder groups convened to establish a consensus-driven research agenda focused on the impact of patient and family emotional harm stemming from preventable medical error. Stakeholder groups reached consensus and designed a path forward to inform approaches that better support harmed patients and families, with both immediately actionable and longer-term research strategies.
AHRQ-funded; HS024463.
Citation: Bell SK, Etchegaray JM, Gaufberg E .
A multi-stakeholder consensus-driven research agenda for better understanding and supporting the emotional impact of harmful events on patients and families.
Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2018 Jul;44(7):424-35. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjq.2018.03.007..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Research Methodologies
Olson AP, Graber ML, Singh H
Tracking progress in improving diagnosis: a framework for defining undesirable diagnostic events.
The authors of this paper propose a new framework to identify “undesirable diagnostic events” (UDEs) to help establish reliable and valid measures for diagnostic errors. They proposed an outline for UDEs to identify conditions prone to diagnostic error and the contexts of care in which those errors are likely to occur.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087; HS023602.
Citation: Olson AP, Graber ML, Singh H .
Tracking progress in improving diagnosis: a framework for defining undesirable diagnostic events.
J Gen Intern Med 2018 Jul;33(7):1187-91. doi: 10.1007/s11606-018-4304-2..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety
Rosenbluth G, Destino LA, Starmer AJ
I-PASS handoff program: use of a campaign to effect transformational change.
Successful implementation of the I-PASS handoff bundle with subsequent decreases in medical errors and preventable adverse events represents an example of successful transformational change within academic medical centers. The study authors designed a campaign to support and enhance uptake of the I-PASS handoff bundle at 9 study sites from 2011 to 2013.
AHRQ-funded; HS019456.
Citation: Rosenbluth G, Destino LA, Starmer AJ .
I-PASS handoff program: use of a campaign to effect transformational change.
Pediatr Qual Saf 2018 Jul-Aug;3(4):e088. doi: 10.1097/pq9.0000000000000088..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Wang J, Ali E, Gong Y
An information enhanced framework for reporting medication events.
In this article, the authors describe a proposed framework to discover supportive information from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), an open data source, to enhance the reporting of insulin-use events. The framework represents a paradigm for developing an information enhanced electronic reporting system.
AHRQ-funded; HS022895.
Citation: Wang J, Ali E, Gong Y .
An information enhanced framework for reporting medication events.
Stud Health Technol Inform 2018;250:169-73..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Zhou S, Kang H, Yao B
Unveiling originated stages of medication errors: an automated pipeline approach.
Medication error reports collected by Patient Safety Organizations provide an opportunity to analyze and learn from previous cases. However, the current process of analyzing the reports is labor-intensive and time-consuming. To improve the efficiency, the investigators used automated text classification techniques to develop a pipeline for medication error report pre-analysis.
AHRQ-funded; HS022895.
Citation: Zhou S, Kang H, Yao B .
Unveiling originated stages of medication errors: an automated pipeline approach.
Stud Health Technol Inform 2018;250:182-86..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety
Muldoon MF, Kronish IM, Shimbo D
Of signal and noise: overcoming challenges in blood pressure measurement to optimize hypertension care.
This paper reviews the manifestations and consequences of BP mismeasurement and misinterpretation in clinical practice and draw on recent research to propose a set of solutions that leverage available technologies to optimize hypertension care.
AHRQ-funded; HS024262.
Citation: Muldoon MF, Kronish IM, Shimbo D .
Of signal and noise: overcoming challenges in blood pressure measurement to optimize hypertension care.
Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2018 May;11(5):e004543. doi: 10.1161/circoutcomes.117.004543..
Keywords: Blood Pressure, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Quality of Care
Howe JL, Adams KT, Hettinger AZ
Electronic health record usability issues and potential contribution to patient harm.
Researchers analyzed reports of possible patient harm that explicitly mentioned a major EHR vendor or product. They concluded that EHR usability may have been a contributing factor to some possible patient harm events. Only a small percentage of potential harm events were associated with EHR usability, but the analysis was conservative because safety reports only capture a small fraction of the actual number of safety incidents.
AHRQ-funded; HS023701.
Citation: Howe JL, Adams KT, Hettinger AZ .
Electronic health record usability issues and potential contribution to patient harm.
JAMA 2018 Mar 27;319(12):1276-78. doi: 10.1001/jama.2018.1171.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Risk
Dynan L, Goudie A, Brady PW
Pediatric adverse event rates associated with inexperience in teaching hospitals: a multilevel analysis.
In this article, the investigators hypothesize that adverse event rates increase with the availability of more complex services and technologies (transplantation and pediatric open-heart surgery); increase as experience of providers decreases (July effect); and increase with residents per bed, a measure of both average provider inexperience and congestion. Using multilevel analysis, they found empirical evidence in support of their three hypotheses.
AHRQ-funded; HS023827.
Citation: Dynan L, Goudie A, Brady PW .
Pediatric adverse event rates associated with inexperience in teaching hospitals: a multilevel analysis.
J Healthc Qual 2018 Mar/Apr;40(2):69-78. doi: 10.1097/jhq.0000000000000121..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Adverse Events, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Larsen E, Fong A, Wernz C
Implications of electronic health record downtime: an analysis of patient safety event reports.
Researchers sought to understand the types of clinical processes, such as image and medication ordering, that are disrupted during electronic health record (EHR) downtime periods by analyzing the narratives of patient safety event report data. They concluded that patient safety report data offer a lens into EHR downtime-related safety hazards. Important areas of risk during EHR downtime periods were patient identification and communication of clinical information.
AHRQ-funded; HS024350.
Citation: Larsen E, Fong A, Wernz C .
