National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Topics
- Adverse Events (2)
- Behavioral Health (1)
- Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) (2)
- Children/Adolescents (3)
- Chronic Conditions (1)
- Dental and Oral Health (1)
- Diabetes (1)
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- Education: Continuing Medical Education (1)
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- Health Information Exchange (HIE) (1)
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- Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) (1)
- Newborns/Infants (1)
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- Opioids (1)
- Outcomes (1)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (2)
- Patient Experience (1)
- Patient Safety (5)
- Policy (1)
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- Provider (1)
- Provider Performance (5)
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- (-) Quality Indicators (QIs) (19)
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- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (2)
- Rehabilitation (1)
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- Surgery (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 19 of 19 Research Studies DisplayedDavila H, Shippee TP, Park YS
Inside the black box of improving on nursing home quality measures.
This qualitative study investigated how nursing homes (NHs) interact with quality measures (QMs) used by Nursing Home Compare (NHC) as part of its 5-star rating system. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 110 NH personnel and 23 NH provider association representatives. Observations of organizational processes in 12 NHs in three states were also done. The authors found that most NHs are working to improve the quality of care they provide, not merely to improve their QM scores. They also found limitations with the QMs, suggesting that the QMs on their own may not accurately reflect the quality of care that NHs provide. The findings suggest several changes to improve NHC.
AHRQ-funded; HS024967.
Citation: Davila H, Shippee TP, Park YS .
Inside the black box of improving on nursing home quality measures.
Med Care Res Rev 2021 Dec;78(6):758-70. doi: 10.1177/1077558720960326..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Provider Performance, Long-Term Care
Holmgren AJ, Kuznetsova M, Classen D
Assessing hospital electronic health record vendor performance across publicly reported quality measures.
The authors measured hospital performance, stratified by electronic health record (EHR) vendor, across 4 quality metrics. They found that no EHR vendor was associated with higher quality across all measures, and the 2 largest vendors were not associated with the highest scores. Only a small fraction of quality variation was explained by EHR vendor choice. They concluded that top performance on quality measures can be achieved with any EHR vendor, as much of quality performance is driven by the hospital and how it uses the EHR.
AHRQ-funded; HS023696.
Citation: Holmgren AJ, Kuznetsova M, Classen D .
Assessing hospital electronic health record vendor performance across publicly reported quality measures.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2021 Sep 18;28(10):2101-07. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocab120..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Hospitals, Quality of Care, Provider Performance
Tedesco D, Moghavem N, Weng Y
Improvement in patient safety may precede policy changes: trends in patient safety indicators in the United States, 2000-2013.
This study’s aim was to assess changes in national patient safety trends that corresponded to U.S. pay-for-performance reforms. The study analyzed 13 patient safety indicators (PSIs) that were developed by AHRQ. PSI trends, Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services payment policy changes, and Inpatient Prospective Payment System regulations and notices between 2000 and 2013 were analyzed. Twelve of the thirteen PSIs had decreasing or stable trends in the last 5 years of the study. Central-line bloodstream infections had the greatest annual decrease (-31.1 annual percent change between 2006 and 2013) whereas postoperative respiratory failure had the smallest annual percent change (-3.5 between 2005 and 2013). Significant decreases in trends preceded federal payment reform initiatives in all but postoperative hip fracture. These findings suggest that intense public discourses targeting patient safety may drive national policy reforms.
AHRQ-funded; HS018558.
Citation: Tedesco D, Moghavem N, Weng Y .
Improvement in patient safety may precede policy changes: trends in patient safety indicators in the United States, 2000-2013.
J Patient Saf 2021 Jun 1;17(4):e327-e34. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000615..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Policy
Palen TE, Peterson L, Palen TE
Clinical quality measure exchange is not easy.
The Trial of Aggregate Data Exchange for Maintenance of Certification and Raising Quality was a randomized controlled trial which first had to test whether quality reporting could be a by-product of clinical care. The investigators reported on the initial descriptive study of the capacity for and quality of exchange of whole-panel, standardized quality measures from health systems. They concluded that the secure transfer of standardized, physician-level quality measures from 4 health systems with mature measure processes proved difficult. There were many errors that required human intervention and manual repair, precluding full automation.
AHRQ-funded; HS022583.
Citation: Palen TE, Peterson L, Palen TE .
Clinical quality measure exchange is not easy.
