National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Search All Research Studies
Topics
- Ambulatory Care and Surgery (1)
- Cardiovascular Conditions (1)
- Caregiving (3)
- Children/Adolescents (2)
- Clinical Decision Support (CDS) (2)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (2)
- Communication (2)
- Dementia (1)
- Diabetes (1)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (3)
- Education: Continuing Medical Education (3)
- Education: Patient and Caregiver (1)
- Elderly (2)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (1)
- Emergency Department (1)
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS) (1)
- Evidence-Based Practice (4)
- Guidelines (3)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (2)
- Imaging (2)
- Kidney Disease and Health (1)
- Medication (3)
- Neurological Disorders (1)
- Newborns/Infants (2)
- Patient-Centered Healthcare (1)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (1)
- Patient and Family Engagement (1)
- Patient Safety (1)
- Practice Patterns (3)
- Pregnancy (1)
- Primary Care (1)
- (-) Provider (16)
- Provider: Clinician (3)
- Provider: Nurse (2)
- Provider: Pharmacist (1)
- Provider: Physician (13)
- Respiratory Conditions (1)
- (-) Shared Decision Making (16)
- Surgery (5)
- Women (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 16 of 16 Research Studies DisplayedLinks AR, Callon W, Wasserman C
Treatment recommendations to parents during pediatric tonsillectomy consultations: a mixed methods analysis of surgeon language.
A deeper understanding of the dialogue clinicians use to relay treatment recommendations is needed to fully understand their influence on patient decisions about surgery. In this study, the authors characterize how otolaryngologists provide treatment recommendations and suggest a classification framework. The investigators concluded that clinicians provide treatment recommendations in a variety of ways that may introduce more or less certainty and choice to parental treatment decisions.
AHRQ-funded; HS022932.
Citation: Links AR, Callon W, Wasserman C .
Treatment recommendations to parents during pediatric tonsillectomy consultations: a mixed methods analysis of surgeon language.
Patient Educ Couns 2021 Jun;104(6):1371-79. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2020.11.015..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Surgery, Caregiving, Shared Decision Making, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Provider: Physician, Provider
Ehlers AP, Vitous CA, Sales A
Exploration of factors associated with surgeon deviation from practice guidelines for management of inguinal hernias.
Investigators explored factors associated with surgeon choice of approach (minimally invasive vs open) in inguinal hernia repair as a tool to gain an understanding of guideline-discordant care. They found that decision-making for the approach to inguinal hernia repair was largely influenced by surgeon preference and access to resources rather than patient factors. Although a one-size-fits-all approach is not recommended, the operative approach should ideally be informed by patient factors, including hernia characteristics. They recommended addressing surgeon preference and available resources with a clinician-facing decision aid to provide an opportunity to optimize care for patients undergoing inguinal hernia repair.
AHRQ-funded; HS025778.
Citation: Ehlers AP, Vitous CA, Sales A .
Exploration of factors associated with surgeon deviation from practice guidelines for management of inguinal hernias.
JAMA Netw Open 2020 Nov 2;3(11):e2023684. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.23684..
Keywords: Surgery, Guidelines, Provider: Physician, Provider, Shared Decision Making, Evidence-Based Practice
Lim H, Raffel KE, Harrison JD
Decisions in the dark: an educational intervention to promote reflection and feedback on night float rotations.
An educational intervention was created for medical residents during night float rotations where they admit patients to the hospital. The intervention was designed to provide feedback on their diagnostic and management reasoning using feedback solicitation and chart review. Second- and third-year internal medicine residents on a 1-month night float rotation were recruited. Residents performed chart review of a subset of patients they admitted and completed reflection worksheets detailing patients’ clinical courses. Sixty-eight of 82 eligible residents participated in the intervention. The authors evaluated 248 reflection worksheets using content analysis. Major themes that emerged from chart review included residents’ identification of reasoning gaps and evaluation of resident-provider interactions.
AHRQ-funded; HS026383.
Citation: Lim H, Raffel KE, Harrison JD .
Decisions in the dark: an educational intervention to promote reflection and feedback on night float rotations.
J Gen Intern Med 2020 Nov;35(11):3363-67. doi: 10.1007/s11606-020-05913-z..
