National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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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 25 of 156 Research Studies DisplayedAuerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to determine the prevalence, underlying causes, and harms of diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who were transferred to an intensive care unit or who died. Data was taken from 29 academic medical centers in the U.S. in a random sample of adults hospitalized with general medical conditions. Errors were found to have contributed to temporary harm, permanent harm, or death in nearly 18% of patients; among patients who died, diagnostic error was judged to have contributed to death in 6.6% of cases. The researchers noted that problems with choosing and interpreting tests and the processes involved with clinician assessment were a high priority for improvement efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369.
Citation: Auerbach AD, Lee TM, Hubbard CC .
Diagnostic errors in hospitalized adults who died or were transferred to intensive care.
JAMA Intern Med 2024 Feb; 184(2):164-73. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.7347..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Adverse Events
Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
This paper describes the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study, whose aim was to define the prevalence and underlying causes of diagnostic errors (DEs) in patients who die in the hospital or are transferred to the intensive care unit (ICU) after the first 48 hours. This study was conducted at 31 hospitals with more than 2500 cases reviewed using electronic health records. The authors identified some insights into key requirements into building a robust DE surveillance program by developing these steps: 1) Develop a shared understanding of what constitutes a diagnostic error; 2) Use validated tools to identify diagnostic errors and classify process failures, but respect your context; 3) Develop a standard approach to using electronic health records for case reviews; 4) Ensure reliability and consistency of the case review process; and 5) Link diagnostic error case reviews to institutional safety programs. They also developed steps to establish a diagnosis error review process at the hospital level with six processes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027369; HS026613.
Citation: Dalal AK, Schnipper JL, Raffel K .
Identifying and classifying diagnostic errors in acute care across hospitals: early lessons from the Utility of Predictive Systems in Diagnostic Errors (UPSIDE) study.
J Hosp Med 2024 Feb; 19(2):140-45. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13136..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals
Schnipper JL, Raffel KE, Keniston A
Achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT) study protocol: a multicenter, prospective quality and safety program to improve diagnostic processes in medical inpatients.
This paper describes the protocol for a study that will build surveillance for hospital diagnostic errors into usual care, benchmark diagnostic performance across sites, pilot test interventions, and evaluate the program's impact on diagnostic error rates. The authors will test achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT), a multicenter, real-world quality and safety program utilizing interrupted time-series techniques to evaluate outcomes. They will use a randomly sampled population of medical patients hospitalized at 16 US hospitals who died, were transferred to intensive care, or had a rapid response during the hospitalization. There will be surveillance for diagnostic errors on 10 events per month per site using a previously established two-person adjudication process. With guidance from national experts in quality and safety, study sites will report and benchmark diagnostic error rates, share lessons regarding underlying causes, and design, implement, and pilot test interventions using both Safety I and Safety II approaches aimed at patients, providers, and health systems. The primary outcome sought after will be the number of diagnostic errors per patient, using segmented multivariable regression to evaluate change in y-intercept and change in slope after initiation of the program.
AHRQ-funded; HS029366.
Citation: Schnipper JL, Raffel KE, Keniston A .
Achieving diagnostic excellence through prevention and teamwork (ADEPT) study protocol: a multicenter, prospective quality and safety program to improve diagnostic processes in medical inpatients.
J Hosp Med 2023 Dec; 18(12):1072-81. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13230..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Patient Safety, Quality of Care, Hospitals, Inpatient Care
McLoone M, McNamara M, Jennings MA
Observing sources of system resilience using in situ alarm simulations.
The authors conducted in situ simulations of a hypoxemic-event alarm in medical/surgical and intensive care units at a tertiary care pediatric hospital to identify sources of resilience in alarm systems. They collected data on response timing, made observations of the environment, and conducted postsimulation debrief interviews. Four primary means of successful alarm responses were mapped to domains of the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety framework to guide future alarm system design and improvement.
AHRQ-funded; HS026620; HS028682.
Citation: McLoone M, McNamara M, Jennings MA .
