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
76 to 100 of 729 Research Studies DisplayedHobensack M, Ojo M, Barrón Y
Documentation of hospitalization risk factors in electronic health records (EHRs): a qualitative study with home healthcare clinicians.
The objectives of this study were to identify risk factors that home healthcare clinicians associate with patient deterioration and to understand clinicians’ response to and documentation of these risk factors. The authors interviewed multidisciplinary home healthcare clinicians and used directed content analysis to identify risk factors for deterioration. A total of 79 risk factors were identified by the clinicians, who responded most often by communicating with the prescribing provider or following up with patients and caregivers. Clinicians also acknowledged that social factors played a role in deterioration risk. The authors noted that, since most risk factors were documented in clinical notes, methods such as natural language processing are needed to extract them. They concluded that by providing a comprehensive list of risk factors grounded in clinician expertise and mapped to standardized terminologies, the results of their study supported the development of an early warning system for patient deterioration.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Hobensack M, Ojo M, Barrón Y .
Documentation of hospitalization risk factors in electronic health records (EHRs): a qualitative study with home healthcare clinicians.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Apr 13;29(5):805-12. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac023..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Home Healthcare, Risk, Hospitalization
Kukhareva PV, Caverly TJ, Li H
Inaccuracies in electronic health records smoking data and a potential approach to address resulting underestimation in determining lung cancer screening eligibility.
The authors sought to characterize EHR smoking data issues and to propose an approach to addressing these issues using longitudinal smoking data. They found that over 80% of evaluated records had inaccuracies, including missing packs-per-day or years-smoked, outdated data, missing years-quit, and a recent change in packs-per-day resulting in inaccurate lifetime pack-years estimation. Further, addressing these issues by using longitudinal data enabled the identification of 49.4% more patients potentially eligible for lung cancer screening.
AHRQ-funded; HS026198.
Citation: Kukhareva PV, Caverly TJ, Li H .
Inaccuracies in electronic health records smoking data and a potential approach to address resulting underestimation in determining lung cancer screening eligibility.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Apr 13;29(5):779-88. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac020..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Screening, Cancer: Lung Cancer, Cancer
Apathy NC, Hare AJ, Fendrich S
Early changes in billing and notes after evaluation and management guideline change.
This study investigated whether the American Medical Association updated 2021 guidance for frequently used billing codes for outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) visits changed E/M visit use, documentation length, and time spent in the electronic health record (EHR). The authors used data from 303,547 advanced practice providers and physicians across 389 organizations who use the Epic Systems EHR. Data containing weekly provider-level E/M code and EHR use metadata were extracted from the Epic Signal database for visits from September 2020 through April 2021. Following the new guidelines, level 3 visits decreased by 2.41 percentage points to 38.5% of all E/M visits, a 5.9% relative decrease from fall 2020. Level 4 visits increased by 0.89 percentage points to 40.9% of E/M visits, a 2.2% relative increase. Level 5 visits (the highest acuity level) increased by 1.85 percentage points to 10.1% of E/M visits, a 22.6% relative increase. Changes varied by specialty. No meaning changes in measures of note length or time spent in the EHR were found. The authors noted that fully realizing the intended benefits of this guideline change will require more time, facilitation, and scaling of best practices that more directly address EHR documentation practices and associated burden.
AHRQ-funded; HS026116.
Citation: Apathy NC, Hare AJ, Fendrich S .
Early changes in billing and notes after evaluation and management guideline change.
Ann Intern Med 2022 Apr;175(4):499-504. doi: 10.7326/m21-4402..
Keywords: Payment, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Huo T, Li Q, Cardel MI
AHRQ Author: Mistry K
Enhancing quality measurement with clinical information: a use case of body mass index change among children taking second generation antipsychotics.