Keywords: Provider: Physician, Provider, Education: Continuing Medical Education, Shared Decision Making
Westafer LM, Kunz A, Bugajska P
Provider perspectives on the use of evidence-based risk stratification tools in the evaluation of pulmonary embolism: a qualitative study.
Providers often pursue imaging in patients at low risk of pulmonary embolism (PE), resulting in imaging yields <10% and false-positive imaging rates of 10% to 25%. Attempts to curb overtesting have had only modest success and no interventions have used implementation science frameworks. The objective of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to the adoption of evidence-based diagnostic testing for PE.
AHRQ-funded; HS025701.
Citation: Westafer LM, Kunz A, Bugajska P .
Provider perspectives on the use of evidence-based risk stratification tools in the evaluation of pulmonary embolism: a qualitative study.
Acad Emerg Med 2020 Jun;27(6):447-56. doi: 10.1111/acem.13908..
Keywords: Respiratory Conditions, Evidence-Based Practice, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Imaging, Shared Decision Making, Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Practice Patterns, Provider: Physician, Provider: Clinician, Provider
Jafri SM, Vitous CA, Dossett LA
Surgeon attitudes and beliefs toward abdominal wall hernia repair in female patients of childbearing age.
This qualitative study examined surgeons’ thoughts on decision-making in repairing an abdominal wall hernia in a woman or girl of childbearing age.
AHRQ-funded; HS026030.
Citation: Jafri SM, Vitous CA, Dossett LA .
Surgeon attitudes and beliefs toward abdominal wall hernia repair in female patients of childbearing age.
JAMA Surg 2020 Jun;155(6):528-30. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2020.0099..
Keywords: Provider: Physician, Provider, Surgery, Women, Pregnancy, Shared Decision Making
Ganguli I, Simpkin AL, Colla CH
Why do physicians pursue cascades of care after incidental findings? A national survey.
This study was a survey of physicians on their decision-making about care after incidental findings in a patient. The researchers developed a survey instrument for physicians after looking at prior literature and cognitive interviews as well as items on respondent characteristics. They administered a web-based survey to a stratified random sample of American College of Physicians (ACP) members between January 22 and March 3, 2019. They created two vignette-based questions on two theoretical patients who had incidental findings from a test. They asked them if they would follow clinical guidelines and do no further action, order more tests, refer the patient to a specialist, or make a decision after consulting with a specialist. The response rate was 44.7%. Of these, 57.6% of physicians would follow a specialist’s recommendations over guidelines, and 62.4% would do further testing in the absence of other guidelines. US medical graduates and less cost-conscious physicians were more likely to pursue follow-up and 58.6% of those respondents felt it seemed “clinically important”. Some physicians were also driven by fear of a lawsuit, especially if they had been sued before.
AHRQ-funded; HS023812.
Citation: Ganguli I, Simpkin AL, Colla CH .
Why do physicians pursue cascades of care after incidental findings? A national survey.
J Gen Intern Med 2020 Apr;35(4):1352-54. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05213-1..
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Provider: Physician, Provider
Goyal P, Anderson TS, Bernacki GM
Physician perspectives on deprescribing cardiovascular medications for older adults.
Investigators sought to characterize and compare clinician perspectives regarding deprescribing cardiovascular medications for older adults across three specialties. Within each specialty, 750 physicians were surveyed. The investigators found that, while barriers to deprescribing cardiovascular medications were shared across specialties, reasons for deprescribing, especially in the setting of limited life expectancy, varied. They concluded that implementing deprescribing will require improved processes for both physician-physician and physician-patient communication.
AHRQ-funded; HS022982.
Citation: Goyal P, Anderson TS, Bernacki GM .
Physician perspectives on deprescribing cardiovascular medications for older adults.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2020 Jan;68(1):78-86. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16157..
Keywords: Elderly, Medication, Cardiovascular Conditions, Shared Decision Making, Provider: Physician, Provider
Vemulakonda VM, Hamer MK, Kempe A
Surgical decision-making in infants with suspected UPJ obstruction: stakeholder perspectives.
