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Research Studies is a monthly compilation of research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers and recently published in journals or newsletters.
Results
1 to 17 of 17 Research Studies Displayed
Merkow RP, Massarweh NN
Looking beyond perioperative morbidity and mortality as measures of surgical quality.
The authors discussed the problems with a contemporaneous focus on morbidity and mortality as surgical quality measures and offered potential alternative options which could better refine and evolve surgical quality measurement, including process measures, value-based measures, patient-centered measures, and health equity.
AHRQ-funded; HS026385.
Citation:
Merkow RP, Massarweh NN .
Looking beyond perioperative morbidity and mortality as measures of surgical quality.
Ann Surg 2022 Feb;275(2):e281-e83. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000004966..
Keywords:
Surgery, Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Mortality
Mohr NM, Zebrowski AM, Gaieski DF
Inpatient hospital performance is associated with post-discharge sepsis mortality.
The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that hospitals with high risk-adjusted inpatient sepsis mortality also have high post-discharge mortality, readmissions, and discharge to nursing homes. Sepsis hospitalization survivors among age-qualifying Medicare beneficiaries were followed for 180 days post-discharge; mortality, readmissions, and new admission to skilled nursing facilities were measured. Findings showed that hospitals with the highest risk-adjusted sepsis inpatient mortality also had higher post-discharge mortality and increased readmissions, suggesting that post-discharge complications were a modifiable risk that may be affected during inpatient care. Recommendations for future work include seeking to elucidate inpatient and healthcare practices that can reduce sepsis post-discharge complications.
AHRQ-funded; HS023614; HS025753.
Citation:
Mohr NM, Zebrowski AM, Gaieski DF .
Inpatient hospital performance is associated with post-discharge sepsis mortality.
Crit Care 2020 Oct 27;24(1):626. doi: 10.1186/s13054-020-03341-3..
Keywords:
Sepsis, Mortality, Hospital Discharge, Hospitals, Provider Performance, Quality of Care, Inpatient Care, Hospital Readmissions
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
Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign recommends immediate antibiotics for all patients with suspected sepsis and septic shock, ideally within 1 hour of recognition. An accurate understanding of the precise relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality for patients with possible sepsis is therefore critical. In this study, the investigators elaborate on potential sources of bias and try to distill a better understanding of what the true relationship between time-to-antibiotics and mortality may be for patients with suspected sepsis or septic shock.
AHRQ-funded; HS025008.
Citation:
Weinberger J, Rhee C, Klompas M .
A critical analysis of the literature on time-to-antibiotics in suspected sepsis.
J Infect Dis 2020 Jul 21;222(Suppl 2):S110-s18. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaa146..
Keywords:
Sepsis, Antibiotics, Medication, Antimicrobial Stewardship, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Mortality
Vanderlaan J, Rochat R, Williams B
Associations between hospital maternal service level and delivery outcomes.
This study explored the associations between delivery hospital self-reported level of maternal service, as defined by the American Hospital Association, and both maternal and neonatal outcomes among women at high maternal risk, as defined by the Obstetric Comorbidity Index. The investigators concluded that for the group of pregnant women in need of maternal transfer, delivery hospital self-reported level of maternal care was not associated with the odds of poor maternal or neonatal outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS024655.
Citation:
Vanderlaan J, Rochat R, Williams B .
Associations between hospital maternal service level and delivery outcomes.
Womens Health Issues 2019 May - Jun;29(3):252-58. doi: 10.1016/j.whi.2019.02.004..
Keywords:
Maternal Care, Labor and Delivery, Pregnancy, Women, Outcomes, Hospitals, Quality of Care, Newborns/Infants, Mortality
Darby JL, Davis BS, Barbash IJ
An administrative model for benchmarking hospitals on their 30-day sepsis mortality.
The goal of this study was to develop an administrative risk-adjustment model suitable for profiling hospitals on their 30-day mortality rates for patients with sepsis. The investigators concluded that a novel claims-based risk-adjustment model demonstrated wide variation in risk-standardized 30-day sepsis mortality rates across hospitals. Individual hospitals' performance rankings were stable across years and after the addition of laboratory data. They assert that this model provides a robust way to rank hospitals on sepsis mortality while adjusting for patient risk.
AHRQ-funded; HS025455.
Citation:
Darby JL, Davis BS, Barbash IJ .
An administrative model for benchmarking hospitals on their 30-day sepsis mortality.
BMC Health Serv Res 2019 Apr 11;19(1):221. doi: 10.1186/s12913-019-4037-x..
