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AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Ambulatory Care and Surgery (1)
- Arthritis (1)
- Blood Pressure (1)
- Burnout (1)
- Cancer (1)
- Cancer: Breast Cancer (1)
- Cardiovascular Conditions (1)
- Care Management (1)
- Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) (1)
- Children/Adolescents (2)
- Chronic Conditions (2)
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS) (10)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (1)
- Communication (3)
- (-) Decision Making (20)
- Dementia (1)
- Diabetes (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (3)
- Education: Patient and Caregiver (2)
- Elderly (1)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (9)
- Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing) (1)
- Emergency Department (1)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Genetics (1)
- Guidelines (1)
- Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) (1)
- Health Information Exchange (HIE) (1)
- (-) Health Information Technology (HIT) (20)
- Hospitals (1)
- Imaging (1)
- Medication (3)
- Medication: Safety (2)
- Neurological Disorders (2)
- Nursing (1)
- Orthopedics (1)
- Outcomes (1)
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- Patient Safety (3)
- Practice Patterns (1)
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- Quality of Care (2)
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- Social Determinants of Health (1)
- Surgery (2)
- U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) (1)
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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 20 of 20 Research Studies DisplayedThate JA, Couture B, Schnock KO
Information needs and the use of documentation to support collaborative decision-making: implications for the reduction of central line-associated blood stream infections.
It is clear that interdisciplinary communication and collaboration have the potential to mitigate healthcare-associated harm, yet there is limited research on how communication through documentation in the patient record can support collaborative decision making. Understanding what information is needed to support collaborative decision making is necessary to design electronic health information systems that facilitate effective communication and, ultimately, safe care. To explore this issue, the investigators focused on information needs related to central venous catheter management and the prevention of central line-associated blood stream infections.
AHRQ-funded; HS0235335.
Citation: Thate JA, Couture B, Schnock KO .
Information needs and the use of documentation to support collaborative decision-making: implications for the reduction of central line-associated blood stream infections.
Comput Inform Nurs 2020 Nov 2;39(4):208-14. doi: 10.1097/cin.0000000000000683..
Keywords: Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Decision Making, Communication, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Nursing
Rogith D, Satterly T, Singh H
Application of human factors methods to understand missed follow-up of abnormal test results.
This study demonstrated application of human factors methods for understanding causes for lack of timely follow-up of abnormal test results ("missed results") in outpatient settings. The investigators identified 30 cases of missed test results by querying electronic health record data, developed a critical decision method based interview guide to understand decision-making processes, and interviewed physicians who ordered these tests. They analyzed transcribed responses, developed a CI-based flow model, and conducted a fault tree analysis to identify hierarchical relationships between factors that delayed action.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087; HS022901.
Citation: Rogith D, Satterly T, Singh H .
Application of human factors methods to understand missed follow-up of abnormal test results.
Appl Clin Inform 2020 Oct;11(5):692-98. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1716537..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Decision Making, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Communication, Clinician-Patient Communication
Giardina JC, Cha T, Atlas SJ
Validation of an electronic coding algorithm to identify the primary indication of orthopedic surgeries from administrative data.
The purpose of this study was to develop and validate an algorithm to identify patients receiving four elective orthopedic surgeries to promote shared decision-making. The surgeries included were: 1) knee arthroplasty to treat knee osteoarthritis (KOA); 2) hip arthroplasty to treat hip osteoarthritis (HOA); 3) spinal surgery to treat lumbar spinal stenosis (SpS); and 4) spinal surgery to treat lumber herniated disc (HD). Electronic medical records were reviewed to ascertain a “gold standard” determination of the procedure and primary indication status. Each case had electronic algorithms consisting of ICD-10 and CPT codes for each combination and indication applied to their record. A total of 790 procedures were included in the study. The sensitivity of the algorithms ranged from 0.70 (HD) to 0.92 (KOA). Specificity ranged from 0.94 (SpS) to 0.99 (HOA, KOA).
AHRQ-funded; HS000055.
Citation: Giardina JC, Cha T, Atlas SJ .