The authors sought to examine the extent to which body mass index (BMI) was available in electronic health records for Florida Medicaid recipients aged 5 to 18 years taking Second-Generation Antipsychotics (SGAP). They concluded that meeting the 2030 CMS goal of digital monitoring of quality of care will require continuing expansion of clinical encounter data capture to provide the data needed for digital quality monitoring. Using linked electronic health records and claims data allows identifying children at higher risk for SGAP-induced weight gain.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; HS025298.
Citation: Huo T, Li Q, Cardel MI .
Enhancing quality measurement with clinical information: a use case of body mass index change among children taking second generation antipsychotics.
Acad Pediatr 2022 Apr;22(3S):S140-S49. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2021.11.012..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Obesity, Obesity: Weight Management, Quality Measures, Quality of Care
Lin Y, Sharma B, Thompson HM
External validation of a machine learning classifier to identify unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized patients.
This study’s objective was to validate a machine learning approach to alcohol screening using a natural language processing (NLP) classifier developed at an independent medical center. This retrospective cohort study took place at a midwestern US tertiary-care, urban medical center that has an inpatient structured universal screening model for unhealthy substance use and an active addiction consult service. The cohort included 57,605 unplanned admissions of adult patients between October 23, 2017 and December 31, 2019 with electronic health record (EHR) documentation of manual alcohol screening. The authors examined error in manual screening and reviewed discordance between the NLP classifier and AUDIT-derived reference. The classifier demonstrated adequate sensitivity and specificity for routine clinical use as an automated screening tool for identifying at-risk patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS026385.
Citation: Lin Y, Sharma B, Thompson HM .
External validation of a machine learning classifier to identify unhealthy alcohol use in hospitalized patients.
Addiction 2022 Apr;117(4):925-33. doi: 10.1111/add.15730..
Keywords: Alcohol Use, Behavioral Health, Screening, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Bui LN, Marshall C, Miller-Rosales C
Hospital adoption of electronic decision support tools for preeclampsia management.
Maternal morbidity and mortality can be reduced by the utilization of evidence-based clinical guidelines for preeclampsia management. Electronic health record (EHR)-based clinical decision support tools can improve the use of those guidelines. The purpose of this study was to investigate the organizational capabilities and hospital adoption of HER-based decision tools for preeclampsia management. The researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of hospitals that provided obstetric care in 2017. A total of 739 hospitals that responded to the 2017-2018 National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (NSHOS) and their results were linked to the 2017 Area Health Resources File (AHRF) and the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey Database. A final total of 425 hospitals from 49 states were analyzed. The primary outcome of the analysis was whether a hospital adopted EHR-based clinical decision support tools for preeclampsia management. The study found that 68% of the hospitals utilized EHR-based decision support tools for preeclampsia, and that hospitals with a single EHR system were more likely to adopt EHR-based decision support tools for preeclampsia than hospitals with multiple systems, including a combination of EHR and paper-based systems. The researchers also determined that hospitals with more processes to disseminate best patient care practices were more likely to adopt EHR-based decision support tools for preeclampsia management. The study concluded that having standardized EHRs and policies to disseminate evidence can help hospitals advance the use of EHR-based decision support tools for preeclampsia management in those hospitals that have not yet adopted them.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Bui LN, Marshall C, Miller-Rosales C .
Hospital adoption of electronic decision support tools for preeclampsia management.
Qual Manag Health Care 2022 Apr-Jun;31(2):59-67. doi: 10.1097/qmh.0000000000000328..
Keywords: Clinical Decision Support (CDS), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals, Pregnancy, Women
Tang LA, Jeffery AD, Leech AA
A comparison of methods to identify antenatal substance use within electronic health records.
This study described the development of a natural-language-processing-based algorithm for detecting antenatal substance use among individuals receiving perinatal care. Findings showed that the accuracy of antenatal substance use detection was improved with more stringent case definitions; however, the overall proportion of true cases confirmed by manual chart review decreased.
AHRQ-funded; HS026395.
Citation: Tang LA, Jeffery AD, Leech AA .
A comparison of methods to identify antenatal substance use within electronic health records.
Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM 2022 Mar;4(2):100535. doi: 10.1016/j.ajogmf.2021.100535..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Substance Abuse, Pregnancy, Women, Behavioral Health
Kukhareva PV, Weir C, Del Fiol G
Evaluation in Life Cycle of Information Technology (ELICIT) framework: supporting the innovation life cycle from business case assessment to summative evaluation.
The authors developed an evaluation framework for electronic health record-integrated innovations to support activities at four information technology (IT) life cycle phases: planning, development, implementation, and operation. The resulting Evaluation in Life Cycle of IT (ELICIT) framework covers these four phases and three measure levels: society, user, and IT. The ELICIT framework recommends 12 evaluation steps. The authors concluded that, as health care undergoes a digital transformation, it will be critical for EHR-integrated innovations to be systematically evaluated, and their framework can facilitate such evaluations.
AHRQ-funded; HS026198.
Citation: Kukhareva PV, Weir C, Del Fiol G .
Evaluation in Life Cycle of Information Technology (ELICIT) framework: supporting the innovation life cycle from business case assessment to summative evaluation.
J Biomed Inform 2022 Mar; 127:104014. doi: 10.1016/j.jbi.2022.104014..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Implementation
Richardson JE, Rasmussen LV, Dorr DA
Generating and reporting electronic clinical quality measures from electronic health records: strategies from EvidenceNOW cooperatives.
This study’s goal was to characterize strategies that seven regional cooperatives participating in the EvidenceNOW initiative developed to generate and report electronic health record (EHR)-based electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) for quality improvement (QI) in small-to-medium-sized practices. Findings showed that cooperatives ultimately generated and reported eCQMs using hybrid strategies because they determined that neither EHRs alone nor centralized sources alone could operationalize eCQMs for QI. In order to attain this goal, cooperatives needed to devise solutions and utilize resources that often are unavailable to typical small-to-medium-sized practices.
AHRQ-funded; HS023921.
Citation: Richardson JE, Rasmussen LV, Dorr DA .
Generating and reporting electronic clinical quality measures from electronic health records: strategies from EvidenceNOW cooperatives.
Appl Clin Inform 2022 Mar;13(2):485-94. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1748145..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality Measures, Quality of Care, Evidence-Based Practice, Primary Care
Gaughan AA, Walker DM, Sova LN
Improving provisioning of an inpatient portal: perspectives from nursing staff.
This study’s aim was to identify and describe practices important for provisioning an inpatient portal from the perspectives of nursing staff and provide insight to enable hospitals to address challenges related to provisioning workflow for the inpatient portal accessible on a tablet. Qualitative interviews were conducted at 26 inpatient units in six hospitals within The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (OSUWMC) with 210 nursing staff members following the introduction of tablets providing access to an inpatient portal, MyChart Bedside (MCB). Provisioning rates were divided into tertiles to create three levels of provisioning performance. Higher-performing units showed three critical strategies that contributed to MCB tablet provisioning success: (1) establishing a feasible process for MCB provisioning; (2) having persistent unit-level MCB tablet champions; and (3) having unit managers actively promote MCB tablets.
AHRQ-funded; HS024767; HS024091; HS024379.
Citation: Gaughan AA, Walker DM, Sova LN .
Improving provisioning of an inpatient portal: perspectives from nursing staff.
Appl Clin Inform 2022 Mar;13(2):355-62. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1743561..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Provider: Nurse
Yadgir SR, Engstrom C, Jacobsohn GC
Machine learning-assisted screening for cognitive impairment in the emergency department.
Researchers developed and evaluated an automated screening tool to identify a subset of patients at high risk for cognitive impairment (CI). Using the Blessed Orientation Memory Concentration (BOMC) test, administered in the emergency department, they found that an algorithm based on electronic health record data can define a subset of patients at higher risk for CI. They recommended that incorporating such an algorithm into a screening workflow could allow screening efforts and resources to be focused where they have the most impact.
AHRQ-funded; HS024558.