Observing sources of system resilience using in situ alarm simulations.
J Hosp Med 2023 Nov; 18(11):994-98. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13217..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Hospitals
Chen VW, Chidi AP, Dong Y
Risk-adjusted cumulative sum for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality.
This study’s goal was to compare the risk-adjusted cumulative sum (CUSUM) with episodic evaluation for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality. The study cohort included 697,566 patients treated at 104 Veterans’ Affairs hospitals across 24 quarters with a mean age of 60.9 years and 91.4% male. These patients underwent a noncardiac operation at a Veterans Affairs hospital, had a record in the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2016), and were aged 18 years or older. For each hospital, the median number of quarters detected with observed to expected ratios, at least 1 CUSUM signal, and more than 1 CUSUM signal was 2 quarters (IQR, 1-4 quarters), 8 quarters (IQR, 4-11 quarters), and 3 quarters (IQR, 1-4 quarters). Outlier hospitals were identified 33.3% of the time (830 quarters) with at least 1 CUSUM signal within a quarter, 12.5% (311 quarters) with more than 1 CUSUM signal, and 11.0% (274 quarters) with observed to expected ratios at the end of the quarter. The CUSUM detection occurred a median of 49 days (IQR, 25-63 days) before observed to expected ratio reporting (1 signal, 35 days [IQR, 17-54 days]; 2 signals, 49 days [IQR, 26-61 days]; 3 signals, 58 days [IQR, 44-69 days]; ≥4 signals, 49 days [IQR, 42-69 days]. Of 274 hospital quarters detected with observed to expected ratios, 72.6% were concurrently detected by at least 1 CUSUM signal vs 42.7% by more than 1 CUSUM signal. There was a dose-response relationship between the number of CUSUM signals in a quarter and the median observed to expected ratio (0 signals, 0.63; 1 signal, 1.28; 2 signals, 1.58; 3 signals, 2.08; ≥4 signals, 2.49).
AHRQ-funded; HS013853.
Citation: Chen VW, Chidi AP, Dong Y .
Risk-adjusted cumulative sum for early detection of hospitals with excess perioperative mortality.
JAMA Surg 2023 Nov; 158(11):1176-83. doi: 10.1001/jamasurg.2023.3673..
Keywords: Quality Improvement, Surgery, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Mortality, Quality of Care
Thom KA, Rock C, Robinson GL
Direct gloving vs hand hygiene before donning gloves in adherence to hospital infection control practices: a cluster randomized clinical trial.
The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of a direct-gloving policy on adherence to infection prevention control practices in a hospital setting. In this study, hospital units were randomly assigned to either the intervention (hand hygiene not required before putting on gloves) or to usual care (hand hygiene required prior to before putting on nonsterile gloves). The primary study outcome was adherence to the expected practice upon room entry and room exit. Thirteen hospital units participated in the trial, and 3,790 health care personnel (HCP) were observed. The study found that adherence to expected practice was higher in the 6 units with the direct-gloving intervention than in the 7 usual care units even when controlling for baseline hand hygiene rates, unit type, and universal gloving policies. The intervention had no effect on hand hygiene adherence measured at entry to non-contact precautions rooms or at room exit. The intervention was related with increased total bacteria colony counts and increased detection of pathogenic bacteria on gloves in the ED and reduced colony counts in pediatrics units, with no change in either total colony count for adult intensive care unit or presence of pathogenic bacteria for adult intensive care unit.
AHRQ-funded; HS024108.
Citation: Thom KA, Rock C, Robinson GL .
Direct gloving vs hand hygiene before donning gloves in adherence to hospital infection control practices: a cluster randomized clinical trial.
JAMA Netw Open 2023 Oct 2; 6(10):e2336758. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.36758..
Keywords: Hospitals, Patient Safety, Guidelines, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
Gupta AB, Greene MT, Fowler KE
Associations between hospitalist shift busyness, diagnostic confidence, and resource utilization: a pilot study.