Validation of an electronic coding algorithm to identify the primary indication of orthopedic surgeries from administrative data.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2020 Aug 12;20(1):187. doi: 10.1186/s12911-020-01175-1.
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Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Orthopedics, Surgery, Arthritis, Decision Making
Curran RL, Kukhareva PV, Taft T
Integrated displays to improve chronic disease management in ambulatory care: a SMART on FHIR application informed by mixed-methods user testing.
This study’s objective was to evaluate a novel electronic health record (EHR) add-on application for chronic disease management that uses an integrated display to decrease user cognitive load, improve efficiency, and support clinical decision making. The authors designed an application using the technology framework known as SMART on FHIR (Substitutable Medical Applications and Reusable Technologies on Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources). They used mixed methods to obtain user feedback on a prototype to support ambulatory providers managing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Two patient scenarios were presented to the participants using the regular EHR with and without access to their prototype. Results measured was the percentage of expert-recommended ideal care tasks completed. Timing, keyboard and mouse use, and participant surveys were also collected. The 13 participants complete more recommended care using the prototype (81% vs 48%) and recommended tasks per minute over long sessions. Keystrokes per task were also lower with the prototype (6 vs 18). While there was a learning curve for this application, it will increase efficiency and patient care with practice.
AHRQ-funded; HS026198.
Citation: Curran RL, Kukhareva PV, Taft T .
Integrated displays to improve chronic disease management in ambulatory care: a SMART on FHIR application informed by mixed-methods user testing.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2020 Aug;27(8):1225-34. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa099..
Keywords: Chronic Conditions, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Care Management, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making
Co Z, Holmgren AJ, Classen DC
The tradeoffs between safety and alert fatigue: data from a national evaluation of hospital medication-related clinical decision support.
This study evaluated the overall performance of hospitals that used the Computerized Physician Order Entry Evaluation Tool in 2017 and 2018 and compared performances for fatal orders and nuisance orders each year. The authors evaluated 1599 hospitals that took the test by using their overall percentage scores along with the percentage of fatal orders appropriately alerted on and the percentage of nuisance orders incorrectly alerted on. Overall hospital scores improved from 58.1% in 2017 to 66.2% in 2018. Fatal order performance improved slightly from 78.8% to 83.0%, but there no very little change in nuisance order performance (89.0% to 89.7%). Conclusions were that perhaps hospitals are not targeting the deadliest orders first and some hospitals may be achieving higher scores by over-alerting. This has the potential to cause clinician burnout and even worsen patient safety.
AHRQ-funded; HS023696.
Citation: Co Z, Holmgren AJ, Classen DC .
The tradeoffs between safety and alert fatigue: data from a national evaluation of hospital medication-related clinical decision support.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2020 Aug;27(8):1252-58. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocaa098..
Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Patient Safety, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Burnout, Hospitals, Health Information Technology (HIT), Quality of Care
Shaffer VA, Wegier P, Valentine KD
Use of enhanced data visualization to improve patient judgments about hypertension control.
Uncontrolled hypertension is driven by clinical uncertainty around blood pressure data. This research sought to determine whether decision support-in the form of enhanced data visualization-could improve judgments about hypertension control. The investigators concluded that enhancing data visualization with the use of a smoothing function to minimize the variability present in raw blood pressure data significantly improved judgments about hypertension control.
AHRQ-funded; HS023328.
Citation: Shaffer VA, Wegier P, Valentine KD .
Use of enhanced data visualization to improve patient judgments about hypertension control.
Med Decis Making 2020 Aug;40(6):785-96. doi: 10.1177/0272989x20940999..
Keywords: Blood Pressure, Decision Making, Chronic Conditions, Cardiovascular Conditions, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Eden KB, Ivlev I, Bensching KL
Use of an online breast cancer risk assessment and patient decision aid in primary care practices.