Citation: Yadgir SR, Engstrom C, Jacobsohn GC .
Machine learning-assisted screening for cognitive impairment in the emergency department.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2022 Mar;70(3):831-37. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17491..
Keywords: Neurological Disorders, Screening, Emergency Department, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Elderly
Cifra CL, Tigges CR, Miller SL
Reporting outcomes of pediatric intensive care unit patients to referring physicians via an electronic health record-based feedback system.
Before critically ill children are sent to a pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), many receive their initial evaluations from front-line emergency care clinicians with variable levels of pediatric training. The authors state that reporting pediatric patient outcomes back to the front-line clinicians who provided the emergency care may offer valuable lessons. The purpose of the study was to evaluate a semiautomated electronic health record (EHR)-supported feedback system, developed at a single institution, to determine its usability and clinical relevance in providing timely and relevant PICU feedback to the front-line referring emergency department (ED) clinicians. Applying the Health Information Technology Safety Framework as a guiding model, the researchers conducted qualitative research with stakeholders, and then translated stakeholder, organizational, and usability objectives to design, develop, implement, and assess a semi-automated HER-supported feedback system. The study applied three cycles of an iterative process of implementation and evaluation over 6 months and determined that an EHR-supported feedback process is feasible, and can provide timely, usable, and clinically relevant feedback. In usability testing, physicians reported the process added minimal workload, was well integrated into their existing clinical workflows, and both the act of delivering and receiving feedback was relevant to their clinical practice. The study concluded that a semiautomated EHR-supported clinical feedback system to provide referring ED clinicians with patient outcome feedback was feasible, usable, and relevant to providers. The authors recommend future research to explore applicability to other, similar clinical settings and situations.
AHRQ-funded; HS027363; HS026965.
Citation: Cifra CL, Tigges CR, Miller SL .
Reporting outcomes of pediatric intensive care unit patients to referring physicians via an electronic health record-based feedback system.
Appl Clin Inform 2022 Mar;13(2):495-503. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1748147..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Rule A, Florig ST, Bedrick S
Comparing scribed and non-scribed outpatient progress notes.
In this retrospective cross-sectional study, researchers examined outpatient progress notes written with and without scribe assistance across multiple specialties. They examined over 50,000 outpatient progress notes written with and without scribe assistance by 70 providers across 27 specialties. They found that scribed notes were consistently longer than those written without scribe assistance. There was significant variation in how working with scribes affected a provider's mix of typed, templated, and copied note text.
AHRQ-funded; HS025141.
Citation: Rule A, Florig ST, Bedrick S .
Comparing scribed and non-scribed outpatient progress notes.
AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2022 Feb 21;2022:1059-68..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Bosold AL, Lin SY, Taylor JO
Older adults' personal health information management: the role and perspective of various healthcare providers.
This study explored the role of the provider in supporting older adult (OA) personal health information management (PHIM), the barriers faced, and related implications in Health Information Technology (HIT) design. The researchers interviewed 27 providers who serve OAs in Seattle, Washington, and determined that barriers to OA PHIM included: 1) challenges in communication between providers, OAs and caregivers, 2) constraints on time and resources, and 3) limitations on tools such as secure messaging. The researchers concluded that design of HIT should consider those barriers and facilitate communication across a range of provider types, offer credible health resources designed specifically for OAs, support understanding of the home environments of OAs, and integrate caregivers and patient-generated data.
AHRQ-funded; HS022106.
Citation: Bosold AL, Lin SY, Taylor JO .
Older adults' personal health information management: the role and perspective of various healthcare providers.
AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2022 Feb 21;2021:255-64..
Keywords: Elderly, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Kamran F, Tang S, Otles E
Early identification of patients admitted to hospital for covid-19 at risk of clinical deterioration: model development and multisite external validation study.
The authors sought to create and validate a simple and transferable machine learning model from electronic health record data to accurately predict clinical deterioration in patients with COVID-19 across institutions, through use of a novel paradigm for model development and code sharing. They determined that a model to predict clinical deterioration was developed rapidly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic at a single hospital, was applied externally without the sharing of data, and performed well across multiple medical centers, patient subgroups, and time periods, showing its potential as a tool for use in optimizing healthcare resources.
AHRQ-funded; HS028038.
Citation: Kamran F, Tang S, Otles E .
Early identification of patients admitted to hospital for covid-19 at risk of clinical deterioration: model development and multisite external validation study.
BMJ 2022 Feb 17;376:e068576. doi: 10.1136/bmj-2021-068576..
Keywords: COVID-19, Hospitalization, Risk, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Zeng B, Bove R, Carini S
Standardized integration of person-generated data into routine clinical care.
This paper provides recommendations on how health care organizations can smoothly integrate data from person-generated data (PGD) devices into routine clinical workflows. This paper formulates the integration of PGD into clinical systems and workflow as a PGD integration pipeline and reviews the functional components of such a pipeline. The pipeline includes PGD acquisition, aggregation, and consumption. Acquisition includes both technical (eg, sensors, smartphone apps) and policy components (eg, informed consent). Aggregation pools, standardizes, and structures data into usable formats for health care settings such as within electronic health record-based workflows. Consumption is wide-ranging, by different solutions in different care settings (inpatient, outpatient, consumer health) for different types of users (clinicians, patients). The authors recommend the adoption of data and metadata standards, such as those from IEEE and Open mHealth. They illustrated the benefits of a standards-based integration pipeline for the illustrative use case of home blood pressure monitoring.
AHRQ-funded; HS026883.
Citation: Zeng B, Bove R, Carini S .
Standardized integration of person-generated data into routine clinical care.
JMIR Mhealth Uhealth 2022 Feb 10; 10(2):e31048. doi: 10.2196/31048..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Durojaiye A, Fackler J, McGeorge N
Examining diurnal differences in multidisciplinary care teams at a pediatric trauma center using electronic health record data: social network analysis.
The purpose of this study was to apply social network analysis to electronic health record (EHR) data to explore diurnal differences in the multidisciplinary teams caring for pediatric trauma patients. The researchers created an event log comprised of clinical activity metadata obtained from the EHR. The resulting event log was separated into 6 unique event logs, with content based on clinical activity shift (day shift or night shift) and location of the activities (divided by emergency department (ED), pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and floor). For each event log, social networks were constructed and community overlap identified. The researchers utilized a comparison with qualitative care team data to compare and validate daytime and nighttime network structures for each care location. Validation was assessed via member-checking interviews with clinicians and qualitatively derived care team data, obtained through semi-structured interviews. The study found that of the 413 clinical encounters taking place within the 1-year study period, 65.9% began during the day shift and 34.1% began during the night shift. Multiple communities were identified in the ED and on the floor during the night shift, while a single community was identified in the ED and on the floor during the day shift, and in the PICU during the night shift. Qualitative data results indicated that the networks were accurate representations of the composition and interactions of the care teams. The researchers concluded that social network analysis was an effective method for utilization on EHR data at a pediatric trauma center to explore, identify, and describe diurnal differences in multidisciplinary care teams.
AHRQ-funded; HS023837.
Citation: Durojaiye A, Fackler J, McGeorge N .
Examining diurnal differences in multidisciplinary care teams at a pediatric trauma center using electronic health record data: social network analysis.
J Med Internet Res 2022 Feb 4;24(2):e30351. doi: 10.2196/30351..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Teams, Healthcare Delivery
Barnes GD, Sippola E, Ranusch A
Implementing an electronic health record dashboard for safe anticoagulant management: learning from qualitative interviews with existing and potential users to develop an implementation process.
