National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (3)
- Adverse Events (1)
- Elderly (1)
- Home Healthcare (1)
- Hospital Discharge (2)
- Hospitals (2)
- Long-Term Care (1)
- Medical Errors (2)
- Medication (6)
- (-) Medication: Safety (6)
- Nursing Homes (1)
- Patient and Family Engagement (2)
- Patient Safety (5)
- Provider: Pharmacist (1)
- (-) Transitions of Care (6)
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 6 of 6 Research Studies DisplayedXiao Y, Smith A, Abebe E
Understanding hazards for adverse drug events among older adults after hospital discharge: insights from frontline care professionals.
The purpose of this study was to utilize a systems approach to examine hazards to medication safety for older adults during care transitions. The researchers interviewed 38 hospital-based professionals (5 hospitalists, 24 nurses, 4 clinical pharmacists, 3 pharmacy technicians, and 2 social workers) from 4 hospitals about ADE risks after hospital discharge among older adults. For each concern the participants provided, the hazard for medication-related harms was coded and grouped by its sources utilizing a human factors and systems engineering model. The study found that the hazards fell into 6 groups: 1) medication tasks related at home, 2) patient and caregiver related, 3) hospital work system related, 4) home resource related, 5) hospital professional-patient collaborative work related, and 6) external environment related. The type of medications indicated most frequently when describing concerns included anticoagulants, insulins, and diuretics. The types of hazards coded the most were: complex dosing, patient and caregiver knowledge gaps in medication management, errors in discharge medications, unaffordable cost, inadequate understanding about changes in medications, and gaps in access to care or in sharing medication information.
AHRQ-funded; HS024436.
Citation: Xiao Y, Smith A, Abebe E .
Understanding hazards for adverse drug events among older adults after hospital discharge: insights from frontline care professionals.
J Patient Saf 2022 Dec 1;18(8):e1174-e80. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001046..
Keywords: Elderly, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Medication, Medication: Safety, Hospital Discharge, Hospitals, Transitions of Care
De Oliveira GS, Castro-Alves LJ, Kendall MC
Effectiveness of pharmacist intervention to reduce medication errors and health-care resources utilization after transitions of care: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
The main objective of the current investigation was to examine the effectiveness of pharmacist-based transition-of-care interventions on the reduction of medication errors after hospital discharge. Findings showed that pharmacist transition-of-care intervention is an effective strategy to reduce medication errors after hospital discharge and also reduces subsequent emergency room visits.
AHRQ-funded; HS024158.
Citation: De Oliveira GS, Castro-Alves LJ, Kendall MC .
Effectiveness of pharmacist intervention to reduce medication errors and health-care resources utilization after transitions of care: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.
J Patient Saf 2021 Aug 1;17(5):375-80. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000283..
Keywords: Medication: Safety, Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Provider: Pharmacist, Transitions of Care
Champion C, Sockolow PS, Bowles KH
Getting to complete and accurate medication lists during the transition to home health care.
This observational field study looked at the work that home health care (HHC) admissions nurses complete related to medication reconciliation tasks, explored the impact of shared electronic medication data (interoperability), and highlight opportunities to enhance medication reconciliation with respect to transition in care to HHC agencies. Three diverse Pennsylvania HHC agencies participated, with each using different electronic health record systems. Six nurses per site admitted 2 patients each (36 patients total) and their tasks were examined in depth. Medication reconciliation tasks included changes in number of medications and change types and calls to the health provider (doctor or pharmacy) to resolve medication-related issues. A high percentage of patients used multiple medications (more than 12 medications on average), and were high-risk (on average more than 8 medications per patient). Medication reconciliation decreased the number of prescriptions between pre- and post-reconciliation for 91% of patients with 41% of the medications requiring changes. Two-thirds of the nurses called a provider to facilitate medication changes. Interoperability reduced the number of changes required but did not eliminate changes or calls to providers.
AHRQ-funded; R01 HS024537.
Citation: Champion C, Sockolow PS, Bowles KH .
Getting to complete and accurate medication lists during the transition to home health care.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 May;22(5):1003-08. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.06.024..
Keywords: Medication, Medication: Safety, Transitions of Care, Home Healthcare, Patient Safety
Holden RJ, Abebe E
Medication transitions: vulnerable periods of change in need of human factors and ergonomics.
The authors present a novel view of transitions from the lens of patient ergonomics which posits that patients and other nonprofessionals experience many changes during patient work transitions toward health-related goals. Medication transitions are particularly vulnerable. Two cases of medication transitions; new and medication deprescribing are described in which the patient work lens reveals many accompanying changes, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for human factors and ergonomics.
AHRQ-funded; HS024384.
Citation: Holden RJ, Abebe E .
Medication transitions: vulnerable periods of change in need of human factors and ergonomics.
Appl Ergon 2021 Jan;90:103279. doi: 10.1016/j.apergo.2020.103279..
Keywords: Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient and Family Engagement, Transitions of Care, Patient Safety
Xiao Y, Abebe E, Gurses AP
Engineering a foundation for partnership to improve medication safety during care transitions.
Current approaches to safe, self-medication management for patients and caregivers after hospital discharge tend to focus on adding isolated strategies. Positing the concept that medication safety during care transition and at patient homes is the property of a "work system," in which the patient and caregivers are in collaboration with health professionals, this article argues that system thinking can enable a fundamental transformation that redesigns professionals' interactions with patients and caregivers, with the explicit goal of developing patients and caregivers into true partners with targeted roles. The authors describe a set of recommendations based on human factors principles that creates an engineering partnership with patients and their caregivers at different stages during a care episode, to enable productive interactions.
AHRQ-funded; HS024436.
Citation: Xiao Y, Abebe E, Gurses AP .
Engineering a foundation for partnership to improve medication safety during care transitions.
J Patient Saf Risk Manag 2019 Feb 1;24(1):30-36. doi: 10.1177/2516043518821497..
Keywords: Medication, Medication: Safety, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient Safety, Transitions of Care
Kerstenetzky L, Birschbach MJ, Beach KF
Improving medication information transfer between hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities, and long-term-care pharmacies for hospital discharge transitions of care: a targeted needs assessment using the Intervention Mapping framework.
The authors of this study report on the development of a logic model that will be used to explore methods for minimizing patient care medication delays and errors while further improving handoff communication to skilled nurse facilities and long term care pharmacy staff.
AHRQ-funded; HS021984.
Citation: Kerstenetzky L, Birschbach MJ, Beach KF .
Improving medication information transfer between hospitals, skilled-nursing facilities, and long-term-care pharmacies for hospital discharge transitions of care: a targeted needs assessment using the Intervention Mapping framework.
Res Social Adm Pharm 2018 Feb;14(2):138-45. doi: 10.1016/j.sapharm.2016.12.013..
Keywords: Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Hospital Discharge, Hospitals, Long-Term Care, Medical Errors, Medication, Medication: Safety, Nursing Homes, Patient Safety, Transitions of Care