A cross-sectional study evaluating a web-based breast cancer risk assessment and decision aid (MammoScreen) was conducted in an academic general internal medicine clinic. Breast cancer risk assessment and mammography screening decision support were efficiently implemented through a web-based tool for patients sent through an electronic patient portal. Findings indicated that integration of patient decision aids with risk algorithms in clinical practice may help support the implementation of USPSTF recommendations that include risk assessment and shared decision-making.
AHRQ-funded; HS026370.
Citation: Eden KB, Ivlev I, Bensching KL .
Use of an online breast cancer risk assessment and patient decision aid in primary care practices.
J Womens Health 2020 Jun;29(6):763-69. doi: 10.1089/jwh.2019.8143..
Keywords: U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), Cancer: Breast Cancer, Cancer, Screening, Decision Making, Risk, Health Information Technology (HIT), Prevention, Women
Carayon P, Hoonakker P, Hundt AS
Application of human factors to improve usability of clinical decision support for diagnostic decision-making: a scenario-based simulation study.
This study used a scenario-based simulation to compare a human factor (HF)-based clinician decision support (CDS) with a web-based CDS (MDCalc) for clinicians to diagnose pulmonary embolism (PE) in the emergency department. A total of 32 emergency physicians participated using both CDS types. Emergency physicians made more appropriate diagnoses decisions with the PE-Dx CDS (94%) than with the web-based CDS (84%). Experimental tasks were also performed faster (average 96 seconds per scenario versus 117 seconds). They also reported lower workload and higher satisfaction with the HF-based CDS.
AHRQ-funded; HS024342; HS024558; HS022086.
Citation: Carayon P, Hoonakker P, Hundt AS .
Application of human factors to improve usability of clinical decision support for diagnostic decision-making: a scenario-based simulation study.
BMJ Qual Saf 2020 Apr;29(4):329-40. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009857..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Health Information Technology (HIT), Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Emergency Department
Holmgren AJ, Co Z, Newmark L
Assessing the safety of electronic health records: a national longitudinal study of medication-related decision support.
The authors tested how well EHRs prevented medication errors with the potential for patient harm. Data from a national, longitudinal sample of 1527 hospitals in the US from 2009-16 who took a safety performance assessment test using simulated medication orders was used. The authors found that hospital medication order safety performance improved over time. They conclude that intentional quality improvement efforts appear to be a critical part of high safety performance and may indicate the importance of a culture of safety.
AHRQ-funded; HS023696.
Citation: Holmgren AJ, Co Z, Newmark L .
Assessing the safety of electronic health records: a national longitudinal study of medication-related decision support.
BMJ Qual Saf 2020 Jan;29(1):52-59. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009609..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety, Medication, Electronic Prescribing (E-Prescribing), Medication: Safety, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making
Barnes DE, Zhou J, Walker RL
Development and validation of eRADAR: a tool using EHR Data to detect unrecognized dementia.
The goal of this retrospective cohort study was to develop and validate an electronic health record (EHR)-based tool to help detect patients with unrecognized dementia. The tool was named EHR Risk of Alzheimer’s and Dementia Assessment Rule (eRADAR). This study was conducted at Kaiser Permanente Washington (KPWA) using participants in the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) study who undergo comprehensive testing every 2 years to detect and diagnose dementia and have linked KPWA EHR data. Overall, 1015 ACT visits resulted in a diagnosis of incident dementia, of which 49% were previously unrecognized in the EHR. The final 31-predictor model included markers of dementia-related symptoms, healthcare utilization patterns, and dementia risk factors. The study showed good discrimination in the development interval and validation samples.
AHRQ-funded; HS022982.
Citation: Barnes DE, Zhou J, Walker RL .
Development and validation of eRADAR: a tool using EHR Data to detect unrecognized dementia.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2020 Jan;68(1):103-11. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16182..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Dementia, Neurological Disorders, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making
Wissel BD, Greiner TA, Holland-Bouley KD
Prospective validation of a machine learning model that uses provider notes to identify candidates for resective epilepsy surgery.
Delay to resective epilepsy surgery results in avoidable disease burden and increased risk of mortality. The objective of this study was to prospectively validate a natural language processing (NLP) application that uses provider notes to assign epilepsy surgery candidacy scores. The authors suggest that an electronic health record-integrated NLP application can accurately assign surgical candidacy scores to patients in a clinical setting.
