AHRQ-Funded Research Highlights Impact of Private Equity in Healthcare

AHRQ Stats: Cost and Billing Trends for Sepsis-Related Stays

Since 2016, aggregate hospital costs for sepsis stays increased by 66.8 percent, reaching $52.1 billion in 2021. More than 70 percent of the costs of sepsis inpatient stays were billed to public payers. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #306 – Overview of Outcomes for Inpatient Stays Involving Sepsis, 2016–2021 [PDF, 1 MB].)

Today's Headlines:

• AHRQ-Funded Research Highlights Impact of Private Equity in Healthcare.
• Advancing Impactful Research in Telehealthcare for 20 Years.
• Brief Addresses How AHRQ's Survey Tools Guide a Health System in Brazil in Improving Diagnostic Safety Culture.
• New Publication Highlights AHRQ Research in Medication Safety.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Register Now for Sept. 23–24 Workshop on Advancing Equity in Diagnostic Excellence.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ-Funded Research Highlights Impact of Private Equity in Healthcare

Two AHRQ-funded publications provide insights into the growing trend of private equity ownership of healthcare facilities:

• Between 2012 and 2023, 642 mental health clinics and 1,152 substance use treatment facilities in the U.S. were purchased by private equity entities, according to a research letter in JAMA Psychiatry. By 2023, private equity entities owned more than 6 percent of all mental health clinics and just over 7 percent of substance use treatment facilities.
• A research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine indicated more than 60 percent of surveyed physicians had a negative view of private equity ownership and nearly 60 percent felt ownership negatively impacted physician well-being and cost. The survey of more 500 physicians showed around 45 percent of private-equity-employed physicians reported high job satisfaction and just under 50 percent felt they were given autonomy.

Advancing Impactful Research in Telehealthcare for 20 Years

AHRQ research that established the foundation for the nation’s expanding use of telehealthcare is the subject of a new AHRQ Views blog post. Telehealthcare is critical to delivering care in underserved areas and locations where specialized expertise is limited. An agency grant in 2004 led to the widespread adoption of Project ECHO, an early telementoring model. In 2020, the AHRQ ECHO National Nursing Home COVID-19 Action Network provided free training for infection prevention and safety practices during the height of the pandemic. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, AHRQ’s Digital Healthcare Research Program continues to support research and provide guidance for the use of telehealthcare technologies. Access the blog post, authored by Kevin Chaney, M.G.S., senior advisor for dissemination and innovation in AHRQ’s Digital Healthcare Research Division, and Sanjeev Arora, M.D., F.A.C.G., founder and director of Project ECHO. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address.

Brief Addresses How AHRQ's Survey Tools Guide a Health System in Brazil in Improving Diagnostic Safety Culture

A new case study brief describes how a tertiary care health system in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Sociedade Beneficente Israelita Brasileira Albert Einstein, adapted AHRQ’s SOPS® Diagnostic Safety Supplemental Item Set to inform the development and implementation of a diagnostic excellence program. The survey-based assessment of physician perspectives helped target improvement actions and the implementation of multidisciplinary teamwork principles to enhance diagnostic accuracy and patient safety. Access the brief and other AHRQ publications related to diagnostic safety.

New Publication Highlights AHRQ Research in Medication Safety

Improving Patient Safety by Enhancing Medication Safety (PDF, 1 MB) is the sixth in a series of AHRQ publications that summarize the agency’s investments in patient safety research as a pathway toward safer care. Medication safety refers to the practices and measures implemented to minimize the risk of medication errors and adverse drug events in various settings across the healthcare continuum. Since 2000, AHRQ has supported 123 patient safety projects related to medication safety. Access the research summary (PDF, 1 MB), which describes research projects and includes many final reports.

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:

• Using behavioral insights to strengthen strategies for change. Practical applications for quality improvement in healthcare.
• Multi-team shared expectations tool (MT-SET): an exercise to improve teamwork across health care teams.
• Digital maturity as a predictor of quality and safety outcomes in US hospitals: cross-sectional observational study.

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 Sept. 23–24 Workshop on Advancing Equity in Diagnostic Excellence

A Sept. 23–24 workshop will explore opportunities for improving equitable diagnosis with an emphasis on populations at greatest risk of harm from diagnostic errors. The AHRQ-supported Forum on Advancing Diagnostic Excellence will be hosted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Forum on Advancing Diagnostic Excellence in collaboration with the Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity. Registrants may attend online or in person at the National Academy of Sciences Building, 2101 Constitution Ave NW, Washington DC. The workshop will include presentations on topics including factors that create barriers to high-quality diagnosis and strategies to reduce these barriers. Access more information, including how to register.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Beyond unplanned ICU transfers: linking a revised definition of deterioration to patient outcomes. Byrd TFT, Phelan TA, Ingraham NE, et al. Crit Care Med 2024 Sep;52(9):e439-e49. Epub 2024 Jun 4. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Specialist use among privately insured children with disabilities. Chien AT, Wisk LE, Beaulieu N, et al. Health Serv Res 2024 Aug;59(4):e14199. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Racial and ethnic disparities in opioid prescribing on hospital discharge among older adults: a national retrospective cohort study. Kasanagottu K, Anderson TS, Trivedi S, et al. J Gen Intern Med 2024 Jun;39(8):1444-51. Epub 2024 Feb 29. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Timing of treatment for opioid use disorder among birthing people. Kim K, Liu G, Dick AW, et al. J Subst Use Addict Treat 2024 Jun;161:209289. Epub 2024 Jan 24. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Using the age-friendly environment framework to assess advance care planning factors among older adults with limited income: a cross-sectional, descriptive survey study. Kimpel CC, Dietrich MS, Lauderdale J, et al. Gerontologist 2024 Jul;64(7). Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Attitudes and barriers toward video visits in surgical care: Insights from a nationwide survey among surgeons. Kulkarni AJ, Thiagarajan AB, Skolarus TA, et al. Surgery 2024 Jul;176(1):115-23. Epub 2024 May 12. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Revealing complex interdependencies in surgical instrument reprocessing using SEIPS 101 tools. Segarra GC, Catchpole K, Rayo MF, et al. Appl Ergon 2024 Sep;119:104307. Epub 2024 May 11. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Harnessing health information technology to promote equitable care for patients with limited English proficiency and complex care needs. Strechen I, Wilson P, Eltalhi T, et al. Trials 2024 Jul 4;25(1):450. Access the abstract on PubMed®.