Although there are significant demographic and clinical variations in treatment decisions for infants with high-grade hydronephrosis concerning for ureteropelvic junction obstruction (UPJO), there has been little research on the roles of parents and surgeons in the surgical decision-making (DM) process. The purpose of this study was to understand parents' and surgeons' perceived roles in the surgical DM process for infants with high-grade hydronephrosis.
AHRQ-funded; HS024597.
Citation: Vemulakonda VM, Hamer MK, Kempe A .
Surgical decision-making in infants with suspected UPJ obstruction: stakeholder perspectives.
J Pediatr Urol 2019 Oct;15(5):469.e1-69.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.jpurol.2019.05.027..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Shared Decision Making, Surgery, Kidney Disease and Health, Caregiving, Provider: Physician, Provider, Patient and Family Engagement
Snyder ME, Jaynes H, Gernant SA
Alerts for community pharmacist-provided medication therapy management: recommendations from a heuristic evaluation.
This study evaluated the effectiveness of alerts for community pharmacist-provided medication therapy management (MTM). The alerts come in five categories: indication, effectiveness, safety, adherence, and cost-containment. The heuristic evaluation used the Instrument for Evaluating Human-Factors Principles in Medication-Related Decision Support Alerts (I-MeDeSA). Four analysts’ individual ratings were summed for each alert, and a mean score on the modified I-MeDeSA was computed. The analysts’ scores were similar. The scores indicated opportunities for improvement across all MTM alert categories including principles of alert prioritization; text-based information; alarm philosophy; and corrective actions.
AHRQ-funded; HS025005.
Citation: Snyder ME, Jaynes H, Gernant SA .
Alerts for community pharmacist-provided medication therapy management: recommendations from a heuristic evaluation.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2019 Jul 16;19(1):135. doi: 10.1186/s12911-019-0866-0..
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Provider, Provider: Pharmacist
Armstrong MJ, Gronseth GS, Day GS
Patient stakeholder versus physician preferences regarding amyloid PET testing.
Patient and caregiver perspectives on amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) use are largely unexplored, particularly as compared with clinician views. In this study, the investigators surveyed clinicians, patients, caregivers, and dementia advocates on topics relating to an evidence-based guideline on amyloid PET use. They found that patients and caregivers emphasized the importance of having a dementia diagnosis and placed more value on testing and outcomes for asymptomatic populations than clinicians.
AHRQ-funded; HS024159.
Citation: Armstrong MJ, Gronseth GS, Day GS .
Patient stakeholder versus physician preferences regarding amyloid PET testing.
Alzheimer Dis Assoc Disord 2019 Jul-Sep;33(3):246-53. doi: 10.1097/wad.0000000000000311..
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Dementia, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Evidence-Based Practice, Guidelines, Imaging, Neurological Disorders, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Provider, Provider: Physician
Aronson PL, Schaeffer P, Fraenkel L
Physicians' and nurses' perspectives on the decision to perform lumbar punctures on febrile infants </=8 weeks old.
This paper discusses the reasons for wide variation in the decision to perform lumbar punctures (LPs) in febrile infants 8 weeks or less. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 pediatric and general emergency medicine physicians and 8 pediatric emergency medicine nurses at an urban, academic medical center. Five themes emerged from the interviews that included: age of the infant, the physician’s clinical experience, physician’s use of research findings, the physician’s values, and the role of the primary care pediatrician.
AHRQ-funded; HS026006.
Citation: Aronson PL, Schaeffer P, Fraenkel L .
Physicians' and nurses' perspectives on the decision to perform lumbar punctures on febrile infants </=8 weeks old.
Hosp Pediatr 2019 Jun;9(6):405-14. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2019-0002..
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Shared Decision Making, Provider: Physician, Provider: Nurse, Provider: Clinician, Provider, Emergency Department, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Links AR, Callon W, Wasserman C
Surgeon use of medical jargon with parents in the outpatient setting.
This study analyzed the use of unexplained medical jargon with parents whose children have sleep-disordered breathing and their consultations with otolaryngologists in a pediatric surgical setting. Participants (64 parents and 8 otolaryngologists) completed questionnaires that evaluated demographics, clinical features and parental role in decision-making. Unexplained medical jargon was commonly used by physicians (mean total utterances per visit = 28.9) while parents used jargon a mean of 4.3 times. Clinicians used more jargon when they felt that parents had greater involvement in decision-making or when parents used more jargon themselves. These results will be incorporated into communication training for clinicians.