Ann Fam Med 2021 May-Jun;19(3):207-11. doi: 10.1370/afm.2649..
Keywords: Quality Measures, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Health Information Exchange (HIE), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Anderson KE, Alexander GC, Niles L
Quality of preventive and chronic illness care for insured adults with opioid use disorder.
Investigators sought to measure quality of non-opioid use disorder (OUD) preventive and chronic illness care and care coordination for individuals with OUD compared with individuals without OUD. They used deidentified data on outpatients throughout the United States from claims for commercially insured and Medicare Advantage enrollees aged 18 years or older with diagnosis codes for OUD. They found that individuals with OUD have moderately lower quality of care across preventive and chronic illness care and care coordination for non-OUD care compared with individuals without OUD. They recommended more attention to measurement and improvement of non-OUD care for these individuals.
AHRQ-funded; HS000029.
Citation: Anderson KE, Alexander GC, Niles L .
Quality of preventive and chronic illness care for insured adults with opioid use disorder.
JAMA Netw Open 2021 Apr;4(4):e214925. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2021.4925..
Keywords: Opioids, Medication, Substance Abuse, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care, Behavioral Health, Chronic Conditions, Prevention
Elysee G, Yu H, Herrin J
Association between 30-day readmission rates and health information technology capabilities in US hospitals.
A study was conducted to determine if there is an association of health information technology (HIT) adoption and a decrease in 30-day hospital readmission rates. Data was used from the 2013 American Hospital Association IT survey which included non-federal U.S. acute care hospitals with self-reported capabilities. A 54-indicator 7-factor structure of hospital health IT capabilities was identified by exploratory factor analysis. A one-point increase in the hospital adoption of patient engagement capability latent scores generally leads to a 0.086% decrease in risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRRs). However, computerized hospital discharge and information exchange among clinicians did not seem as beneficial.
AHRQ-funded; HS022882.
Citation: Elysee G, Yu H, Herrin J .
Association between 30-day readmission rates and health information technology capabilities in US hospitals.
Medicine 2021 Feb 26;100(8):e24755. doi: 10.1097/md.0000000000024755..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospital Readmissions, Hospitals, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care
Sentell TL, Juarez DT, Ahn HJ
Disparities in diabetes-related preventable hospitalizations among working-age Native Hawaiians and Asians in Hawai'i.
Elderly (65+) Native Hawaiian, Filipino, and Japanese men and Filipino women have a higher risk of diabetes-related potentially preventable hospitalizations than whites. The authors sought to determine if similar disparities are seen among the non-elderly (< 65). They found that preventable hospitalizations rates were significantly higher for Native Hawaiians males compared to whites, but significantly lower for Chinese men and women, Japanese men and women, and Filipino men and women. Rates for Native Hawaiian females did not differ significantly from Whites. Disparities in diabetes-related preventable hospitalizations were seen for working-age (18-64) Native Hawaiian men even when their higher population-level diabetes prevalence was considered.
AHRQ-funded; HS019990.
Citation: Sentell TL, Juarez DT, Ahn HJ .
Disparities in diabetes-related preventable hospitalizations among working-age Native Hawaiians and Asians in Hawai'i.
Hawaii J Med Public Health 2014 Dec;73(12 Suppl 3):8-13.
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Keywords: Diabetes, Disparities, Hospitalization, Quality Indicators (QIs), Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Bailey LC, Mistry KB, Tinoco A
AHRQ Author: Mistry KB
Addressing electronic clinical information in the construction of quality measures.
The authors draw on the experience of Centers of Excellence to review both structural and pragmatic considerations in e-measurement. They suggest that addressing these challenges will require investment by vendors, researchers, and clinicians alike in developing better pediatric content for standard terminologies and data models, encouraging wider adoption of technical standards that support reliable quality measurement, better harmonizing data collection with clinical work flow in EHRs, and better understanding the behavior and potential of e-measures.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Bailey LC, Mistry KB, Tinoco A .
Addressing electronic clinical information in the construction of quality measures.
Acad Pediatr 2014 Sep-Oct;14(5 Suppl):S82-9. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.006.
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Keywords: Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures
Lorch SA, Passarella M, Zeigler A
Challenges to measuring variation in readmission rates of neonatal intensive care patients.