Hospitalists are frequently attending to multiple tasks when overseeing patient care, and patients are at risk for diagnostic errors. The purpose of this single-center, prospective, pilot observational study was to measure hospitalist workload and examine its influences on diagnostic performance in a real-world clinical setting. The researchers had hospitalists admitting new patients to the hospital complete an abbreviated Mindful Attention Awareness Tool and a survey on diagnostic confidence upon shift completion. Complete data were available for 37 unique hospitalists who admitted 160 unique patients. The study found that increases in admissions and pages were related with higher odds of hospitalists reporting it was "difficult to focus on what is happening in the present." Increased pages was associated with a decrease in the number of differential diagnoses listed.
AHRQ-funded; HS024385; HS025891.
Citation: Gupta AB, Greene MT, Fowler KE .
Associations between hospitalist shift busyness, diagnostic confidence, and resource utilization: a pilot study.
J Patient Saf 2023 Oct 1; 19(7):447-52. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001157..
Keywords: Hospitals, Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Patient Safety
Zhu Y, Wang Z, Newman-Toker D
Misdiagnosis-related harm quantification through mixture models and harm measures.
Investigating and monitoring misdiagnosis-related harm utilizing the traditional chart review process is labor intensive, potentially unstable, and not conducive to scaling. Researchers propose to leverage the association between symptoms and diseases based on electronic health records or claim data. Specifically, the increased risk of disease after a false-negative diagnosis can be utilized as an indicator of potential harm. The researcher report that the problem with off-the-shelf statistical methods to assess these dynamics is that they do not fully accommodate the data structure of a well-hypothesized risk pattern and thus fail to sufficiently address the unique challenges. The purpose of this study was to explore a mixture regression model and its associated goodness-of-fit testing to address the existing gaps seen in usual statistical analysis methods. The researchers additionally proposed harm measures and profiling analysis procedures to quantify, assess, and compare misdiagnosis-related harm across institutes with potentially differing patient population compositions. Simulation studies were utilized to study the performance of the proposed methods. Researchers then applied and demonstrated the methods through data analyses on stroke occurrence data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Health Insurance Database. From those analyses risk factors for being harmed due to misdiagnosis were assessed, which revealed insights for health care quality research. Finally, researchers compared general and special care hospitals in Taiwan and observed better diagnostic performance in special care hospitals utilizing a variety of new assessment measures.
AHRQ-funded; HS027614.
Citation: Zhu Y, Wang Z, Newman-Toker D .
Misdiagnosis-related harm quantification through mixture models and harm measures.
Biometrics 2023 Sep; 79(3):2633-48. doi: 10.1111/biom.13759..
Keywords: Diagnostic Safety and Quality, Patient Safety, Hospitals
Bourgoin A, Balaban R, Hochman M
AHRQ Author: Perfetto D, Hogan EM
Improving quality and safety for patients after hospital discharge: primary care as the lead integrator in postdischarge care transitions.
The purpose of this study was to explain primary care-based transition workflow processes for hospitalized patients. The researchers conducted interviews with primary care thought leaders, staff at 9 primary care sites, community agency staff, and recently discharged patients. The researchers found that primary care postdischarge workflows vary across the different settings, rarely include communications with the patient or the inpatient team during the hospitalization and vary widely across settings. The researchers recommended the use of principles for primary care practices to encourage active participation in the full spectrum of postdischarge care, from admission through the first postdischarge visit to primary care.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 233201500019I/HHSP23337002T.
Citation: Bourgoin A, Balaban R, Hochman M .
Improving quality and safety for patients after hospital discharge: primary care as the lead integrator in postdischarge care transitions.
J Ambul Care Manage 2022 Oct-Dec;45(4):310-20. doi: 10.1097/jac.0000000000000433..
Keywords: Quality of Care, Patient Safety, Hospital Discharge, Transitions of Care, Hospitals, Workflow
Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
The authors compared the adverse event (AE) rate identified by voluntary event reporting (VER) with that identified using the Global Assessment of Pediatric Patient Safety (GAPPS) between hospitalized children by weight category, race, and English proficiency. In the population studied, they identified 288 total AEs, 270 by the GAPPS and 18 by VER. They found a disparity in AE reporting for children with limited English proficiency, with fewer AEs by VER compared with no difference in AEs by GAPPS. They identified no disparities by weight category or race. They concluded that voluntary event reporting may systematically underreport AEs in hospitalized children with limited English proficiency.
AHRQ-funded; HS026038.
Citation: Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A .
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
J Patient Saf 2022 Sep 1;18(6):e928-e33. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001049..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Disparities, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Inpatient Care
Waters TM, Burns N, Kaplan CM
Combined impact of medicare's hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed.
The authors examined the combined impact of Medicare's pay for performance (P4P) programs on clinical areas and populations targeted by the programs, as well as those outside their focus. Using HCUP data, and consistent with previous studies for individual programs, they detected minimal, if any, effect of Medicare's hospital P4P programs on quality and safety. They recommended a redesigning of the P4P programs before continuing to expand them.
AHRQ-funded; HS025148.
Citation: Waters TM, Burns N, Kaplan CM .
Combined impact of medicare's hospital pay for performance programs on quality and safety outcomes is mixed.
BMC Health Serv Res 2022 Jul 28;22(1):958. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-08348-w..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Medicare, Payment, Provider Performance, Hospitals, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Patient Safety
Eldridge N, Wang Y, Metersky M
AHRQ Author: Eldridge N, Perdue-Puli J, Brady PJ, Grace E, Rodrick D
Trends in adverse event rates in hospitalized patients, 2010-2019.
This AHRQ-authored serial cross-sectional study’s objective was to determine the change in the rate of adverse events in hospitalized patients from 2010 to 2019. The study used data from the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System and included 244,542 adult patients hospitalized in 3156 acute care hospitals across 4 condition groups: acute myocardial infarction (17%), heart failure (17%) pneumonia (21%), major surgical procedures (22%), and all other conditions (22%). Information on adverse events collected included 21 measures across 4 adverse event domains: adverse drug events, hospital-acquired infections, adverse events after a procedure, and general adverse events such as pressure ulcers and falls. The study sample included 190,286 hospital discharges in the combined 4 condition-based groups and 54,256 hospital discharges for all other conditions. From 2010 to 2019, the total change for adverse events per 1000 discharges for acute myocardial infarction decreased from 218 to 139, from 168 to 116 for heart failure, from 195 to 119 for pneumonia, and from 204 to 130 for major surgical procedures. The rate for all other conditions remained unchanged at 70 adverse events per 1000 discharges.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; 290201800005C.
Citation: Eldridge N, Wang Y, Metersky M .
Trends in adverse event rates in hospitalized patients, 2010-2019.
JAMA 2022 Jul 12;328(2):173-83. doi: 10.1001/jama.2022.9600..
Keywords: Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Inpatient Care
Zebrak K, Yount N, Sorra J
Development, pilot study, and psychometric analysis of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS(®)) workplace safety supplemental items for hospitals.
The purpose of this AHRQ-funded study was to develop and test survey items that can be utilized together with the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS(®)) Hospital Survey to evaluate how hospitals’ organizational cultures support workplace safety for both providers and staff. Based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with experts in workplace safety, the researchers identified prime areas of workplace safety culture (workplace hazards, moving patients, workplace aggression, management support for workplace safety, workplace safety reporting, and work stress or burnout) and drafted survey items to evaluate these areas. The survey items were then pilot tested on providers and staff in 28 U.S. hospitals using the SOPS Hospital Survey 2.0. Data from 6,684 respondents was analyzed and demonstrated conceptual convergence among the survey measures. The researchers concluded that both researchers and hospitals can utilize the Workplace Safety Supplemental items to evaluate the dimensions of organizational culture that support provider and staff safety and to pinpoint organizational strengths and areas for improvement.
AHRQ-funded; 233201500026I.
Citation: Zebrak K, Yount N, Sorra J .
Development, pilot study, and psychometric analysis of the AHRQ Surveys on Patient Safety Culture™ (SOPS(®)) workplace safety supplemental items for hospitals.
Int J Environ Res Public Health 2022 Jun 2;19(11). doi: 10.3390/ijerph19116815..
Keywords: Surveys on Patient Safety Culture, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Organizational Change
Milliren CE, Bailey G, Graham DA
Relationships between pediatric safety indicators across a national sample of pediatric hospitals: dispelling the myth of the "safest" hospital.
This observational study aimed to explore the covariance of pediatric hospital quality indicators and evaluate the use of a single composite score. Pediatric hospital performance across 13 safety indicators were extracted from the Pediatric Health Information System, a comparative database of children’s hospitals in the U.S. Patients discharged from 36 hospitals from 2016 to 2019 were included. The authors investigated relationships among patient safety measures from AHRQ pediatric quality indicators and Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services hospital-acquired conditions. They identified 5 orthogonal variance components accounting for 68% of variation in pediatric hospital quality indicators. The ranking comparison and summary found greater within-hospital variation compared with between-hospital variation. They observed discordant rankings among commonly used summary measures and concluded that these measures demonstrate at least 2 underlying variance components.
AHRQ-funded; HS026246.
Citation: Milliren CE, Bailey G, Graham DA .
Relationships between pediatric safety indicators across a national sample of pediatric hospitals: dispelling the myth of the "safest" hospital.
J Patient Saf 2022 Jun 1;18(4):e741-e46. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000938..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Quality of Care
Dykes PC, Khasnabish S, Burns Z
Development and validation of a fall prevention efficiency scale.
This study examined nurses’ perception of implementing the Fall TIPS (Tailoring Interventions for Patient Safety) tool, which is an evidence-based fall prevention program which was shown to reduce falls in hospitalized adults by 25%. The authors conducted a 3-phase mixed method study at 3 hospitals in Massachusetts and 3 in New York to assess nurses’ perceptions of burdens imposed on them by using Fall TIPS or other fall prevention programs. A 20-item prototype Fall Prevention Efficiency Scale was developed and administered to 383 clinical nurses. This scale was reduced to 13 items. The scale achieved excellent internal consistency values when examined with the test, validation, and paired (both test and retest) samples.
AHRQ-funded; HS025128.
Citation: Dykes PC, Khasnabish S, Burns Z .
Development and validation of a fall prevention efficiency scale.
J Patient Saf 2022 Mar 1;18(2):94-101. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000811..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Hospitals
Schnock KO, Snyder JE, Gershanik E
Unique patient-reported hospital safety concerns with online tool: MySafeCare.
This study evaluated the MySafeCare (MSC) application at six acute care units for 18 months as part of a patient-centered health information technology intervention to promote engagement and safety in the acute care setting. This web-based application allowed hospitalized patients to submit safety concerns anonymously and in real time. The authors evaluated rates of submissions to MSC and compared them to the hospital’s submissions to the Patient Family Relations Department. They received 46 submissions to MSC, and 33% of them were received anonymously. The overall rate of submissions was 0.6 submissions per 1000 patient-days, which was considerably lower than the rate of submissions to the Patient Family Relations Department during the same time period (4.1 per 1000 patient-days). MSC did capture important content concerning unmet care needs and preferences, inadequate communication, and concerns about safety of care.
AHRQ-funded; HS023535.
Citation: Schnock KO, Snyder JE, Gershanik E .
Unique patient-reported hospital safety concerns with online tool: MySafeCare.
J Patient Saf 2022 Jan;18(1):e33-e39. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000697..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Patient and Family Engagement
Ackerman SL, Gourley G, Le G
Improving patient safety in public hospitals: developing standard measures to track medical errors and process breakdowns
This study’s aim was to develop standards for tracking patient safety gaps in ambulatory care in safety net health systems. Participants were invited leaders from five California safety net health systems. They participated in a modified Delphi process sponsored by the Safety Promotion Action Research and Knowledge Network (SPARKNet) and the California Safety Net Institute. The feasibility and validity of 13 proposed patient safety measures were discussed by the eight panelists and prioritized in three Delphi rounds. Consensus was unanimously reached to adopt 9 of the 13 proposed measures. However, concern was expressed about the feasibility of implementing several of the measures.
AHRQ-funded; HS024426; HS022047.
Citation: Ackerman SL, Gourley G, Le G .
Improving patient safety in public hospitals: developing standard measures to track medical errors and process breakdowns
J Patient Saf 2021 Dec 1;17(8):e773-e90. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000480..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Medical Errors, Adverse Events, Hospitals
Arntson E, Dimick JB, Nuliyalu U
Changes in hospital-acquired conditions and mortality associated with the hospital-acquired condition reduction program.
This study evaluated changes in Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HACs) and 30-day mortality after the announcement of the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services’ Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) in August 2013. The authors evaluated models to test for changes in HACs and 30-day mortality before and after the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and after the HACRP. Fee-for-service Medicare claims from 2009 to 2015 were used. The HAC rate declined after the ACA was passed and declined further after the HACRP announcement. However, 30-day mortality rates were unchanged.
AHRQ-funded; HS026244.
Citation: Arntson E, Dimick JB, Nuliyalu U .
Changes in hospital-acquired conditions and mortality associated with the hospital-acquired condition reduction program.
Ann Surg 2021 Oct 1;274(4):e301-e07. doi: 10.1097/sla.0000000000003641..
Keywords: Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Hospitals, Mortality, Medicare, Payment, Prevention, Patient Safety
Pakyz AL, Wang H, Ozcan YA
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score, magnet designation, and healthcare-associated infections in United States hospitals.
The goal of this study was to determine whether Magnet designation and hospitals with better Leapfrog Hospital Safety Scores have fewer healthcare-associated infections (HAIs). Findings showed that “A” hospitals performed better on clostridium difficile infection (CDI) but not methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections, while Magnet designation was associated with fewer than expected MRSA infections but more than expected CDIs. These mixed results show that hospital global assessments of safety and workplace quality differentially and imperfectly predict its level of HAIs.
AHRQ-funded; HS018578.
Citation: Pakyz AL, Wang H, Ozcan YA .
Leapfrog Hospital Safety Score, magnet designation, and healthcare-associated infections in United States hospitals.
J Patient Saf 2021 Sep 1;17(6):445-50. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000378..
Keywords: Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Hospitals, Patient Safety
Puthumana JS, Fong A, Blumenthal J
Making patient safety event data actionable: understanding patient safety analyst needs.
The increase in patient safety reporting systems has led to the challenge of effectively analyzing these data to identify and mitigate safety hazards. Patient safety analysts, who manage reports, may be ill-equipped to make sense of report data. The investigators sought to understand the cognitive needs of patient safety analysts as they worked to leverage patient safety reports to mitigate risk and improve patient care.
AHRQ-funded; HS023874.
Citation: Puthumana JS, Fong A, Blumenthal J .
Making patient safety event data actionable: understanding patient safety analyst needs.
J Patient Saf 2021 Sep 1;17(6):e509-e14. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000400..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Hospitals
Krein SL, Harrod M, Weston LE
Comparing peripherally inserted central catheter-related practices across hospitals with different insertion models: a multisite qualitative study.
Researchers compared peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs)-related processes across hospitals with different insertion delivery models. They concluded that vascular access nurses play critical roles in all aspects of PICC-related care. Further, there is variation in PICC decision-making, care and maintenance, and patient education across hospitals.
AHRQ-funded; HS025891.
Citation: Krein SL, Harrod M, Weston LE .
Comparing peripherally inserted central catheter-related practices across hospitals with different insertion models: a multisite qualitative study.
BMJ Qual Saf 2021 Aug;30(8):628-38. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2020-011987..
Keywords: Inpatient Care, Decision Making, Patient Safety, Hospitals
Leung WY, Adelman J, Bates DW
Validating fall prevention icons to support patient-centered education.