Implications of electronic health record downtime: an analysis of patient safety event reports.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2018 Feb;25(2):187-91. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx057.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Meeks DW, Meyer AN, Rose B
Exploring new avenues to assess the sharp end of patient safety: an analysis of nationally aggregated peer review data.
The researchers described outcomes of peer review within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system and identified opportunities to leverage peer review data for measurement and improvement of safety. Results showed that the most common process contributing to substandard care was 'timing and appropriateness of treatment'; approximately 16% had diagnosis-related performance concerns. The authors concluded that peer review may be a useful tool for healthcare organizations to assess their sharp end clinical performance, particularly safety events related to diagnostic and treatment errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Meeks DW, Meyer AN, Rose B .
Exploring new avenues to assess the sharp end of patient safety: an analysis of nationally aggregated peer review data.
BMJ Qual Saf 2014 Dec;23(12):1023-30. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2014-003239.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement
Ranji SR, Rennke S, Wachter RM
Computerised provider order entry combined with clinical decision support systems to improve medication safety: a narrative review.
The authors searched AHRQ's Patient Safety Net to identify reviews of the effect of computerised provider order entry (CPOE) combined with clinical decision support systems (CDSS) on adverse drug event (ADE) rates in inpatient and outpatient settings. They found that CPOE+CDSS was consistently reported to reduce prescribing errors, but does not appear to prevent clinical ADEs in either the inpatient or outpatient setting. Implementation of CPOE+CDSS profoundly changes staff workflow, often leading to unintended consequences and new safety issues (such as alert fatigue) which limit the system's safety effects.
AHRQ-funded; 2902007100621.
Citation: Ranji SR, Rennke S, Wachter RM .
Computerised provider order entry combined with clinical decision support systems to improve medication safety: a narrative review.
BMJ Qual Saf 2014 Sep;23(9):773-80. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002165.
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Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Patient Safety
Pohl JM, Tanner C, Hamilton A
Medication safety after implementation of a commercial electronic health record system in five safety-net practices: a mixed methods approach.
This study, conducted in five safety-net practices, examined the impact of implementing a commercial electronic health records system on medication safety. The authors found 130 "true" drug-drug interaction (DDI) pairs, representing 149,087 visits and 62 providers, with the largest DDI categories being related to antihypertensive medications, which are often prescribed together. They found no significant differences between physicians and nurse practitioners on the rate of DDI pairs.
AHRQ-funded; HS017191.
Citation: Pohl JM, Tanner C, Hamilton A .
Medication safety after implementation of a commercial electronic health record system in five safety-net practices: a mixed methods approach.
J Am Assoc Nurse Pract 2014 Aug;26(8):438-44. doi: 10.1002/2327-6924.12089.
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Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Huang LC, Conley D, Lipsitz S
The Surgical Safety Checklist and teamwork coaching tools: a study of inter-rater reliability.
The authors assessed the inter-rater reliability (IRR) of two novel observation tools for measuring surgical safety checklist performance and teamwork. They found that both the Checklist Coaching Tool and the Surgical Teamwork Tool demonstrated substantial IRR and required limited training to use, indicating that both instruments may be used to observe checklist performance and teamwork in the operating room. They recommended that further refinement and calibration of observer expectations, particularly in rating teamwork, could improve the utility of the tools.
AHRQ-funded; HS019631.
Citation: Huang LC, Conley D, Lipsitz S .
The Surgical Safety Checklist and teamwork coaching tools: a study of inter-rater reliability.
BMJ Qual Saf 2014 Aug;23(8):639-50. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002446.
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Keywords: Patient Safety, Surgery, Tools & Toolkits, Teams, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Prevention
Galanter WL, Bryson ML, Falck S
Indication alerts intercept drug name confusion errors during computerized entry of medication orders.
The authors measured whether indication alerts at the time of computerized physician order entry (CPOE) can intercept drug name confusion errors. They found that indication alerts intercepted 1.4 drug name confusion errors per 1000 alerts and recommended that institutions with CPOE consider using indication prompts to intercept drug name confusion errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS021093.
Citation: Galanter WL, Bryson ML, Falck S .
Indication alerts intercept drug name confusion errors during computerized entry of medication orders.
PLoS One 2014 Jul 15;9(7):e101977. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101977.
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Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Patient Safety
Forrester SH, Hepp Z, Roth JA
Cost-effectiveness of a computerized provider order entry system in improving medication safety ambulatory care.
The study objective was to estimate the cost-effectiveness of computerized provider order entry versus traditional paper-based prescribing in reducing medications errors and adverse drug events in the ambulatory setting of mid-sized medical group. Using a decision-analytic model, the researchers found that the adoption of CPOE in the ambulatory setting provides excellent value for the investment.
AHRQ-funded; HS014739
Citation: Forrester SH, Hepp Z, Roth JA .
Cost-effectiveness of a computerized provider order entry system in improving medication safety ambulatory care.
Value Health. 2014 Jun;17(4):340-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2014.01.009..
Keywords: Health Information Technology (HIT), Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Medication, Patient Safety, Healthcare Costs, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Prevention
Hendrich A, McCoy CK, Gale J
Ascension health's demonstration of full disclosure protocol for unexpected events during labor and delivery shows promise.
This article presents a case study concerning challenges, including physician resistance, to the establishment of a common full disclosure protocol at five labor and delivery demonstration sites. Twenty-seven months after implementation, the rate of full disclosure had increased by 221 percent. Practitioners saw a number of factors as key catalysts for change including consistent and ongoing leadership by local practitioners and hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS019608.
Citation: Hendrich A, McCoy CK, Gale J .
Ascension health's demonstration of full disclosure protocol for unexpected events during labor and delivery shows promise.
Health Aff 2014 Jan;33(1):39-45. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2013.1009..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Labor and Delivery, Medical Errors, Medical Liability, Policy, Pregnancy, Women