AHRQ-funded; HS024977.
Citation: Wissel BD, Greiner TA, Holland-Bouley KD .
Prospective validation of a machine learning model that uses provider notes to identify candidates for resective epilepsy surgery.
Epilepsia 2020 Jan;61(1):39-48. doi: 10.1111/epi.16398..
Keywords: Neurological Disorders, Surgery, Health Information Technology (HIT), Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making
Lomotan EA, Meadows G, Michaels M
AHRQ Author: Lomotan EA
To share is human! Advancing evidence into practice through a national repository of interoperable clinical decision support.
The purpose of this study was to describe how a national repository of clinical decision support (CDS) can serve as a public resource for healthcare systems, academic researchers, and informaticists seeking to share and reuse CDS knowledge resources. AHRQ’s CDS Connect has provided a functional platform where CDS developers are actively sharing their work. CDS sharing may lead to improved implementation efficiency through numerous pathways, and further research is ongoing to quantify efficiencies gained.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 290201600001U; 233201500022I.
Citation: Lomotan EA, Meadows G, Michaels M .
To share is human! Advancing evidence into practice through a national repository of interoperable clinical decision support.
Appl Clin Inform 2020 Jan;11(1):112-21. doi: 10.1055/s-0040-1701253..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Evidence-Based Practice, Registries, Health Information Technology (HIT)
Holden RJ, Campbell NL, Abebe E
Usability and feasibility of consumer-facing technology to reduce unsafe medication use by older adults.
Researchers sought to test the usability and feasibility of Brain Buddy, a consumer-facing mobile health technology designed to inform and empower older adults to consider the risks and benefits of anticholinergics. Primary care patients aged 60 years or older who used anticholinergic medications participated in task-based usability testing of Brain Buddy; usability was assessed by the System Usability Scale, and performance-based usability data collected for each task through observation. The researchers found that overall usability was acceptable or better, with 100% of participants completing each Brain Buddy task. Observed usability issues included higher rates of errors, hesitations, and need for assistance on tasks. They conclude that user-centered design and evaluation with demographically heterogeneous clinical samples uncovers correctable usability issues and confirms the value of interventions targeting consumers as agents in shared decision making and behavior change.
AHRQ- funded; HS024384.
Citation: Holden RJ, Campbell NL, Abebe E .
Usability and feasibility of consumer-facing technology to reduce unsafe medication use by older adults.
Res Social Adm Pharm 2020 Jan;16(1):54-61. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2019.02.011..
Keywords: Elderly, Medication, Patient Safety, Health Information Technology (HIT), Decision Making
Heisler M, Choi H, Palmisano G
Comparison of community health worker-led diabetes medication decision-making support for low-income Latino and African American adults with diabetes using e-health tools versus print materials: a randomized, controlled trial.
This study compared outcomes between community health worker (CHW) use of a tailored, interactive, Web-based, tablet computer-delivered tool specifically developed for the study and use of printed educational materials. In a population of low-income Latino and African American adults with diabetes and relatively low levels of formal education, participants in both CHW-led interventions reported mostly similar improvements in outcomes over 3 months.
AHRQ-funded; HS019256
Citation: Heisler M, Choi H, Palmisano G .
Comparison of community health worker-led diabetes medication decision-making support for low-income Latino and African American adults with diabetes using e-health tools versus print materials: a randomized, controlled trial.
Ann Intern Med. 2014 Nov 18;161(10 Suppl):S13-22. doi: 10.7326/m13-3012..
Keywords: Health Information Technology (HIT), Diabetes, Decision Making, Outcomes, Social Determinants of Health
Lacson R, Prevedello LM, Andriole KP
Four-year impact of an alert notification system on closed-loop communication of critical test results.
The authors evaluated the impact of an alert notification system on policy adherence for communicating critical imaging test results to referring providers and assessed system adoption over the first 4 years after implementation. They concluded that an automated alert notification system for communicating critical imaging results was successfully adopted and was associated with increased adherence to institutional policy for communicating critical test results and with reduced workflow interruptions.
