National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Topics
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (3)
- Adverse Events (12)
- Caregiving (1)
- Children/Adolescents (6)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (1)
- Communication (1)
- Critical Care (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (4)
- Disparities (1)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) (1)
- Healthcare Delivery (1)
- Hospital Discharge (1)
- Hospitalization (2)
- (-) Hospitals (13)
- Implementation (1)
- Inpatient Care (4)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1)
- Long-Term Care (1)
- (-) Medical Errors (13)
- Medication (3)
- Medication: Safety (2)
- Nursing Homes (1)
- Patient and Family Engagement (1)
- Patient Safety (12)
- Quality Improvement (2)
- Quality Indicators (QIs) (1)
- Quality of Care (3)
- Transitions of Care (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 13 of 13 Research Studies DisplayedAuerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the prevalence, underlying causes, and harms of diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who were transferred to an intensive care unit or who died. Data was taken from 29 academic medical centers in the U.S. in a random sample of adults hospitalized with general medical conditions. Errors were found to have contributed to temporary harm, permanent harm, or death in nearly 18% of patients; among patients who died, diagnostic error was judged to have contributed to death in 6.6% of cases. The researchers noted that problems with choosing and interpreting tests and the processes involved with clinician assessment were a high priority for improvement efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369.
Citation: Auerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC .
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
JAMA Intern Med 2024 Feb; 184(2):164-73. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7347..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Adverse Events
Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
This paper describes the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study, whose aim was to define the prevalence and underlying causes of diagnostic errors (DEs) in patients who die in the hospital or are transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) after the first 48 hours. This study was conducted at 31 hospitals with more than 2500 cases reviewed using electronic health records. The authors identified some insights into key requirements into building a robust DE surveillance program by developing these steps: 1) Develop a shared understanding of what constitutes a diagnostic error; 2) Use validated tools to identify diagnostic errors and classify process failures, but respect your context; 3) Develop a standard approach to using electronic health records for case reviews; 4) Ensure reliability and consistency of the case review process; and 5) Link diagnostic error case reviews to institutional safety programs. They also developed steps to establish a diagnosis error review process at the hospital level with six processes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369; HS026613.
Citation: Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K .
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
J Hosp Med 2024 Feb; 19(2):140-45. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13136..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals
Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
The authors compared the adverse event (AE) rate identified by voluntary event reporting (VER) with that identified using the Global Assessment of Pediatric Patient Safety (GAPPS) between hospitalized children by weight category, race, and English proficiency. In the population studied, they identified 288 total AEs, 270 by the GAPPS and 18 by VER. They found a disparity in AE reporting for children with limited English proficiency, with fewer AEs by VER compared with no difference in AEs by GAPPS. They identified no disparities by weight category or race. They concluded that voluntary event reporting may systematically underreport AEs in hospitalized children with limited English proficiency.
AHRQ-funded; HS026038.
Citation: Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A .
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
J Patient Saf 2022 Sep 1;18(6):e928-e33. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001049..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Disparities, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Inpatient Care
Ackerman SL, Gourley G, Le G
Improving patient safety in public hospitals: developing standard measures to track medical errors and process breakdowns
This study’s aim was to develop standards for tracking patient safety gaps in ambulatory care in safety net health systems. Participants were invited leaders from five California safety net health systems. They participated in a modified Delphi process sponsored by the Safety Promotion Action Research and Knowledge Network (SPARKNet) and the California Safety Net Institute. The feasibility and validity of 13 proposed patient safety measures were discussed by the eight panelists and prioritized in three Delphi rounds. Consensus was unanimously reached to adopt 9 of the 13 proposed measures. However, concern was expressed about the feasibility of implementing several of the measures.
AHRQ-funded; HS024426; HS022047.
Citation: Ackerman SL, Gourley G, Le G .
Improving patient safety in public hospitals: developing standard measures to track medical errors and process breakdowns
J Patient Saf 2021 Dec 1;17(8):e773-e90. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000480..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Hospitals
Marshall TL, Ipsaro AJ, Le M
Increasing physician reporting of diagnostic learning opportunities.
This study investigated methods to improve physician reporting of diagnostic errors at the pediatric division of a hospital. In that pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) division only 1 diagnostic-related safety event was reported in the preceding 4 years. The authors aimed to improve attending physician reporting of suspected diagnostic errors from 0 to 2 per 100 PHM patient admissions within 6 months. The improvement team used the Model for Improvement and used the term diagnostic learning opportunity (DLO) with clinicians as opposed to diagnostic error to lessen the stigma. They developed an electronic reporting form and encouraged its use through reminders, scheduled reflection time, and monthly progress reports. Over the course of 13 weeks, there was an increase from 0 to 1.6 per patient admission reports files. Most events (66%) were true diagnostic errors.
AHRQ-funded; HS023827.
Citation: Marshall TL, Ipsaro AJ, Le M .
Increasing physician reporting of diagnostic learning opportunities.
Pediatrics 2021 Jan;147(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-2400..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Cifra CL, Ten Eyck P, Dawson JD
Factors associated with diagnostic error on admission to a PICU: a pilot study.