AHRQ-funded; HS022932.
Citation: Links AR, Callon W, Wasserman C .
Surgeon use of medical jargon with parents in the outpatient setting.
Patient Educ Couns 2019 Jun;102(6):1111-18. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2019.02.002..
Keywords: Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Caregiving, Children/Adolescents, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Shared Decision Making, Education: Patient and Caregiver, Provider, Provider: Physician
Kanters AE, Shubeck SP, Sandhu G
Justifying our decisions about surgical technique: evidence from coaching conversations.
The objective of this qualitative study was to determine the extent to which practicing surgeons participating in a coaching program justify their technical decisions based on their experience or based on evidence. The investigators found that practicing surgeons often justify their surgical decisions with anecdotal evidence and "lessons learned," rather than deferring to surgical literature. The authors suggest that this either represents a lack of evidence or poor uptake of existing data.
AHRQ-funded; HS023597; HS000053.
Citation: Kanters AE, Shubeck SP, Sandhu G .
Justifying our decisions about surgical technique: evidence from coaching conversations.
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Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Education: Continuing Medical Education, Provider, Practice Patterns, Surgery
McCreedy EM, Kane RL, Gollust SE
Patient-centered guidelines for geriatric diabetes care: potential missed opportunities to avoid harm.
Clinicians strive to deliver individualized, patient-centered care. However, these intentions are understudied. This research explored how patient characteristics associated with a high risk-to-benefit ratio with hypoglycemia medications affected decision making by primary care clinicians. The investigators found that primary care clinicians often chose to intensify glycemic control despite individual patient factors that warranted higher glycemic targets based on existing guidelines.
AHRQ-funded; HS000011.
Citation: McCreedy EM, Kane RL, Gollust SE .
Patient-centered guidelines for geriatric diabetes care: potential missed opportunities to avoid harm.
J Am Board Fam Med 2018 Mar-Apr;31(2):192-200. doi: 10.3122/jabfm.2018.02.170141..
Keywords: Diabetes, Elderly, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Guidelines, Evidence-Based Practice, Shared Decision Making, Medication, Primary Care, Practice Patterns, Provider: Physician, Provider: Clinician, Provider
Schoenfeld EM, Goff SL, Elia TR
A qualitative analysis of attending physicians' use of shared decision-making: implications for resident education.
This study explored emergency medicine (EM) attending physicians' use of shared decision-making (SDM) in the context of their experience as former residents and current educators and assessed the implications of these findings on learning opportunities for residents. The investigators concluded that a constellation of factors may diminish opportunities for residents to acquire and practice SDM skills. Further research should explore residents' perspectives, address the modifiable obstacles identified, and examine whether these issues generalize to other specialties.
AHRQ-funded; HS024311.
Citation: Schoenfeld EM, Goff SL, Elia TR .
A qualitative analysis of attending physicians' use of shared decision-making: implications for resident education.
J Grad Med Educ 2018 Feb;10(1):43-50. doi: 10.4300/jgme-d-17-00318.1..
Keywords: Shared Decision Making, Education: Continuing Medical Education, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Provider
Ancker JS, Edwards A, Nosal S
Effects of workload, work complexity, and repeated alerts on alert fatigue in a clinical decision support system.
In this study, the investigators tested hypotheses arising from two possible alert fatigue mechanisms: (A) cognitive overload associated with amount of work, complexity of work, and effort distinguishing informative from uninformative alerts, and (B) desensitization from repeated exposure to the same alert over time. The investigators found that clinicians became less likely to accept alerts as they received more of them, particularly more repeated alerts. There was no evidence of an effect of workload per se, or of desensitization over time for a newly deployed alert.
AHRQ-funded; HS021531.
Citation: Ancker JS, Edwards A, Nosal S .
Effects of workload, work complexity, and repeated alerts on alert fatigue in a clinical decision support system.
BMC Med Inform Decis Mak 2017 Apr 10;17(1):1-9. doi: 10.1186/s12911-017-0430-8..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Shared Decision Making, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Safety, Provider, Provider: Nurse, Provider: Physician