AHRQ Accelerates Efforts To Advance Health Equity

AHRQ Stats

Access more data on this topic in the associated statistical brief, plus additional AHRQ data infographics and data visualizations.

Today's Headlines:

• AHRQ Accelerates Efforts To Advance Health Equity.
• New Summary Highlights Research on Teamwork and Leadership To Advance Safety.
• Research Funding Opportunities From AHRQ.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Apply Now for Conference Grants Focused on Advancing Health Services Research.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ Accelerates Efforts To Advance Health Equity

During Minority Health Month, AHRQ is highlighting activities aimed at advancing health equity and support for underserved communities. To increase well-being among all Americans, the agency has accelerated efforts to reduce inequities and implicit bias via its core competencies:

• Health services and systems research: AHRQ launched an $80 million effort to train researchers and scientists to conduct system-focused research to advance health equity and workforce diversity.
• Practice improvement: An AHRQ-sponsored workshop series identified major drivers of healthcare disparities and successful and unsuccessful interventions, and it and proposed strategies to close evidence gaps.
• Data and analytics: AHRQ analyses have provided insights into of the use of race and ethnicity in healthcare algorithms, their impact on disparities in care and approaches to mitigate biases.

AHRQ’s efforts have been informed by the Biden–Harris Administration’s commitment to advancing equity as well as HHS’ Health Equity Plan. Access more information (PDF, 760 KB) on AHRQ’s commitment to equity.

New Summary Highlights Research on Teamwork and Leadership To Advance Safety

Improving Healthcare Safety by Enhancing Teamwork and Leadership (PDF, 1 MB) is the fourth in a series of AHRQ publications that summarize the agency’s investments in patient safety research as a pathway toward safer care. Research has shown that improved teamwork reduces the number of medical errors and improves patient safety. Since 2000, AHRQ has supported 55 patient safety projects to improve communication among healthcare providers and enhance leadership skills of those in charge. AHRQ-funded projects have resulted in nearly 230 publications in areas such as the use of team strategies and tools to improve performance and approaches to team-based error disclosure on adverse events.

Research Funding Opportunities From AHRQ

Health services researchers committed to improving the quality, safety and equity of healthcare can explore a variety of AHRQ funding opportunities to support this work. AHRQ has recently updated its research priorities guidance to include healthcare quality and safety; delivery and practice improvement; and whole-person healthcare delivery. Notice of Funding Opportunities include Research Grants (R series), Career Development Awards (K series) and Research Training and Fellowships (T & F series). Access more information on when to submit applications. Current notices include:

• Research to Advance the Science of Primary Care (R01).
• Notice of Intent to Publish a Funding Opportunity Announcement for Implementing and Evaluating Patient-Centered Clinical Decision Support Strategies in Real-World Settings (U18).

Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network

AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

• Transfusion-related errors and associated adverse reactions and blood product wastage as reported to the National Healthcare Safety Network Hemovigilance Module, 2014-2022.
• Analysis of intervention employability in pharmacy-related medication safety reports at a tertiary medical center.
• Organisational conditions for safety management practice in homecare and nursing homes, pre-pandemic and in pandemic.

Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

Apply Now for Conference Grants Focused on Advancing Health Services Research

AHRQ is accepting applications from organizations or individuals seeking funds to support single-year and multiple-year conferences to advance health services research. Applications to AHRQ’s Conference Grant Programs (R13) may focus on research development, research design and methodology, dissemination and implementation, and research training, infrastructure and career development. Conference format may be in person, virtual or hybrid. The agency invites applications from eligible public or nonprofit private colleges or universities, including minority-serving institutions of higher education, or individuals with the knowledge and resources to carry out research as program directors or principal investigators. Applicants from Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Asian-American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, and Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities are also strongly encouraged to apply. Email questions to R13Conf@ahrq.hhs.gov.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Rapid Evidence Product: Failure To Rescue – Rapid Response Systems.
• Evidence Review (draft open for comment): Pharmacologic and Nonpharmacologic Treatments for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: 2024 Update of the Evidence Base for the PTSD Trials Standardized Data Repository.
• Living Systematic Review (draft open for comment): Cannabis and Other Plant-Based Treatments for Chronic Pain: 2024 Update.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Inpatient nurses' preferences and decisions with risk information visualization. Jeffery AD, Reale C, Faiman J, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Dec 22;31(1):61-9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Socio-technical infrastructure for a learning health system. Friedman CP, Lomotan EA, Richardson JE, et al. Learn Health Syst 2024 Jan;8(1):e10405. Epub 2024 Jan 16. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Patient safety and artificial intelligence in clinical care. Ratwani RM, Bates DW, Classen DC. JAMA Health Forum 2024 Feb 2;5(2):e235514. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Characteristics of pediatric behavioral health emergencies in the prehospital setting. Wnorowska JH, Naik V, Ramgopal S, et al. Acad Emerg Med 2024 Feb;31(2):129-39. Epub 2023 Nov 27. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Cost of pediatric pneumonia episodes with or without chest radiography. Geanacopoulos AT, Neuman MI, Michelson KA. Hosp Pediatr 2024 Feb;14(2):146-52. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Usability of a human factors-based clinical decision support in the emergency department: lessons learned for design and implementation. Salwei ME, Hoonakker P, Carayon P, et al. Hum Factors 2024 Mar;66(3):647-57. Epub 2022 Apr 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Electronic health record-supported implementation of an evidence-based pathway for perioperative surgical care. Wu J, Yuan CT, Moyal-Smith R, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2024 Feb 16;31(3):591-9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Best practices for telehealth in nurse-led care settings-a qualitative study. Weiss CR, Roberts M, Florell M, et al. Policy Polit Nurs Pract 2024 Feb;25(1):47-57. Epub 2023 Sep 26. Access the abstract on PubMed®.