This pilot retrospective cohort study examined errors in pediatric ICUs (PICUs) for children during the first 12 hours after PICU admission. A structured tool (Safer Dx) was used to identify diagnostic error in an academic tertiary institution. Out of 50 patients, 4 (8%) had diagnostic errors. The errors were in diagnoses of chronic ear infection, intracranial pressure (two cases), and Bartonella encephalitis. This pilot study will be expanded into a larger and more definitive multicenter study.
AHRQ-funded; HS022087.
Citation: Cifra CL, Ten Eyck P, Dawson JD .
Factors associated with diagnostic error on admission to a PICU: a pilot study.
Pediatr Crit Care Med 2020 May;21(5):e311-e15. doi: 10.1097/pcc.0000000000002257..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Critical Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Hospitals
Stolldorf DP, Schnipper JL, Mixon AS
Organisational context of hospitals that participated in a multi-site mentored medication reconciliation quality improvement project (MARQUIS2): a cross-sectional observational study.
Medication reconciliation (MedRec) is an important patient safety strategy and is widespread in US hospitals and globally. Nevertheless, high quality MedRec has been difficult to implement. As part of a larger study investigating MedRec interventions, the investigators evaluated and compared organisational contextual factors and team cohesion by hospital characteristics and implementation team members' profession to better understand the environmental context and its correlates during a multi-site quality improvement (QI) initiative.
AHRQ-funded; HS025486.
Citation: Stolldorf DP, Schnipper JL, Mixon AS .
Organisational context of hospitals that participated in a multi-site mentored medication reconciliation quality improvement project (MARQUIS2): a cross-sectional observational study.
BMJ Open 2019 Nov 2;9(11):e030834. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2019-030834.
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Keywords: Medication, Quality Improvement, Hospitals, Medication: Safety, Patient Safety, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Implementation
Mixon AS, Kripalani S, Stein J
An on-treatment analysis of the MARQUIS study: interventions to improve inpatient medication reconciliation.
This paper examined evidence-based interventions implemented in five US hospitals to improve inpatient medication reconciliation. The sites implemented one to seven interventions in 791 patients during a 25-month implementation period. Three interventions were associated with significant decreases in potentially harmful reconciliation rates while two interventions were associated with significant increases. The positive interventions included: defining clinical roles and responsibilities, training, and hiring staff to perform discharge medication reconciliation. The negative interventions were training staff to take medication histories and implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) system.
AHRQ-funded; HS019598.
Citation: Mixon AS, Kripalani S, Stein J .
An on-treatment analysis of the MARQUIS study: interventions to improve inpatient medication reconciliation.
J Hosp Med 2019 Oct;14(10):614-17. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3308..
Keywords: Medication, Evidence-Based Practice, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Healthcare Delivery, Inpatient Care
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
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
Khan A, Furtak SL, Melvin P
Parent-provider miscommunications in hospitalized children.
The objectives of this study were to: (1) examine characteristics of parent-provider miscommunications about hospitalized children; (2) describe associations among parent-provider miscommunications, parent-reported errors, and hospital experience; and (3) compare parent and attending physician reports of parent-provider miscommunications. The investigators found that parent-provider miscommunications were associated with parent-reported errors and suboptimal hospital experience. Parents reported parent-provider miscommunications more often than attending physicians did.
AHRQ-funded; HS022986; HS000063.
Citation: Khan A, Furtak SL, Melvin P .
Parent-provider miscommunications in hospitalized children.
Hosp Pediatr 2017 Sep;7(9):505-15. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2016-0190..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Caregiving, Children/Adolescents, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Medical Errors, Patient Safety
Khan A, Coffey M, Litterer KP
Families as partners in hospital error and adverse event surveillance.
This study compared error and adverse event (AE) rates among hospitalized children : (1) gathered systematically with vs without family reporting, (2) reported by families vs clinicians, and (3) reported by families vs hospital incident reports. Among the findings: Family-reported error rates were 5.0-fold higher and AE rates 2.9-fold higher than hospital incident report rates.
AHRQ-funded; HS022986; HS000063.
Citation: Khan A, Coffey M, Litterer KP .
Families as partners in hospital error and adverse event surveillance.
JAMA Pediatr 2017 Apr;171(4):372-81. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2016.4812.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Medical Errors, Patient and Family Engagement
O'Leary KJ, Devisetty VK, Patel AR
Comparison of traditional trigger tool to data warehouse based screening for identifying hospital adverse events.
This study compared a traditional trigger tool with an enterprise data warehouse (EDW) based screening method to detect hospital adverse events (AEs). The authors found relatively poor agreement between traditional trigger tool and EDW based screening with only approximately a third of all AEs detected by both methods. They recommended a combination of complementary methods as the optimal approach to detecting AEs among hospitalized patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS019630.
Citation: O'Leary KJ, Devisetty VK, Patel AR .
Comparison of traditional trigger tool to data warehouse based screening for identifying hospital adverse events.
BMJ Qual Saf 2013 Feb;22(2):130-8. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2012-001102.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Hospitals, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs)