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
Topics
- Access to Care (1)
- Ambulatory Care and Surgery (1)
- Cancer (1)
- Cardiovascular Conditions (1)
- Children/Adolescents (2)
- Chronic Conditions (1)
- (-) Clinician-Patient Communication (16)
- Communication (6)
- Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) (5)
- Disparities (1)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Guidelines (1)
- Healthcare Delivery (2)
- Healthcare Utilization (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (1)
- Health Services Research (HSR) (1)
- Hospitalization (2)
- Hospitals (2)
- Inpatient Care (2)
- Intensive Care Unit (ICU) (1)
- Nursing (1)
- Patient-Centered Healthcare (1)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (1)
- Patient and Family Engagement (6)
- Patient Experience (6)
- Patient Safety (1)
- Practice Improvement (1)
- Primary Care (2)
- Provider (1)
- Provider: Nurse (1)
- Provider Performance (1)
- Quality Improvement (5)
- Quality Measures (1)
- (-) Quality of Care (16)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1)
- Shared Decision Making (3)
- Telehealth (1)
- Training (1)
- Treatments (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 16 of 16 Research Studies DisplayedQuigley DD, Qureshi N, Palimaru A
Content and actionability of recommendations to providers after shadow coaching.
This paper examined the content of the recommendations given to shadow-coached providers aimed at improving provider-patient interactions, to characterize these recommendations, and to examine their actionability. Using CAHPS data, the study’s findings showed that patient experience surveys were effective at identifying where improvement is needed but are not always informative enough to instruct providers on how to modify and improve their interactions with patients. Analyzing the feedback given to coached providers as part of an effective shadow-coaching program provides details about implementation on shadow-coaching feedback.
AHRQ-funded; HS025920.
Citation: Quigley DD, Qureshi N, Palimaru A .
Content and actionability of recommendations to providers after shadow coaching.
Qual Manag Health Care 2022 Oct-Dec;31(4):199-209. doi: 10.1097/qmh.0000000000000354..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Patient Experience, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Practice Improvement, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication
Lieu TA, Warton EM, Levan C
Association of medical assistant-supported virtual rooming with successful video visit connections.
The purpose of this study was to systematically evaluate medical assistant-supported virtual rooming for physician video visits to address the digital divide which exists in physician video visit availability and accessibility for patients who have lower socioeconomic status (SES), low English proficiency, or are African American or Black or Latino. The study found that of the 114,214 video visits with successful connections, 14.2% had low neighborhood SES, 3.6% needed interpreters, 20.1% were Latino, and 7.9% were African American or Black. African American or Black race, Latino ethnicity, needing an interpreter, and living in a low SES neighborhood were associated with a lower likelihood of connecting. The researchers concluded that medical assistant–supported virtual rooming was associated with successful video visit connections in this diverse population. High medical assistant supported rooming rates were associated with larger connection improvements for patients at higher risk of not connecting, including those with lower SES, of Latino ethnicity or African American or Black race, or needing interpreters.
AHRQ-funded; HS025189.
Citation: Lieu TA, Warton EM, Levan C .
Association of medical assistant-supported virtual rooming with successful video visit connections.
JAMA Intern Med 2022 Jun;182(6):680-82. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2022.1032..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Telehealth, Health Information Technology (HIT), Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Healthcare Delivery
Lafferty M, Fauer A, Wright N
Causes and consequences of chemotherapy delays in ambulatory oncology practices: a multisite qualitative study.
The purpose of this study was to examine the causes and consequences of chemotherapy treatment delays and possible solutions to improve quality of care. The authors identified four primary themes from the analysis that affect delays. They suggest future investigations to examine nurses' communication practices in the context of timely chemotherapy administration since communication and documentation technologies within healthcare settings continuously evolve.
AHRQ-funded; HS024914.
Citation: Lafferty M, Fauer A, Wright N .
Causes and consequences of chemotherapy delays in ambulatory oncology practices: a multisite qualitative study.
Oncol Nurs Forum 2020 Jul 1;47(4):417-27. doi: 10.1188/20.Onf.417-427..
Keywords: Treatments, Cancer, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Quality of Care, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Provider: Nurse, Provider, Nursing, Chronic Conditions
Fisher KA, Gallagher TH, Smith KM
Communicating with patients about breakdowns in care: a national randomised vignette-based survey.
This study examined the impact of an apology when problems occur in patient care breakdowns occur at hospitals. Breakdowns included slow response to call bell, rude aide, and unanswered questions. A national online survey of 1188 adults aged 35 years or older were sampled from an online panel representative of the entire US population, created and maintained by GfK. Twice as many participants receiving an in-depth prompt about care breakdowns would recommend the hospital compared with those receiving no prompt (18.4% vs 8.8%). Almost three times as many participants who received a full apology would probably/definitely recommend the hospital compared with those receiving no apology (34.1% vs 13.6%). The survey also asked whether the respondent would speak up, with feeling upset being a strong determinant of greater intent to speak up.
AHRQ-funded; HS024596; HS022757.
Citation: Fisher KA, Gallagher TH, Smith KM .
Communicating with patients about breakdowns in care: a national randomised vignette-based survey.
BMJ Qual Saf 2020 Apr;29(4):313-19. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009712..
Keywords: Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Patient Experience, Patient and Family Engagement, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Hospitals
Feng JY, Toomey SL, Elliott MN
Factors associated with family experience in pediatric inpatient care.
Researchers assessed which aspects of pediatric inpatient experience have the strongest relationships with parents' willingness to recommend a hospital. Their cross-sectional study examined surveys completed by parents of children hospitalized at hospitals using the Child Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey. They found that child comfort and nurse-parent communication showed the strongest relationships with willingness to recommend, followed by preparing to leave the hospital, doctor-parent communication, and keeping parents informed. They recommended improvement efforts focusing on creating an age-appropriate environment, improving the effectiveness of provider interactions, and engaging parents to share their values and concerns.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513; HS025299.
Citation: Feng JY, Toomey SL, Elliott MN .
Factors associated with family experience in pediatric inpatient care.
Pediatrics 2020 Mar;145(3): e20191264. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-1264..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Children/Adolescents, Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Inpatient Care, Patient Experience, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Patient and Family Engagement, Clinician-Patient Communication
Hall TL, Knierim KE, Nease DE
Primary care practices' implementation of patient-team partnership: findings from EvidenceNOW Southwest.
The authors reported on practice characteristics associated with greater patient-team partnership scores. Using EvidenceNOW Southwest data, they found that practices can improve efforts to partner with patients to assess social needs, gather meaningful input on practice improvement and patient experience, and offer resource connections. These findings supplement recent evidence that patient registries and evidence-based guidelines may effectively prevent and manage cardiovascular disease.
AHRQ-funded; HS023904.
Citation: Hall TL, Knierim KE, Nease DE .
Primary care practices' implementation of patient-team partnership: findings from EvidenceNOW Southwest.
J Am Board Fam Med 2019 Jul-Aug;32(4):490-504. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2019.04.180361..
Keywords: Cardiovascular Conditions, Clinician-Patient Communication, Evidence-Based Practice, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Patient and Family Engagement, Primary Care, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Roche SD, Reichheld AM, Demosthenes N
Measuring the quality of inpatient specialist consultation in the intensive care unit: Nursing and family experiences of communication.
The purpose of this study was to document the receipt of communication by nurses and family members regarding consultations performed on their patient or loved one, and to quantify how this impacted their overall perceptions of the quality of specialty care. The investigators found that most ICU families and nurses had no interaction with specialist providers. They concluded that nurses' frequent exclusion from conversations about specialty care may pose safety risks and increase the likelihood of mixed messages for patients and families, most of whom desire some interaction with specialists.
AHRQ-funded; K08 HS024288.
Citation: Roche SD, Reichheld AM, Demosthenes N .
Measuring the quality of inpatient specialist consultation in the intensive care unit: Nursing and family experiences of communication.
PLoS One 2019 Apr 11;14(4):e0214918. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214918..
Keywords: Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Quality of Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Patient Experience, Inpatient Care
Fisher KA, Smith KM, Gallagher TH
We want to know: patient comfort speaking up about breakdowns in care and patient experience.
The purpose of this study was to assess patient comfort speaking up about problems during hospitalisation and to identify patients at increased risk of having a problem and not feeling comfortable speaking up. The investigators suggest that creating conditions for patients to be comfortable speaking up may result in service recovery opportunities and improved patient experience. They assert that such efforts should consider the impact of health literacy and mental health on patient engagement in patient-safety activities.
AHRQ-funded; HS024596; HS022757.
Citation: Fisher KA, Smith KM, Gallagher TH .
We want to know: patient comfort speaking up about breakdowns in care and patient experience.
BMJ Qual Saf 2019 Mar;28(3):190-97. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2018-008159..
Keywords: Clinician-Patient Communication, Hospitalization, Patient Experience, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement
Colla CH, Mainor AJ
Choosing Wisely Campaign: valuable for providers who knew about it, but awareness remained constant, 2014-17.
The Choosing Wisely campaign has codified recommendations of which health care services' use should be questioned and discussed with patients. The ABIM Foundation administered surveys in 2014 and 2017 to examine physicians' attitudes toward and awareness of the use of low-value care. There were no significant changes between 2014 and 2017 in awareness of the campaign among physicians or physician-reported difficulty in talking to patients about avoiding a low-value service.
AHRQ-funded; HS023812.
Citation: Colla CH, Mainor AJ .
Choosing Wisely Campaign: valuable for providers who knew about it, but awareness remained constant, 2014-17.
Health Aff 2017 Nov;36(11):2005-11. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.0945.
.
.
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Guidelines, Quality of Care, Health Services Research (HSR), Clinician-Patient Communication
Cox ED, Jacobsohn GC, Rajamanickam VP
A family-centered rounds checklist, family engagement, and patient safety: a randomized trial.
The researchers examined the impact of the family-centered rounds (FCRs) checklist intervention, a checklist and associated provider training, on performance of FCR elements, family engagement, and patient safety. They found that the performance of FCR checklist elements was enhanced by checklist implementation and associated with changes in family engagement and more positive perceptions of safety climate.
AHRQ-funded; HS018680.
Citation: Cox ED, Jacobsohn GC, Rajamanickam VP .
A family-centered rounds checklist, family engagement, and patient safety: a randomized trial.
Pediatrics 2017 May;139(5). doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1688.
.
.
Keywords: Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Patient and Family Engagement, Clinician-Patient Communication, Training
Morgan DJ, Leppin AL, Smith CD
A practical framework for understanding and reducing medical overuse: conceptualizing overuse through the patient-clinician interaction.
The authors used an iterative, expert-informed, evidence-based process to develop a framework for conceptualizing interventions to reduce medical overuse. Given the complexity of defining and identifying overused care in nuanced clinical situations and the need to define care appropriateness in the context of an individual patient, this framework conceptualizes the patient-clinician interaction as the nexus of decisions regarding inappropriate care.
AHRQ-funded; HS018111.
Citation: Morgan DJ, Leppin AL, Smith CD .
A practical framework for understanding and reducing medical overuse: conceptualizing overuse through the patient-clinician interaction.
J Hosp Med 2017 May;12(5):346-51. doi: 10.12788/jhm.2738.
.
.
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Healthcare Delivery, Quality of Care, Healthcare Utilization, Clinician-Patient Communication
Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Schwebel DC
Relationship between adolescent report of patient-centered care and of quality of primary care.
This study investigated whether adolescent self-report of patient-centered care (PCC) varied by patient characteristics and whether receipt of PCC is associated with measures of adolescent primary care quality. It found that adolescent-reported PCC positively correlates with measures of high-quality adolescent primary care. The study provides support for using adolescent-report of PCC as a measure of adolescent primary care quality.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513.
Citation: Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Schwebel DC .
Relationship between adolescent report of patient-centered care and of quality of primary care.
Acad Pediatr 2016 Nov - Dec;16(8):770-76. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2016.01.006.
.
.
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Primary Care, Clinician-Patient Communication, Quality of Care, Access to Care
Kanouse DE, Schlesinger M, Shaller D
How patient comments affect consumers' use of physician performance measures.
In order to evaluate the relationship between patient characteristics and the frequency and duration of incident steroid use, the researchers applied a 2-part hurdle model to Medicare data. Their study identified differences in predictors of frequency and duration of medication use and suggests the utility of two-part models to examine drug utilization patterns.
AHRQ-funded; HS016978; HS016980.
Citation: Kanouse DE, Schlesinger M, Shaller D .
How patient comments affect consumers' use of physician performance measures.
Med Care 2016 Jan;54(1):24-31. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000443..
Keywords: Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Quality of Care, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient Experience, Clinician-Patient Communication
Shortell SM, Sehgal NJ, Bibi S
An early assessment of accountable care organizations' efforts to engage patients and their families.
The authors sought to examine the extent to which ACOs actively engage patients and their families, explore challenges involved, and consider approaches for dealing with those challenges. They identified important practices associated with greater patient activation and engagement, including high-level leadership commitment, goal-setting supported by adequate resources, extensive provider training, use of interdisciplinary care teams, and frequent monitoring and reporting on progress.
AHRQ-funded; HS022241.
Citation: Shortell SM, Sehgal NJ, Bibi S .
An early assessment of accountable care organizations' efforts to engage patients and their families.
Med Care Res Rev 2015 Oct;72(5):580-604. doi: 10.1177/1077558715588874.
.
.
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Quality of Care, Patient and Family Engagement, Clinician-Patient Communication
Zhu J, Weingart SN, Ritter GA
Racial/Ethnic disparities in patient experience with communication in hospitals: real differences or measurement errors?
This study examined assumptions about the degree of commonality across racial/ethnic groups in their perceptions and investigated the validity of racial/ethnic differences in communication quality. Its results provide strongest support for racial/ethnic comparisons on communication with nurses and doctors, and reason to caution against comparisons on communication about medicines due to significant differences in model parameters across groups.
AHRQ-funded; 290010003.
Citation: Zhu J, Weingart SN, Ritter GA .
Racial/Ethnic disparities in patient experience with communication in hospitals: real differences or measurement errors?
Med Care 2015 May;53(5):446-54. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000350..
Keywords: Disparities, Clinician-Patient Communication, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Quality of Care
Quigley DD, Martino SC, Brown JA
Evaluating the content of the communication items in the CAHPS clinician and group survey and supplemental items with what high-performing physicians say they do.
The authors examined the content of the CAHPS® Clinician and Group Survey and found that the survey items captured many of the most commonly mentioned doctor-patient communication behaviors and practices identified by high-performing physicians. However, three key aspects of communication--nonverbal communication, greeting patients, and tracking personal information about patients--were not captured by the current survey.
AHRQ-funded; HS016980.
Citation: Quigley DD, Martino SC, Brown JA .
Evaluating the content of the communication items in the CAHPS clinician and group survey and supplemental items with what high-performing physicians say they do.
Patient. 2013;6(3):169-77. doi: 10.1007/s40271-013-0016-1..
Keywords: Communication, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Quality of Care, Clinician-Patient Communication, Provider Performance