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
AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Access to Care (2)
- Adverse Events (1)
- Ambulatory Care and Surgery (1)
- Children/Adolescents (1)
- Communication (1)
- Decision Making (1)
- Disparities (1)
- Emergency Department (3)
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (1)
- Healthcare Costs (1)
- (-) Healthcare Delivery (8)
- Health Insurance (1)
- Hospitalization (1)
- Hospital Readmissions (1)
- Hospitals (3)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1)
- Medicaid (1)
- Medicare (1)
- Orthopedics (1)
- Outcomes (1)
- Patient Safety (2)
- Payment (1)
- Provider (1)
- Provider: Clinician (1)
- Quality of Care (1)
- (-) Surgery (8)
- Transitions of Care (3)
- Trauma (1)
- Workflow (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 8 of 8 Research Studies DisplayedIngraham A, Wang X, Havlena J
Factors associated with the interhospital transfer of emergency general surgery patients.
Researchers used data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample to determine patient- and hospital-level factors associated with interhospital emergency general surgery (EGS) transfers. They identified that hospital-level characteristics more strongly predicted the need for transfer than patient-related factors. They recommended considering these factors in order to facilitate transfer decision-making.
AHRQ-funded; HS025224.
Citation: Ingraham A, Wang X, Havlena J .
Factors associated with the interhospital transfer of emergency general surgery patients.
J Surg Res 2019 Aug;240:191-200. doi: 10.1016/j.jss.2018.11.053..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Emergency Department, Surgery, Decision Making, Hospitals, Healthcare Delivery, Transitions of Care
Dy CJ, Tipping AD, Nickel KB
Variation in the delivery of inpatient orthopaedic care to Medicaid beneficiaries within a single metropolitan region.
This study examined rates of Medicaid-funded surgical procedures for orthopedic patients. The authors hypothesized that orthopedists and hospitals are often unwilling to perform surgery on underinsured patients. The payer mix was examined for select inpatient orthopedic surgical procedures within a single region, including elective cases (total knee or hip arthroplasty; spinal decompression or fusion) and trauma cases (hip hemiarthroplasty; femoral or tibial or fibular fracture repair) among 22 hospitals from 2011 to 2016 for patients aged 18 to 64 years. For all cases (n = 19,204) the mean percentage of Medicaid-funded surgical procedures was 7.6%. Elective surgery cases were 5.5% and trauma cases 14.7% which supports their beliefs about delivery rates of orthopedic care on the basis of socioeconomic markers.
AHRQ-funded; HS019455.
Citation: Dy CJ, Tipping AD, Nickel KB .
Variation in the delivery of inpatient orthopaedic care to Medicaid beneficiaries within a single metropolitan region.
J Bone Joint Surg Am 2019 Aug 21;101(16):1451-59. doi: 10.2106/jbjs.18.01198.
.
.
Keywords: Orthopedics, Healthcare Delivery, Medicaid, Surgery, Access to Care, Disparities, Health Insurance
Hoonakker PLT, Wooldridge AR, Hose BZ
Information flow during pediatric trauma care transitions: things falling through the cracks.
In order to investigate information flow during pediatric trauma care transitions, researchers interviewed 18 clinicians about communication and coordination between the emergency department, operating room, and pediatric intensive care unit, then surveyed the clinicians about patient safety during these transitions. They found that, despite the fact that the many services and units involved in pediatric trauma cooperate well together during trauma cases, important patient care information is often lost when transitioning patients between units. To manage the transition of this fragile and complex population better, they recommend finding ways to manage the information flow during these transitions better by, for instance, providing technological support to ensure shared mental models.
AHRQ-funded; HS023837.
Citation: Hoonakker PLT, Wooldridge AR, Hose BZ .
Information flow during pediatric trauma care transitions: things falling through the cracks.
Intern Emerg Med 2019 Aug;14(5):797-805. doi: 10.1007/s11739-019-02110-7..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Communication, Emergency Department, Healthcare Delivery, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Patient Safety, Provider, Provider: Clinician, Surgery, Transitions of Care, Trauma
Joseph A, Khoshkenar A, Taaffe KM
Minor flow disruptions, traffic-related factors and their effect on major flow disruptions in the operating room.