Falls with injury are the most prevalent hospital adverse event. The objective of this project was to refine fall risk and prevention icons for a patient-centric bedside toolkit to promote patient and nurse engagement in accurately assessing fall risks and developing a tailored fall prevention plan. The investigators indicated that all 16 icons were refined and used to form the basis for a bedside fall prevention toolkit.
AHRQ-funded; HS023535.
Citation: Leung WY, Adelman J, Bates DW .
Validating fall prevention icons to support patient-centered education.
J Patient Saf 2021 Aug 1;17(5):e413-e22. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000000354..
Keywords: Falls, Prevention, Patient Safety, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Education: Patient and Caregiver, Hospitals, Adverse Events
Masonbrink AR, Harris M, Hall M
Safety events in children's hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted hospitals, potentially affecting quality and safety. The objective of this study was to compare pediatric hospitalization safety events during the pandemic versus previous years. The investigators concluded that postoperative sepsis rates increased among children hospitalized during COVID-19. They suggest that efforts are needed to improve safety of postoperative care for hospitalized children.
AHRQ-funded; HS024554; HS024592.
Citation: Masonbrink AR, Harris M, Hall M .
Safety events in children's hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hosp Pediatr 2021 Jun;11(6):e95-e100. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2020-004937..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, COVID-19, Patient Safety, Sepsis, Adverse Events, Hospitalization, Hospitals, Inpatient Care, Infectious Diseases, Public Health
McGrath SP, Perreard IM, MacKenzie T
Patterns in continuous pulse oximetry data prior to pulseless electrical activity arrest in the general care setting.
This study’s objective was to understand if features derived from continuous pulse oximetry data can provide advanced warning of pulseless electrical activity arrest in general care inpatients. A retrospective analysis of SpO2 and pulse rate data derived from continuous pulse oximetry was performed for patients with electrical pulseless activity (n = 38) and control patients (n = 42). The pulseless electrical activity arrest group tended to have lower mean SpO2 and higher mean pulse rates over time intervals ranging from 1 minute to 1 hour. Several hours to the rescue event changes in variability were observed. Up to 20 minutes before rescue events, pulse rate features were significantly different from feature values for the preceding 30-minute interval. Similar results were found at 10 minutes before the event. These differences might be useful for predicting and preventing rescue events.
AHRQ-funded; HS024403.
Citation: McGrath SP, Perreard IM, MacKenzie T .
Patterns in continuous pulse oximetry data prior to pulseless electrical activity arrest in the general care setting.
J Clin Monit Comput 2021 May;35(3):537-45. doi: 10.1007/s10877-020-00509-8..
Keywords: Patient Safety, Inpatient Care, Hospitals, Prevention, Cardiovascular Conditions
Baloh J, Zhu X, Ward MM
What influences sustainment and nonsustainment of facilitation activities in implementation? Analysis of organizational factors in hospitals implementing TeamSTEPPS.
This study looked at the influences on sustainment of internal facilitation activities. For two years the authors followed 10 small rural hospitals implementing TeamSTEPPS, a patient safety program. Factors the authors examined were the influence of senior management support (SMS), middle management support (MMS), facilitator team time availability (TIME), and team continuity (CONTINUITY). Five hospitals sustained facilitation activities and they found that the combination of SMS, MMS, and CONTINUITY was a sufficient condition for sustainment. The five other hospitals that did not sustain facilitation activities either lacked MMS or lacked both TIME and CONTINUITY. They also discussed the implications for research and practice.
AHRQ-funded; HS024112; HS018396.
Citation: Baloh J, Zhu X, Ward MM .
What influences sustainment and nonsustainment of facilitation activities in implementation? Analysis of organizational factors in hospitals implementing TeamSTEPPS.
Med Care Res Rev 2021 Apr;78(2):146-56. doi: 10.1177/1077558719848267..
Keywords: TeamSTEPPS, Teams, Implementation, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Rural Health, Organizational Change