The authors examined the viability of a hospital readmission quality metric for infants requiring neonatal intensive care. They found that the California cohort showed significant variation in hospital-level readmission rates, supporting the premise that readmission rates of prematurely born infants may reflect care quality. However, state data did not include term and early term infants requiring neonatal intensive care, and there were extensive missing data in the few states with sufficient information on managed care patients to calculate state-level measures. They concluded that constructing a valid readmission measure for NICU care across diverse states and regions requires improved data collection.
AHRQ-funded; HS018661; HS020508.
Citation: Lorch SA, Passarella M, Zeigler A .
Challenges to measuring variation in readmission rates of neonatal intensive care patients.
Acad Pediatr 2014 Sep-Oct;14(5 Suppl):S47-53. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.010.
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Keywords: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Newborns/Infants, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Hospital Readmissions
Nakamura MM, Toomey SL, Zaslavsky AM
Measuring pediatric hospital readmission rates to drive quality improvement.
The investigators sought to describe the importance of readmissions in children and the challenges of developing readmission quality measures. They found that the policy focus on readmissions has motivated widespread efforts by hospitals and outpatient providers to evaluate and reengineer care processes.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513; HS020508.
Citation: Nakamura MM, Toomey SL, Zaslavsky AM .
Measuring pediatric hospital readmission rates to drive quality improvement.
Acad Pediatr 2014 Sep-Oct;14(5 Suppl):S39-46. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.012.
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Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Hospital Readmissions
Bevans KB, Moon J, Carle AC
Patient reported outcomes as indicators of pediatric health care quality.
The authors described and illustrated in case examples the functions, benefits, and challenges of patient-reported outcomes applications. They concluded that pediatric patient-reported outcomes are increasingly recognized as valuable indicators of health care quality in the clinical environment and as measures of organization- and provider-level performance.
AHRQ-funded; HS020408.
Citation: Bevans KB, Moon J, Carle AC .
Patient reported outcomes as indicators of pediatric health care quality.
Acad Pediatr 2014 Sep-Oct;14(5 Suppl):S90-6. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.002..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Quality of Care, Children/Adolescents, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Provider Performance
Gidengil C, Mangione-Smith R, Bailey LC
Using Medicaid and CHIP claims data to support pediatric quality measurement: lessons from 3 centers of excellence in measure development.
The investigators sought to explore the claims data-related issues relevant to quality measure development for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), illustrating the challenges encountered and solutions developed around 3 distinct performance measure topics: care coordination for children with complex needs, quality of care for high-prevalence conditions, and hospital readmissions. Their three Centers of Excellence in pediatric quality measurement used innovative methods to develop algorithms that use Medicaid claims data to identify children with complex needs; to overcome some shortcomings of existing data for measuring quality of care for common conditions such as otitis media; and to identify readmissions after hospitalizations for lower respiratory infections.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513; HS020506; HS020508.
Citation: Gidengil C, Mangione-Smith R, Bailey LC .
Using Medicaid and CHIP claims data to support pediatric quality measurement: lessons from 3 centers of excellence in measure development.
Acad Pediatr 2014 Sep-Oct;14(5 Suppl):S76-81. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2014.06.014.
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Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Sentell T, Chang A, Cheng Y
Maternal quality and safety outcomes for Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hawaii: an observational study from five years of statewide data.
The authors investigated maternal quality and safety outcomes across heterogeneous Asian and Pacific Islanders subgroups in the United States. They found significant variation for Asian and Pacific Islander subgroups across maternal quality and safety outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS019990; HS021903.
Citation: Sentell T, Chang A, Cheng Y .
Maternal quality and safety outcomes for Asians and Pacific Islanders in Hawaii: an observational study from five years of statewide data.
BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 2014 Aug 30;14:298. doi: 10.1186/1471-2393-14-298.
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Keywords: Disparities, Labor and Delivery, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Quality Indicators (QIs), Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Brown SE, Ratcliffe SJ, Halpern SD
An empirical comparison of key statistical attributes among potential ICU quality indicators.
The researchers assessed the performance of candidate indicators of ICU quality based on face validity, relevance to patients, ability to be measured reliably, sufficient variability to identify poor performers, relative insensitivity to severity adjustment, and the ability to capture what providers do rather than patients' characteristics. They concluded that no indicator performed optimally across assessments and recommended that future research seek to define and operationalize quality in a way that is relevant to both patients and providers.