This study examined the implementation of electronic dashboards and the key barriers that were found. Semi-structured interviews were conducted at the national Veterans Health Affairs (VA) following implementation of a population health tool, and in Michigan for the Michigan Anticoagulation Quality Improvement Initiative (MAQI(2) dashboard tool designed for pharmacist or nurse use to monitor safe outpatient anticoagulant prescribing by physicians and other clinicians. A total of 45 stakeholders were interviewed, 32 at the VA, and 13 at MAQI(2). Five key determinants of implementation success were identified: (1) clinician authority and autonomy, (2) clinician self-identity and job satisfaction, (3) documentation and administrative needs, (4) staffing and work schedule, and (5) integration with existing information systems. Key differences between the two contexts included concerns about IT support and prioritization within MAQI(2) prior to implementation but not VHA after implementation and also concerns about authority and autonomy.
AHRQ-funded; HS026874.
Citation: Barnes GD, Sippola E, Ranusch A .
Implementing an electronic health record dashboard for safe anticoagulant management: learning from qualitative interviews with existing and potential users to develop an implementation process.
Implement Sci Commun 2022 Feb 2;3(1):10. doi: 10.1186/s43058-022-00262-w..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Blood Thinners, Medication, Implementation
Kan K, Shaunfield S, Kanaley M
Health provider perspectives of electronic medication monitoring in outpatient asthma care: a qualitative investigation using the consolidated framework for implementation research.
This study’s objective was to quantitatively explore the experience of health providers using electronic medication monitoring (EMM) in pediatric outpatient asthma care. The authors conducted interviews with 10 health providers using the Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research (CFIR) on their EMM experience with asthma patients from 5 primary care or specialty clinics. The EMM tracked albuterol and inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) use. Health providers called parents whenever ICS adherence waned, or albuterol use increased. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and deductively analyzed. Most providers felt the intervention improved care delivery, but implementation of the intervention model would require additional employees to handle the increased administrative and clinical workload.
AHRQ-funded; HS026385.
Citation: Kan K, Shaunfield S, Kanaley M .
Health provider perspectives of electronic medication monitoring in outpatient asthma care: a qualitative investigation using the consolidated framework for implementation research.
J Asthma 2022 Feb;59(2):342-51. doi: 10.1080/02770903.2020.1846745..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Asthma, Respiratory Conditions, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Medication, Ambulatory Care and Surgery
Turvey CL, Fuhrmeister LA, Klein DM
Patient and provider experience of electronic patient portals and secure messaging in mental health treatment.
This study explored patient and provider experience of patient electronic access to the mental health treatment record and the use of secure messaging. Participants received online surveys with questions about their experiences. Researchers concluded that the implementation of electronic access to mental health notes requires a transition from viewing the medical record as the exclusive tool of providers to that of a collaborative tool for patients and providers to achieve treatment goals.
AHRQ-funded; HS025785.
Citation: Turvey CL, Fuhrmeister LA, Klein DM .
Patient and provider experience of electronic patient portals and secure messaging in mental health treatment.
Telemed J E Health 2022 Feb;28(2):189-98. doi: 10.1089/tmj.2020.0395..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Patient Experience, Behavioral Health, Patient and Family Engagement
Kronk CA, Everhart AR, Ashley F
Transgender data collection in the electronic health record: current concepts and issues.
The authors present recommendations and common pitfalls involving sex- and gender-related data collection in electronic health records (EHRs) regarding the over 1 million transgender people living in the United States. They also briefly discuss adequate additions to the EHR considering name and pronoun usage. They conclude that collaborations between local transgender and gender-diverse persons and medication providers as well as open inclusion of transgender and gender-diverse individuals on terminology and standards boards is crucial to shifting the paradigm in transgender and gender-diverse health.
AHRQ-funded; HS026385; HS000029.
Citation: Kronk CA, Everhart AR, Ashley F .
Transgender data collection in the electronic health record: current concepts and issues.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Jan 12;29(2):271-84. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocab136..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Vulnerable Populations
Senathirajah Y, Cho H, Fawcett J
Application of natural language processing to learn insights on the clinician's lived experience of electronic health records.
