Study Identifies Strategies To Improve Patient Experience

AHRQ Stats: Conditions Associated With Lack of Reliable Transportation

In 2021, 15.5 percent of current smokers reported transportation issues that resulted in difficulties accessing daily living needs. People with chronic conditions reported similar reliability issues—11.3 percent of those who had experienced a stroke, 10.2 percent of those with asthma and 12.1 percent of those with emphysema had unreliable transportation. Just 3 percent of those without any of these conditions experienced transportation issues. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #558, Lack of Reliable Transportation for Daily Living Among Adults: United States, 2021.)

Today's Headlines:

• Study Identifies Strategies To Improve Patient Experience.
• Register Now for Upcoming AHRQ Webinars.
• March 12 Listening Session Aimed at Advancing AHRQ’s Quality Indicators Program.
• AHRQ Recruiting Participants in Program To Advance Diagnostic Excellence.
• Project Provides Insights To Optimize Respiratory Culture Practices.
• AHRQ Seeks Input on Measures of Diagnostic Excellence.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Study Identifies Strategies To Improve Patient Experience

In an AHRQ-funded study published in the Journal of Patient Experience, researchers reviewed 52 studies that examined the use of AHRQ’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Clinician and Group (CG-CAHPS®) to assess interventions aimed to improving patient experience scores. They found that CG-CAHPS scores were boosted by key interventions such as adding care coordinators for chronic conditions, peer shadow coaching, better team communication and physician empathy. Some interventions—like patient portals, care for complex patients and electronic health records—had no statistically significant impact on ratings. Patient-level factors, like medication adherence, showed mixed results. These findings highlight the effectiveness of care coordination, empathy, teamwork and other targeted actions for enhancing patient experience. Researchers noted healthcare leaders can focus on implementing the identified strategies to improve patient-centered care, using this research as a guide for quality improvement efforts. Access the abstract.

Register Now for Upcoming AHRQ Webinars

• Feb. 27, 3 to 3:30 p.m. ET: AHRQ Safety Program for HAI Prevention: CLABSI Informational Webinar will encourage hospitals to join a training program designed to implement recently updated evidence-based infection prevention toolkits and decrease healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) in intensive care units (ICUs) and non-ICUs. The program builds on AHRQ’s pioneering work using Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) methods to reduce common HAIs. Learn more, including how to register for this and additional informational webinars scheduled later in in 2025.
• March 6, 2 to 3:15 p.m. ET: The Role of Primary Care in Maternal Health: Factors that Impact Perinatal Care Experience and Outcomes, sponsored by AHRQ’s National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research, will highlight research on delivering respectful maternity care, insurance disruptions on maternal healthcare and postpartum primary care coordination for people with multiple chronic conditions.
• March 18, 2:30 to 4 p.m. ET: Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tools to Improve Provider Effectiveness and Patient Outcomes will cover AI’s potential to enhance clinician productivity, improve quality of care and increase patients’ engagement in their own care. Expert panelists will discuss their own research on leveraging AI tools to improve provider effectiveness and patient outcomes in clinical settings. Continuing education/continuing medical education accreditation is pending for the event, sponsored by AHRQ’s Digital Healthcare Research Program.

March 12 Listening Session Aimed at Advancing AHRQ’s Quality Indicators Program

A listening session on March 12 from 1 to 2:30 p.m. ET will offer an opportunity for hospitals, health systems, accountable care organizations, health and hospital associations, health plans, health departments and federal entities to provide feedback on AHRQ’s Quality Indicators program. Register now for the event, which will cover topics including organizational use and value, measure selection and enhancement, software features and technical support, and recommendations for the future. Third-party vendors or distributors of AHRQ Quality Indicators interested in joining upcoming roundtable opportunities should send an email to QISupport@ahrq.hhs.gov with the subject “Industry Roundtable.”

AHRQ Recruiting Participants in Program To Advance Diagnostic Excellence

An AHRQ diagnostic safety improvement program is recruiting healthcare organizations to use and evaluate AHRQ resources including Calibrate Dx, Measure Dx and the Toolkit for Engaging Patients in Diagnostic Safety. Organizations that participate in the agency’s Implementing Diagnostic Excellence Across Systems (IDEAS) project will receive support and training to implement sustainable improvement. Continuing education credits and American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification points will be available. Get more information and access previous webinar recordings about the initiative. Send questions to IDEASproject@rand.org.

Project Provides Insights To Optimize Respiratory Culture Practices

An AHRQ-funded project from the BrighT STAR collaborative developed a series of 37 clinical practice statements to consider before, during and after collection of endotracheal aspirate cultures from hospitalized children with artificial airways. Developed through consensus by 38 experts, these practices outline key practices, including preparation before deciding to obtain cultures, clinical indications for obtaining cultures and scenarios in which to avoid obtaining them, methods for specimen collection, and interpretation of culture results. Designed to apply to endotracheal aspirate culture practices among most pediatric inpatients with artificial airways, these clinical practice statements support the creation of clinical decision tools and serve as a starting point for stewardship programs that seek to optimize diagnostic test use. Access the abstract in Pediatric Critical Care Medicine.

AHRQ Seeks Input on Measures of Diagnostic Excellence

A Request for Information published by AHRQ requests public comments by March 10 on the development of measures of diagnostic excellence that may be calculated using administrative data or electronic health record data. The purpose of diagnostic excellence measurement is to identify potential opportunities to improve the diagnostic process at a health system or geographic level. AHRQ welcomes comments on the importance and usability of existing measures and those that may be under development. Submit comments to qisupport@ahrq.hhs.gov with the subject line “Diagnostic Excellence Measurement.”

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Technical Brief (draft open for comment): Environmental, Clinical and Economic Outcomes of Hospital Resources to Prevent Hospital-Acquired Infections.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Birthing parent postpartum acute care use: multilevel opportunities for strengthening healthcare. Busse CE, Stuebe AM, Tumlinson K, et al. Birth 2024 Dec;51(4):843-54. Epub 2024 Aug 30. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Interhospital variability in 180-day infections following cardiac surgery. Raza SS, Zhou S, Barnett NM, et al. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2025 Jan 10. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Disparities in 180-day infection rates following coronary artery bypass grafting and aortic valve replacement. Pegues JN, Chang CH, Alnajjar RM, et al. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2025 Jan 15. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Menthol cigarettes and maternal health: 2004-2022. Encinosa W, Valdez RB. J Womens Health 2025 Jan 9. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Patient, examination, and system factors associated with completed follow-up for probably benign (BI-RADS 3) breast findings in a large, complex health care system. Giess CS, Lynch E, Lacson R, et al. Acad Radiol 2025 Feb;32(2):681-90. Epub 2024 Oct 15. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Contemporary evaluation of work-life integration and well-being in US surgical residents: a national mixed-methods study. Janczewski LM, Buchheit JT, Golisch KB, et al. J Am Coll Surg 2024 Dec;239(6):515-26. Epub 2024 Nov 15. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The impact of anticoagulant-related bleeding on quality of life: development of a novel measure based on perspectives from older adults. Parks AL, Slager SL, Cizik AM, et al. PLoS One 2025 Jan 29;20(1):e0316796. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Pilot of a text messaging system to monitor caregivers' and children's mental health recovery after pediatric traumatic injury. Hood CO, Higgins K, Becerra G, et al. Psychol Trauma 2024 Dec;16(suppl 3):S650-S7. Access the abstract on PubMed®.