AHRQ-funded; HS019635.
Citation: Lacson R, Prevedello LM, Andriole KP .
Four-year impact of an alert notification system on closed-loop communication of critical test results.
AJR Am J Roentgenol 2014 Nov;203(5):933-8. doi: 10.2214/ajr.14.13064.
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Keywords: Communication, Decision Making, Guidelines, Health Information Technology (HIT), Imaging
Welch BM, Eilbeck K, Del Fiol G
Technical desiderata for the integration of genomic data with clinical decision support.
The objective of this study is to develop and validate a guiding set of technical desiderata for supporting the clinical use of the whole genome sequence (WGS) through clinical decision support (CDS). A panel of domain experts in genomics and CDS developed a proposed set of seven additional requirements. These additional desiderata provide important guiding principles for the technical development of CDS capabilities for the clinical use of WGS information.
AHRQ-funded; HS018352.
Citation: Welch BM, Eilbeck K, Del Fiol G .
Technical desiderata for the integration of genomic data with clinical decision support.
J Biomed Inform 2014 Oct;51:3-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2014.05.014..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Health Information Technology (HIT), Genetics, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Decision Making
Longo DR, Woolf HS
Rethinking the information priorities of patients.
Efforts have intensified to provide consumers with online data tools and consumer reports that offer profiles and statistics for evaluating specialists, hospitals, and other clinical facilities. In this article, the authors examine two key questions: what should these resources look like and do patients really want them?
AHRQ-funded; HS021902
Citation: Longo DR, Woolf HS .
Rethinking the information priorities of patients.
JAMA. 2014 May 14;311(18):1857-8. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.3038..
Keywords: Education: Patient and Caregiver, Decision Making, Quality of Care, Health Information Technology (HIT), Web-Based
Del Fiol G, Workman TE, Gorman PN
Clinical questions raised by clinicians at the point of care: a systematic review.
The researchers conducted a systematic review of studies examining the questions that clinicians raise in the context of patient care decisionmaking. They concluded that clinicians frequently raise questions about patient care in their practice. Although they are effective at finding answers to questions they pursue, roughly half of the questions are never pursued.
AHRQ-funded; HS018352.
Citation: Del Fiol G, Workman TE, Gorman PN .
Clinical questions raised by clinicians at the point of care: a systematic review.
JAMA Intern Med. 2014 May;174(5):710-8. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2014.368..
Keywords: Education: Patient and Caregiver, Decision Making, Health Information Exchange (HIE), Health Information Technology (HIT), Practice Patterns
Bauer NS, Carroll AE, Downs SM
Understanding the acceptability of a computer decision support system in pediatric primary care.
In this study, the investigators examine the attitudes and opinions of pediatric users' toward the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system, a computer decision support system linked to an electronic health record in four community pediatric clinics. The investigators found that pediatric users appreciated the system's automation and enhancements that allowed relevant and meaningful clinical data to be accessible at point of care.
AHRQ-funded; HS018453; HS017939.
Citation: Bauer NS, Carroll AE, Downs SM .
Understanding the acceptability of a computer decision support system in pediatric primary care.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2014 Jan-Feb;21(1):146-53. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2013-001851..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Primary Care
Bauer NS, Carroll AE, Downs SM
Understanding the acceptability of a computer decision support system in pediatric primary care.
In this study, the investigators examine the attitudes and opinions of pediatric users' toward the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system, a computer decision support system linked to an electronic health record in four community pediatric clinics. The investigators found that pediatric users appreciated the system's automation and enhancements that allowed relevant and meaningful clinical data to be accessible at point of care.
AHRQ-funded; HS018453; HS017939.
Citation: Bauer NS, Carroll AE, Downs SM .
Understanding the acceptability of a computer decision support system in pediatric primary care.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2014 Jan-Feb;21(1):146-53. doi: 10.1136/amiajnl-2013-001851..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Decision Making, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Primary Care