In this study, the investigators interviewed six clinicians to learn about their lived experience using electronic health records (EHR, Allscripts users) using a semi-structured interview guide in an academic medical center in New York City from October to November 2016. Novel findings included the need for a concise and organized display and data entry page, the user controlling functions for orders, medications, radiology reports, and missing signals of indentation or filtering functions in the order page and lab results.
AHRQ-funded; HS023708.
Citation: Senathirajah Y, Cho H, Fawcett J .
Application of natural language processing to learn insights on the clinician's lived experience of electronic health records.
Stud Health Technol Inform 2022 Jan 14;289:81-84. doi: 10.3233/shti210864..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Apathy NC, Holmgren AJ, Werner RM
Growth in health information exchange with ACO market penetration.
This study’s objectives were to assess whether hospitals expand the network breadth of their health information exchange (HIE) partners after joining an accountable care organization (ACO) and to analyze whether this HIE network expansion effect varies across markets with differing levels of ACO penetration. The authors used data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey and Information Technology Supplement to measure nonfederal acute care hospitals from 2014-2017. There was a 30.7% increase in HIE breadth for 0.35 partner types with ACO participation. This effect was larger for hospitals in high-ACO penetration markets (32% increase) and smaller for hospitals in low-ACO penetration markets (24.8% increase).
AHRQ-funded; HS026116.
Citation: Apathy NC, Holmgren AJ, Werner RM .
Growth in health information exchange with ACO market penetration.
Am J Manag Care 2022 Jan;28(1):e7-e13. doi: 10.37765/ajmc.2022.88815..
Keywords: Health Information Exchange (HIE), Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Vest JR, Freedman S, Unruh MA
Strategic use of health information exchange and market share, payer mix, and operating margins.
The purpose of this study was to identify the impact of hospitals' use of Health information exchange (HIE) capabilities on outcomes that may be sensitive to changes in different contracting arrangements and referral patterns occurring as a result of improved connectivity. The researchers utilized a panel of community hospitals in nine states and explored the relationship between the number of different data types the hospital could exchange via HIE and changes in market share, payer mix, and operating margin. The study found that an increase in HIE capability was related with a 13% increase in a hospital's discharges that were covered by commercial insurers or Medicare. Increasing intraorganizational sharing of information was related with a 9.6% decrease in the percentage of discharges covered by commercial insurers or Medicare. There was no relationship between increasing HIE capability or intraorganizational information sharing and increased market share or operating margin. CONCLUSIONS: Improving information sharing with external organizations may be an approach to support strategic business goals. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Organizations may be served by identifying ways to leverage HIE instead of focusing on intraorganizational exchange capabilities.
AHRQ-funded; HS024717.
Citation: Vest JR, Freedman S, Unruh MA .
Strategic use of health information exchange and market share, payer mix, and operating margins.
Health Care Manage Rev 2022 Jan-Mar; 47(1):28-36. doi: 10.1097/hmr.0000000000000293..
Keywords: Health Information Exchange (HIE), Health Information Technology (HIT), Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Pylypchuk Y, Meyerhoefer CD, Encinosa W
AHRQ Author: Encinosa W
The role of electronic health record developers in hospital patient sharing.
This study’s objective was to determine whether hospital adoption of a new electronic health record (EHR) developer increases patient sharing with hospitals using the same developer. Data was extracted on patients shared with other hospitals for 2076 US nonfederal acute care hospitals from the 2011 to 2016 CMS Physician Shared Patient Patterns database. The authors calculated the ratio of patients shared with hospitals outside of the focal hospital’s network that use the same EHR developer as the focal hospital. Switching to a new developer increased the ratio of patients shared with other hospitals using the same developer by 4.1-19.3%, depending on model specification. Magnitude of this effect varied by EHR developer and was increasing in developer market share.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Pylypchuk Y, Meyerhoefer CD, Encinosa W .
The role of electronic health record developers in hospital patient sharing.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Jan;29(3):435-42. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocab263..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Exchange (HIE), Health Information Technology (HIT), Hospitals