AHRQ-funded; HS018406.
Citation: Brown SE, Ratcliffe SJ, Halpern SD .
An empirical comparison of key statistical attributes among potential ICU quality indicators.
Crit Care Med 2014 Aug;42(8):1821-31. doi: 10.1097/ccm.0000000000000334.
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Keywords: Quality of Care, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Hospital Readmissions
Maggard-Gibbons M
The use of report cards and outcome measurements to improve the safety of surgical care: the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
This review summarized the history of American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Project and its components, and described the evidence that feeding outcomes back to providers, along with real-time comparisons with other hospital rates, leads to quality improvement, better patient outcomes, cost savings and overall improved patient safety.
AHRQ-funded; 2902007100621.
Citation: Maggard-Gibbons M .
The use of report cards and outcome measurements to improve the safety of surgical care: the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program.
BMJ Qual Saf 2014 Jul;23(7):589-99. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2013-002223..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Surgery, Patient Safety, Outcomes, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research, Provider Performance
Shelton J, Kummerow K, Phillips S
Patient safety in the era of the 80-hour workweek.
The purpose of this paper was to evaluate the effect of duty-hour regulations (DHR) on patient safety. The researchers found no differences in the patient safety indicator (PSI) rates over time for hemorrhage or hematoma, physiologic or metabolic derangement, accidental puncture or laceration, or wound dehiscence. Teaching hospitals had higher rates than non-teaching hospitals both preintervention and postintervention for all the PSIs except wound dehiscence.
AHRQ-funded; HS013833.
Citation: Shelton J, Kummerow K, Phillips S .
Patient safety in the era of the 80-hour workweek.
J Surg Educ 2014 Jul-Aug;71(4):551-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2013.12.011.
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Keywords: Adverse Events, Education: Continuing Medical Education, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Provider
Gibson G, Jurasic MM, Wehler CJ
Longitudinal outcomes of using a fluoride performance measure for adults at high risk of experiencing caries.
In this paper, the authors hypothesized that after the implementation of a performance measure regarding appropriate fluoride use, veterans at high risk of experiencing caries would require fewer new dental restorations than in the past. They found that, after use of the performance measure for four years, there were 8.6 percent fewer patients needing two or more restorations, a 10.8 percent decrease in the mean number of restorations, and a modest 3.4 percent fewer patients at high risk of experiencing caries who required new restorations after the initial 12-month period.
AHRQ-funded; HS019527.
Citation: Gibson G, Jurasic MM, Wehler CJ .
Longitudinal outcomes of using a fluoride performance measure for adults at high risk of experiencing caries.
J Am Dent Assoc 2014 May;145(5):443-51. doi: 10.14219/jada.2013.53.
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Keywords: Dental and Oral Health, Healthcare Delivery, Provider Performance, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures
Weissman JS, López L, Schneider EC
The association of hospital quality ratings with adverse events.
The researchers used a survey of 2,582 patients hospitalized at 16 acute care Massachusetts hospitals to understand how patient-reported quality is related to adverse events (AEs). Although patients with AEs rated hospital quality lower than others, patients with AEs who experienced ‘service recovery’ rated their quality of care at levels similar to those not experiencing AEs.
AHRQ-funded
Citation: Weissman JS, López L, Schneider EC .
The association of hospital quality ratings with adverse events.
Int J Qual Health Care. 2014 Apr;26(2):129-35. doi: 10.1093/intqhc/mzt092..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Patient Experience, Patient Safety, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures
Ottenbacher KJ, Karmarkar A, Graham JE
Thirty-day hospital readmission following discharge from postacute rehabilitation in fee-for-service Medicare patients.
This study sought to determine 30-day readmission rates and factors related to readmission for patients receiving postacute inpatient rehabilitation. It found that among postacute rehabilitation facilities providing services to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries, 30-day readmission rates ranged from 5.8 percent to 18.8 percent for selected impairment groups.
AHRQ-funded; HS022134.
Citation: Ottenbacher KJ, Karmarkar A, Graham JE .
Thirty-day hospital readmission following discharge from postacute rehabilitation in fee-for-service Medicare patients.
JAMA 2014 Feb 12;311(6):604-14. doi: 10.1001/jama.2014.8..
Keywords: Hospital Readmissions, Medicare, Rehabilitation, Elderly, Quality Indicators (QIs)