This study researched the impact of minor flow disruptions (FDs) on operating room (OR) flow and how it contributes to an increase in serious adverse events. The rate of minor FDs increases the rate of major FDs. More major and minor FDs occur in the anesthesia area than in all other OR areas. They concluded that room design and layout issues contribute to those FDs and that is an important consideration in OR design.
AHRQ-funded; HS024380.
Citation: Joseph A, Khoshkenar A, Taaffe KM .
Minor flow disruptions, traffic-related factors and their effect on major flow disruptions in the operating room.
BMJ Qual Saf 2019 Apr;28(4):276-83. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2018-007957.
.
.
Keywords: Adverse Events, Healthcare Delivery, Patient Safety, Surgery, Workflow
Lauerman MH, Herrera AV, Albrecht JS
Interhospital transfers with wide variability in emergency general surgery.
This study examined modern hospital practices for interhospital transfers of emergency general surgery patients. A retrospective review of the Maryland Health Services Cost Review Commission database was conducted from 2013 to 2015. The majority of patients (94.1%) were not transferred with only 3.2% transferred to a hospital and 2.7% transferred from a hospital. For individual hospitals, there was a range of 0-30.5% of encounters transferred to a hospital, 0.02-14.62% transferred from a hospital and 69.25-99.95% not transferred.
AHRQ-funded; HS024560.
Citation: Lauerman MH, Herrera AV, Albrecht JS .
Interhospital transfers with wide variability in emergency general surgery.
Am Surg 2019 Jun;85(6):595-600..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Healthcare Delivery, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Outcomes, Quality of Care, Surgery, Transitions of Care
Borza T, Oerline MK, Skolarus TA
Association between hospital participation in Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations and readmission following major surgery.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and readmission rates following major surgery. A retrospective cohort study was conducted using a 20% national Medicare sample to identify beneficiaries undergoing 1 of 7 common surgical procedures: abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, colectomy, cystectomy, prostatectomy, lung resection, total knee arthroplasty, and total hip arthroplasty between 2010 and 2014. Thirty-day risk-adjusted readmission rates was the primary outcome studied. Out of 2974 hospitals in the study, 389 were ACO affiliated. While rates fell for both cohorts, ACO hospitals had a higher decrease in hospitalizations over the same time period.
AHRQ-funded; HS024728; HS024525.
Citation: Borza T, Oerline MK, Skolarus TA .
Association between hospital participation in Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations and readmission following major surgery.
Ann Surg 2019 May;269(5):873-78. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000002737..
Keywords: Hospitals, Surgery, Hospital Readmissions, Medicare, Healthcare Costs, Healthcare Delivery
Symer MM, Abelson JS, Yeo L
Barriers to regionalized surgical care: public perspective survey and geospatial analysis.
A cross-sectional telephone survey was performed as part of the Cornell National Social Survey. Participants had an average age of 50 and were 48.9% female. Almost half were unwilling to travel 5 hours or more to get regionalized care. Participants who were aged 70 or more had a decreased willingness to travel a perceived 30 minutes or more to a center. The higher the income, the more willingness to travel increased distances. Major perceived barriers were transportation, life disruption, social support, income levels, poor health and remoteness.
AHRQ-funded; HS000066.
Citation: Symer MM, Abelson JS, Yeo L .
Barriers to regionalized surgical care: public perspective survey and geospatial analysis.
Ann Surg 2019 Jan;269(1):73-78. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000002556..
Keywords: Surgery, Access to Care, Healthcare Delivery
Hollingsworth JM, Birkmeyer JD, Ye Z
Specialty-specific trends in the prevalence and distribution of outpatient surgery: implications for payment and delivery system reforms.
The authors sought to assess the prevalence and distribution of outpatient surgery across specialties. They found that several specialties - urology, gastroenterology, plastic surgery, and ophthalmology - perform most of their cases in outpatient settings. They suggested that incorporating these findings into the design of future payment and delivery system reforms will help to ensure adequate surgeon exposure to the efficiency gains that evolve from them.
AHRQ-funded; HS020927; HS018346.
Citation: Hollingsworth JM, Birkmeyer JD, Ye Z .
Specialty-specific trends in the prevalence and distribution of outpatient surgery: implications for payment and delivery system reforms.
Surg Innov 2014 Dec;21(6):560-5. doi: 10.1177/1553350613520515.
.
.
Keywords: Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Surgery, Healthcare Delivery, Payment