AHRQ Views: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

AHRQ Stats: Disorders Associated With Readmissions Among Self-Pay Patients

Schizophrenia and alcohol-related disorders were among the top five conditions most commonly associated with readmissions among patients listed as self-pay or no charge, resulting in 18 and 18.7 readmissions respectively for every 100 hospitalizations. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #307: Clinical Conditions with Frequent, Costly Hospital Readmissions by Payer, 2020.)

Today's Headlines:

• AHRQ Views: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.
• Patients With Both Physical and Mental Chronic Health Conditions Are Less Likely To Be Screened for Unhealthy Alcohol Use.
• Deadline Is Aug. 31 for Submitting Articles to Journal Devoted to Errors in Emergency Care.
• Hospital Care Quality for Non-COVID Patients Declined During Pandemic.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Register Now for AHRQ Webinars.
• Explore Careers at AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ Views: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

The 40th anniversary of the AHRQ-supported U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is celebrated in a new blog post by AHRQ Director Robert Otto Valdez Ph.D., M.H.S.A. The Task Force—an independent, volunteer panel of 16 prevention and primary care experts—issues recommendations based on the latest research about the benefits and harms of preventive services. Among the Task Force’s most notable contributions came in 2010, when its recommendations informed insurance coverage mandates for preventive services in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. In recent times, the Task Force has affirmed its commitment to health equity, a cornerstone of its mission to enhance health for all. Access the full blog post, and visit the Task Force’s 40th anniversary timeline. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address.

Patients With Both Physical and Mental Chronic Health Conditions Are Less Likely To Be Screened for Unhealthy Alcohol Use

Patients with multiple chronic conditions (MCC) affecting both their physical and mental health were less likely to be screened for unhealthy alcohol use than those who do not have MCC, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The authors analyzed 2020–2023 electronic health record data for more than 11,000 patients from 67 primary care practices in Virginia. Even though patients with chronic mental health conditions are more likely to screen positive for unhealthy alcohol use, researchers found that patients with both physical and mental chronic health conditions had 0.9 times lower odds of being assessed than those without. The authors suggested that further efforts are needed to improve delivery of alcohol preventive services in primary care, particularly for patients with high complexity and/or mental health conditions. Access the article.

Deadline Is Aug. 31 for Submitting Articles to Journal Devoted to Errors in Emergency Care

Article submissions are being considered for an upcoming special edition of Academic Emergency Medicine dedicated to the science of errors in medical care. The AHRQ-supported special edition is intended to focus on diagnostic error in emergency care but will explore aspects ranging from the definition of errors, cognitive processing, diagnostic hypothesis generation, treatment and communication with patients and other providers. AHRQ’s support for the special edition aligns with the agency’s ongoing efforts to advance the quality and safety of emergency care. Access more information about the upcoming special edition, which will be published by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine.

Hospital Care Quality for Non-COVID Patients Declined During Pandemic

A new AHRQ analysis published in JAMA Network Open has found that hospital care quality for non-COVID-19 patients significantly declined during high COVID-19 admission periods in 2020 compared with 2019. AHRQ researchers analyzed data from more than 19 million discharges in 36 states from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project focusing on adverse outcomes such as pressure ulcers and mortality rates for conditions like heart failure and hip fracture. They found substantial increases in these adverse outcomes during weeks with high COVID-19 admissions (more than 15 per 100 beds). The authors concluded that the decline underscored the urgent need for hospitals to implement strategies to maintain care quality during pandemic surges and other periods of hospital strain. Strategies such as mitigating staffing shortages, building a safety culture and adopting related organizational best practices, and harnessing new technologies to reduce burden may improve hospital resilience during periods of high use. Access the abstract.

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:

• Large language models for preventing medication direction errors in online pharmacies.
• Strengthening the use of artificial intelligence within healthcare delivery organizations: balancing regulatory compliance and patient safety.
• WHO Global Report on Patient Safety.
• Improving communication of diagnostic uncertainty to families of hospitalized children.

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

Register Now for AHRQ Webinars

• July 11, 4 to 5 p.m. ET: Highlighting and Promoting the Value of Practice-based Research Networks.
• July 16, 1 to 3 p.m. ET: Upcoming Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Insurance Component and Household Component.
• July 24, 2:30 to 4 p.m. ET: Medication Without Harm - How Digital Healthcare Tools Can Support Providers and Improve Patient Safety.
• July 25, 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET: Using AHRQ Resources To Enhance Surgical Team Communication.

Explore Careers at AHRQ

Join the team that strives to improve healthcare for all Americans by investing in health systems research, creating strategies to support practice improvement and providing data and analytics to identify opportunities for improvement. Current vacancies include:

• Supervisory Health Scientist Administrator, Office of Extramural Research, Education and Priority Populations. Application deadline: July 12.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

"Nothing is more powerful than words:" how patient experience narratives enable improvement. Grob R, Lee YSH, Shaller D, et al. Qual Manag Health Care. 2024 Jul-Sep;33(3):149-59. Epub 2024 Jun 26. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Epidemiology and clinical outcomes of community-acquired acute kidney injury in the emergency department: a multisite retrospective cohort study. Ehmann MR, Klein EY, Zhao X, et al. Am J Kidney Dis. 2024 Jun;83(6):762-71.e1. Epub 2023 Dec 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Bundled payments lead to quality improvements in hospitals' skilled nursing facility referral networks. Lin SC, Funk RJ, Ryan AM, et al. Am J Manag Care. 2024 Jun;30(6):e184-e90. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Effect of integration of prescription drug monitoring program data in the electronic health record on queries by primary care providers. Hartung DM, Kassakian SZ, Hendricks MA. Health Informatics J. 2024 Apr-Jun;30(2):14604582241259337. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Impact of social determinants of health on predictive models for outcomes after congenital heart surgery. Crook S, Dragan K, Woo JL, et al. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2024 Jun 18;83(24):2440-54. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Assisted living residents with dementia: disparities in mental health services pre and during COVID-19. Temkin-Greener H, Hua Y, Cai S. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2024 Jun;72(6):1760-9. Epub 2024 Apr 24. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Lung cancer screening before and after a multifaceted electronic health record intervention: a nonrandomized controlled trial. Kukhareva PV, Li H, Caverly TJ, et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2024 Jun 3;7(6):e2415383. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Lessons learned from a National Hospital Antibiotic Stewardship Implementation Project. Cosgrove SE, Ahn R, Dullabh P, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf. 2024 Jun;50(6):435-41. Epub 2024 Apr 6. Access the abstract on PubMed®.