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
- Adverse Events (1)
- Antibiotics (1)
- Decision Making (1)
- Dementia (2)
- Disparities (1)
- (-) Elderly (11)
- Evidence-Based Practice (1)
- Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) (1)
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (2)
- (-) Long-Term Care (11)
- Medical Errors (1)
- Medication (3)
- Mortality (1)
- Neurological Disorders (1)
- (-) Nursing Homes (11)
- Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (1)
- Patient Safety (2)
- Pressure Ulcers (2)
- Provider Performance (1)
- Public Reporting (1)
- Quality Improvement (6)
- Quality Indicators (QIs) (2)
- Quality Measures (4)
- (-) Quality of Care (11)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (1)
- Risk (1)
- Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) (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 11 of 11 Research Studies DisplayedSanghavi P, Chen Z
Underreporting of quality measures and associated facility characteristics and racial disparities in US nursing home ratings.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between nursing home characteristics and reporting of 2 of 3 specific clinical outcomes reported by the Nursing Home Care Compare (NHCC) website: major injury falls and pressure ulcers. The researchers of this quality improvement study utilized hospitalization data for all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries between January 1, 2011, and December 31, 2017. Hospital admission claims for major injury falls and pressure ulcers were linked with facility-reported evaluations at the nursing home resident level. For each linked hospital claim, it was determined whether the nursing home had reported the event and rates of reporting were computed. To evaluate whether nursing homes reported similarly on both measures, the researchers estimated the relationship between reporting of major injury falls and pressure ulcers within a nursing home, and explored racial and ethnic disparities that could otherwise explain the associations. The study sample included 13,179 nursing homes where 131,000 residents experienced major injury fall or pressure ulcer hospitalizations. Of the 98,669 major injury fall hospitalizations, 60.0% were reported, and of the 39,894 stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer hospitalizations, 67.7% were reported. Underreporting for both conditions was pervasive, with 69.9% and 71.7% of nursing homes having reporting rates less than 80% for major injury fall and pressure ulcer hospitalizations, respectively. Lower reporting rates had few correlations with facility characteristics other than racial and ethnic composition. Facilities with high vs low fall reporting rates had significantly more White residents (86.9% vs 73.3%), and facilities with high vs low pressure ulcer reporting rates had significantly fewer White residents (69.7% vs 74.9%).
AHRQ-funded; HS026957.
Citation: Sanghavi P, Chen Z .
Underreporting of quality measures and associated facility characteristics and racial disparities in US nursing home ratings.
JAMA Netw Open 2023 May; 6(5):e2314822. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.14822..
Keywords: Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Elderly, Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Nursing Homes, Pressure Ulcers, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Quality Indicators (QIs), Long-Term Care
Chen Z, Gleason LJ, Sanghavi P
Accuracy of pressure ulcer events in US nursing home ratings.
This study investigated the accuracy of the government website Nursing Home Compare (NHC) pressure ulcer measures, which are chief indicators of nursing home patient safety. The authors identified hospital admissions for pressure ulcers and linked them to the nursing home-reported data at the patient level using Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who were nursing home residents between 2011 and 2017. Percentages of pressure ulcers that were appropriately reported by stage, long-stay versus short-stay status, and race was calculated. Reporting rates were low for both short-stay (70.2%) and long-stay (59.7%) for stage 2-4 pressure ulcer hospitalizations. Black residents experienced more severe pressure ulcers than White residents. Correlations between claims-based measures and NHC ratings were found to be poor.
AHRQ-funded; HS026957.
Citation: Chen Z, Gleason LJ, Sanghavi P .
Accuracy of pressure ulcer events in US nursing home ratings.
Med Care 2022 Oct;60(10):775-83. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001763.
AHRQ-funded; HS026957..
AHRQ-funded; HS026957..
Keywords: Elderly, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Pressure Ulcers, Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Patient Safety
Olivieri-Mui B, McGuire J, Griffith J
Exploring the association between the quality of HIV care in nursing homes and hospitalization.
Persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWH) are living long enough to need age-related and HIV-related nursing home (NH) care. Nursing home quality of care has been associated with risk for hospitalization, but it is unknown if quality of HIV care in NHs affects hospitalization in this population. In this study, the investigators assessed HIV care quality with four national measures adapted for the NH setting.
AHRQ-funded; R36 HS025662.
Citation: Olivieri-Mui B, McGuire J, Griffith J .
Exploring the association between the quality of HIV care in nursing homes and hospitalization.
J Healthc Qual 2021 May-Jun;43(3):174-82. doi: 10.1097/jhq.0000000000000277..
Keywords: Elderly, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Quality of Care, Quality Measures
Hanlon JT, Perera S, Schweon S
Improvements in antibiotic appropriateness for cystitis in older nursing home residents: a quality improvement study with randomized assignment.
This study evaluated the impact of an educational quality improvement initiative on the appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing restricted to uncomplicated cystitis in older noncatheterized nursing home residents. This 1-year case-control study used 25 participating nursing homes that were randomized to the intervention or usual care group by strata that included state, urban/rural status, bed size, and geographic separation. A total of 75 cases of cystitis were found in the intervention groups and 92 in the control groups. The intervention group had a nonsignificant 21% reduction in the risk of antibiotic prescribing. There was a favorable comparison in appropriateness of duration. However, the intervention group had more problems with drug-drug interactions than the control group (8% vs 1%). There were also more problems with dosage in the intervention group. Both groups had similar rates of problems with choice or effectiveness (44% vs 45%). The most common antibiotic class that was prescribed inappropriately was quinolones.
AHRQ-funded; R18 HS023779.
Citation: Hanlon JT, Perera S, Schweon S .
Improvements in antibiotic appropriateness for cystitis in older nursing home residents: a quality improvement study with randomized assignment.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 Jan;22(1):173-77. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.07.040..
Keywords: Elderly, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Antibiotics, Medication, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), Decision Making
Mangrum R, Stewart MD, Gifford DR
Omissions of care in nursing homes: a uniform definition for research and quality improvement.
The goal of this study was to create a uniform definition of omission of care in US nursing homes. Lack of a uniform definition has made efforts to prevent them challenging. Subject matter experts and a broad range of nursing home stakeholders were brought together in iterative rounds of engagement to identify key concepts and aspects of omissions of care and develop a consensus-based definition. The concise definition decided on was: “Omissions of care in nursing homes encompass situations when care–either clinical or nonclinical–is not provided for a resident and results in additional monitoring or intervention or increases the risk of an undesirable or adverse physical, emotional, or psychosocial outcome for the resident."
AHRQ-funded; 233201500014I.
Citation: Mangrum R, Stewart MD, Gifford DR .
Omissions of care in nursing homes: a uniform definition for research and quality improvement.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2020 Nov;21(11):1587-91.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.08.016..
Keywords: Elderly, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Risk, Patient-Centered Outcomes Research
Crystal S, Jarrín OF, Rosenthal M
National partnership to improve dementia care in nursing homes campaign: state and facility strategies, impact, and antipsychotic reduction outcomes.
This study examines the success of the national partnership campaign to reduce prescription of antipsychotic medications to elderly nursing home residents with dementia. Antipsychotic medications have been shown to increase mortality. Use of these medications had increased 23.9% in dementia patients by 2011. The campaign reduced use by 40.1% to 14.3% by the second quarter of 2019. The campaign measured progress with public reporting of quality measures, increased regulatory scrutiny, and accompanying state and facility initiatives. Sedative-hypnotic medication use also decreased in tandem with antipsychotic reduction suggesting that the campaign increased attention to the use of other risky psychotropic medications.
AHRQ-funded; HS023464; HS022406; HS023258; HS021112.
Citation: Crystal S, Jarrín OF, Rosenthal M .
National partnership to improve dementia care in nursing homes campaign: state and facility strategies, impact, and antipsychotic reduction outcomes.
Innov Aging 2020 Jun 2;4(3):igaa018. doi: 10.1093/geroni/igaa018..
Keywords: Elderly, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Dementia, Neurological Disorders, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Medication, Mortality
Olivieri-Mui B, McGuire J, Griffith J
Assessing the quality of human immunodeficiency virus care in nursing homes.
Quality of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care in nursing homes (NHs) has never been measured. In this cross-sectional study, the investigators assessed the quality of human immunodeficiency virus care in nursing homes. This study provides previously unknown baseline metrics on NH HIV care quality and highlights significant challenges when measuring HIV care in NHs.
AHRQ-funded; HS025662.
Citation: Olivieri-Mui B, McGuire J, Griffith J .
Assessing the quality of human immunodeficiency virus care in nursing homes.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2020 Jun;68(6):1226-34. doi: 10.1111/jgs.16359..
Keywords: Elderly, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Quality of Care
Hanlon JT, Perera S, Drinka PJ
The IOU consensus recommendations for empirical therapy of cystitis in nursing home residents.
A 19-member panel of clinical pharmacists was convened for the Improving Outcomes of UTI Management in Long-Term Care Project (IOU) funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The objective is to reach consensus on a set of recommendations for the empirical treatment of cystitis in older nursing home residents with oral anti-infective medications. A comprehensive literature search was conducted and out of that 31 recommendations were created. There were two Delphi Survey rounds conducted and those recommendations were rated on a 5-point Likert scale. In the first round three recommendations reached consensus and in the second round an additional eight recommendations were agreed on.
AHRQ-funded; HS023779.
Citation: Hanlon JT, Perera S, Drinka PJ .
The IOU consensus recommendations for empirical therapy of cystitis in nursing home residents.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2019 Mar;67(3):539-45. doi: 10.1111/jgs.15726..
Keywords: Elderly, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Medication, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Evidence-Based Practice
Joyce NR, McGuire TG, Bartels SJ
The impact of dementia special care units on quality of care: an instrumental variables analysis.
The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of care following admission to a nursing home (NH) with and without a dementia special care unit (SCU) for residents with dementia. The investigators found that facilities with an SCU provided better quality of care as measured by several validated quality indicators. The authors suggested that given the aging population, policies to promote the expansion and use of dementia SCUs may be warranted.
AHRQ-funded; HS022998.
Citation: Joyce NR, McGuire TG, Bartels SJ .
The impact of dementia special care units on quality of care: an instrumental variables analysis.
Health Serv Res 2018 Oct;53(5):3657-79. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12867..
Keywords: Dementia, Elderly, Quality of Care, Long-Term Care, Nursing Homes
Mukamel DB, Ye Z, Glance LG
Does mandating nursing home participation in quality reporting make a difference? Evidence from Massachusetts.
This study investigated one of the mechanisms that may detract from the effectiveness of quality report cards: voluntary versus mandatory participation of nursing homes in public quality reporting. It found that once reporting became mandatory, nonvolunteers improved more than volunteers in all but 2 staffing measures.
AHRQ-funded; HS021844.
Citation: Mukamel DB, Ye Z, Glance LG .
Does mandating nursing home participation in quality reporting make a difference? Evidence from Massachusetts.
Med Care 2015 Aug;53(8):713-9. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000390..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Public Reporting, Provider Performance, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Elderly
Abrahamson K, Mueller C, Davila HW
Nurses as boundary-spanners in reducing avoidable hospitalizations among nursing home residents.
The researchers interviewed 76 nurses working at 38 nursing homes that were implementing quality improvement projects to reduce avoidable hospitalizations. They explored the role of the nurse as boundary-spanner between the organizational goals of the nursing home and external stakeholder systems and how that influences the nursing staff experience.
AHRQ-funded; HS018464
Citation: Abrahamson K, Mueller C, Davila HW .
Nurses as boundary-spanners in reducing avoidable hospitalizations among nursing home residents.
Res Gerontol Nurs. 2014 Sep-Oct;7(5):235-43. doi: 10.3928/19404921-20140519-01..
Keywords: Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Elderly, Quality of Care, Quality Improvement