Keywords:
Hospitals, Mortality, Quality of Care, Sepsis
Shah S, Xian Y, Sheng S
Use, temporal trends, and outcomes of endovascular therapy after interhospital transfer in the United States.
This study examined the use, trends and outcomes of endovascular therapy (EVT) after interhospital transfer in the United Sates. This cohort study analyzed trends from over 1.8 million patients with ischemic stroke admitted to 2143 Get With The Guidelines-Stroke participating hospitals between 2012 and 2017. There were differences in mortality for interhospital transfer patients, although those differences disappeared after adjusting for delay in EVT initiation.
AHRQ-funded; HS024561.
Citation:
Shah S, Xian Y, Sheng S .
Use, temporal trends, and outcomes of endovascular therapy after interhospital transfer in the United States.
Circulation 2019 Mar 26;139(13):1568-77. doi: 10.1161/circulationaha.118.036509..
Keywords:
Stroke, Cardiovascular Conditions, Transitions of Care, Outcomes, Healthcare Delivery, Hospitals, Mortality, Quality of Care
Silber JH, Arriaga AF, Niknam BA
Failure-to-rescue after acute myocardial infarction.
The purpose of this study is to develop a failure-to-rescue (FTR) metric modified to analyze acute myocardial infarction (AMI) outcomes. The subjects were older Medicare beneficiaries who were admitted to short-term acute-care hospitals for AMI between 2009 and 2011. Measures included thirty-day mortality and FTR rates, as well as in-hospital complication rates. The study concludes that a modified FTR metric can be created that may aid in studying the quality of care of AMI admissions and has the advantageous properties of surgical FTR.
AHRQ-funded; HS023560.
Citation:
Silber JH, Arriaga AF, Niknam BA .
Failure-to-rescue after acute myocardial infarction.
Med Care 2018 May;56(5):416-23. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000000904..
Keywords:
Adverse Events, Cardiovascular Conditions, Quality of Care, Mortality, Heart Disease and Health
Austrian JS, Jamin CT, Doty GR
Impact of an emergency department electronic sepsis surveillance system on patient mortality and length of stay.
The goal of this study was to determine if an electronic health record (EHR) based sepsis alert system could improve quality of care and clinical outcomes for patients with sepsis. A patient-level, interrupted time series study of emergency department patients with severe sepsis or septic shock was conducted, with an intervention introduced at the approximate mid-point--a system of interruptive sepsis alerts triggered by abnormal vital signs or laboratory results. Mean length of stay for patients with sepsis decreased significantly following the introduction of the alert, but the alert system had no effect on mortality or other clinical or process measures. The researchers conclude that a more sophisticated algorithm for sepsis identification is needed to improve outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS023683.
Citation:
Austrian JS, Jamin CT, Doty GR .
Impact of an emergency department electronic sepsis surveillance system on patient mortality and length of stay.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2018 May;25(5):523-29. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocx072..
Keywords:
Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Emergency Department, Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals, Mortality, Outcomes, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Sepsis
Cutler E, Karaca Z, Henke R
The effects of Medicare accountable organizations on inpatient mortality rates.
This study examined whether Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have improved hospital quality of care, specifically focusing on preventable inpatient mortality. The investigators concluded that, on average, Medicare ACO hospitals are not associated with improved mortality rates for the studied inpatient quality indicator conditions. They suggest that stakeholders may potentially consider providing ACOs with incentives or designing new programs for ACOs to target inpatient mortality reductions.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation:
Cutler E, Karaca Z, Henke R .
The effects of Medicare accountable organizations on inpatient mortality rates.
Inquiry 2018 Jan-Dec;55:46958018800092. doi: 10.1177/0046958018800092..
Keywords:
Quality of Care, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Hospitals, Medicare, Mortality
Haynes AB, Edmondson LB, Lipsitz SR
Mortality trends after a voluntary checklist-based surgical safety collaborative.
This study sought to determine whether completion of a voluntary, checklist-based surgical quality improvement program is associated with reduced 30-day postoperative mortality. It It found that, despite similar pre-existing rates and trends of postoperative mortality, hospitals in South Carolina completing a voluntary checklist-based surgical quality improvement program had a reduction in deaths after inpatient surgery over the first 3 years of the collaborative compared with other hospitals in the state.
AHRQ-funded; HS019631.
Citation:
Haynes AB, Edmondson LB, Lipsitz SR .
Mortality trends after a voluntary checklist-based surgical safety collaborative.
Annals of Surgery 2017 Dec;266(6):923-29. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000002249.
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.
Keywords:
Mortality, Patient Safety, Surgery, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Wong SL, Revels SL, Yin H
Variation in hospital mortality rates with inpatient cancer surgery.
The purpose of this national study was to elucidate clinical mechanisms underlying variation in hospital mortality with major cancer surgery. It found that case-fatality rates among patients with complications at high-mortality hospitals were approximately twice as high as at low-mortality hospitals. This study implicates failure to rescue as the major reason for differences in hospital mortality rates with major cancer surgery.
AHRQ-funded; HS020937.
Citation:
Wong SL, Revels SL, Yin H .
Variation in hospital mortality rates with inpatient cancer surgery.
Ann Surg 2015 Apr;261(4):632-6. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000000690..
Keywords:
Mortality, Surgery, Cancer, Patient Safety, Quality of Care
Yanamadala S, Morrison D, Curtin C
Electronic health records and quality of care: an observational study modeling impact on mortality, readmissions, and complications.
The authors assessed the relationship between electronic health records (EHR) adoption and patient outcomes. Their results indicate that patients receiving medical and surgical care at hospitals with no EHR system have similar outcomes compared to patients seeking care at hospitals with a full EHR system. They concluded that EHRs may play a smaller role than expected in patient outcomes and overall quality of care.
AHRQ-funded; HS024096.
Citation:
Yanamadala S, Morrison D, Curtin C .
Electronic health records and quality of care: an observational study modeling impact on mortality, readmissions, and complications.
Medicine (Baltimore) 2016 May;95(19):e3332. doi: 10.1097/md.0000000000003332.
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Keywords:
Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Quality of Care, Mortality, Hospitals
Walkey AJ, Weinberg J, Wiener RS
Association of do-not-resuscitate orders and hospital mortality rate among patients with pneumonia.
The researchers evaluated the effect of analytic approaches accounting for do-not-resuscitate (DNR) status on risk-adjusted hospital mortality rates and performance rankings. They found that after accounting for patient DNR status and between-hospital variation in the association between DNR status and mortality, hospitals with higher DNR rates had lower mortality.
AHRQ-funded; HS020672.
Citation:
Walkey AJ, Weinberg J, Wiener RS .
Association of do-not-resuscitate orders and hospital mortality rate among patients with pneumonia.
JAMA Intern Med 2016 Jan;176(1):97-104. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.6324.
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Keywords:
Hospitals, Mortality, Quality of Care, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Pneumonia, Provider Performance, Respiratory Conditions
Xu X, Buta E, Anhang Price R
Methodological considerations when studying the association between patient-reported care experiences and mortality.
This study illustrated methodological considerations when assessing the relationship between patient care experiences and mortality. It found that the association between overall care experiences and mortality was significant for deaths not amenable to medical care and all-cause mortality, but not for amenable deaths.
AHRQ-funded; HS016980; HS016978.
Citation:
Xu X, Buta E, Anhang Price R .
Methodological considerations when studying the association between patient-reported care experiences and mortality.
Health Serv Res 2015 Aug;50(4):1146-61. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12264..
Keywords:
Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), Patient Experience, Mortality, Quality of Care, Research Methodologies
Tamirisa NP, Parmar AD, Vargas GM
Relative contributions of complications and failure to rescue on mortality in older patients undergoing pancreatectomy.
This study evaluated the relative contribution of overall postoperative complications and failure to rescue rates on the observed increased mortality in older patients undergoing pancreatic resection at specialized centers. The study found that patients 80 years and older had no difference in complication rates but higher failure to rescue rates compared to patients younger than 80.
AHRQ-funded; HS022134
Citation:
Tamirisa NP, Parmar AD, Vargas GM .
Relative contributions of complications and failure to rescue on mortality in older patients undergoing pancreatectomy.
Ann Surg. 2016 Feb;263(2):385-91. doi: 10.1097/SLA.0000000000001093..
Keywords:
Surgery, Mortality, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Elderly
Arkin N, Lee PH, McDonald K
Association of Nurse-to-Patient Ratio with mortality and preventable complications following aortic valve replacement.
The purpose of this study was to examine hospital resources associated with patient outcomes for aortic valve replacement (AVR), including inpatient adverse events and mortality. The investigators found that the hospital volume-outcomes relationship was associated with mortality outcomes but not postoperative complications. They identified structural differences in hospital size, nurses-to-patient ratio, and nursing skill level indicative of high quality outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS018558.
Citation:
Arkin N, Lee PH, McDonald K .
Association of Nurse-to-Patient Ratio with mortality and preventable complications following aortic valve replacement.
J Card Surg 2014 Mar;29(2):141-8. doi: 10.1111/jocs.12284..
Keywords:
Adverse Events, Cardiovascular Conditions, Quality of Care, Mortality, Risk
