Highlighting the Urgent Need for Research on Improving Delivery of Preventive Services to People with Disabilities

AHRQ Stats: In-Hospital Sepsis Mortality Rate Disparities

While the in-hospital mortality rate among all patients increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hispanic patients saw the greatest impact, with mortality rates rising by 64.3 percent between 2019 and 2021. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #309, Racial and Ethnic Differences in Inpatient Stays Involving Sepsis, 2016-2021  [PDF, 856 KB].)

Today's Headlines:

• Highlighting the Urgent Need for Research on Improving Delivery of Preventive Services To People With Disabilities.
• Practice Facilitation Boosts Screening for Unhealthy Alcohol Use.
• New AHRQ Brief Provides Guidance on Community Engagement for Whole-Person Primary Care.
• Register Now for Technical Assistance Webinars for Applicants to AHRQ’s Healthcare Extension Service.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Now Available: 2024 Chartbook for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Child Hospital Survey Database.
• More AHRQ Webinars.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Highlighting the Urgent Need for Research on Improving Delivery of Preventive Services To People With Disabilities

AHRQ's efforts to increase access to clinical preventive services among people with disabilities is the subject of a new AHRQ Views blog post. Accessing appropriate screening, counseling, early treatment, vaccines and medications is vital to good health. Unfortunately, only 5.3 percent of those living with disabilities received all appropriate preventive services in 2020, according to Healthy People 2030 . To eliminate these inequities, more research is urgently needed on interventions to increase the delivery of preventive services. To address the challenge, AHRQ recently delivered to Congress a report, Research To Improve the Delivery of Clinical Preventive Services To People With Disabilities  (PDF, 196 KB). This agenda for new research, informed by an expert panel and a recently published AHRQ evidence review , recommends guiding principles for exploring the barriers, facilitators and interventions for delivering preventive services to people with disabilities. Access the blog post authored by AHRQ Director Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., M.H.S.A. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address .

Practice Facilitation Boosts Screening for Unhealthy Alcohol Use

Primary care practices in Virginia that implemented AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW Model increased the use of recommended screening instruments for unhealthy alcohol use by 41.6 percent in the six months after they received practice facilitation that included tailored education, tools and assistance with workflows, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in JAMA Health Forum. During the same period, clinic-based counseling for unhealthy alcohol use improved by 35.6 percent. Given the number of people treated in the participating practices, this intervention resulted in an additional 171,500 patients being screened annually for unhealthy alcohol use. AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW: Managing Unhealthy Alcohol Use initiative is based on the EvidenceNOW Model, which is designed to help primary care practices increase their capacity for quality improvement with the goals of improving patient and practice health. Access the abstract .

New AHRQ Brief Provides Guidance on Community Engagement for Whole-Person Primary Care

A new topic brief  from AHRQ presents four case studies illustrating how primary care practices can effectively engage with their communities to support whole-person care. Whole-person care is a person-centered approach that considers the broader factors influencing health outcomes and emphasizes longitudinal relationships and comprehensive interdisciplinary, team-based care. Supporting whole-person care in primary care practices can increase access to care and quality of care and improve patient health outcomes and healthcare utilization. The brief was developed by AHRQ’s Academy , which provides topic briefs to support the integration of behavioral health and primary care.

Register Now for Technical Assistance Webinars for Applicants to AHRQ’s Healthcare Extension Service

Registration is open for two technical assistance webinars for applicants seeking to join AHRQ’s recently launched Healthcare Extension Service: State-based Solutions for Healthcare Improvement:

• Oct. 10, 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. ET.:  Pre-Application Technical Assistance for National Coordinating Center for AHRQ's Healthcare Extension Service - State-based Solutions to Healthcare Improvement . This webinar is for individuals or organizations interested in the recent Notice of Funding Opportunity  for establishment of a National Coordinating Center for the Healthcare Extension Service. 
• Oct. 21, 1 to 2 p.m. ET: Pre-Application Technical Assistance Webinar for National Evaluation Center for AHRQ's Healthcare Extension Service -- State-based Solutions to Healthcare Improvement . This webinar is for individuals or organizations interested in the recent Notice of Funding Opportunity  for establishment of a National Evaluation Center for the Healthcare Extension Service. 

Webinar attendance is optional and is not a requirement to submit an application. Access more information about the initiative’s technical assistance resources.

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:

• Electronic health record nudges and health care quality and outcomes in primary care: a systematic review .
• Severe hypertension in pregnancy: progress made and future directions for patient safety, quality improvement, and implementation of a patient safety bundle .
• Leapfrog safety grades in California hospitals: a data analysis .

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).

Now Available: 2024 Chartbook for the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Child Hospital Survey Database

Results from AHRQ’s 2024 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Child Hospital Survey Database are now available. The CAHPS Child Hospital Survey (Child HCAHPS) assesses inpatient care experiences of pediatric patients (17 and younger) and their parents or guardians. The survey covers many topics addressed by the adult version of the CAHPS Hospital Survey (HCAHPS) and additional topics relevant to pediatric care. Access the results via the chartbook (PDF, 1.4 MB) and an infographic (PDF, 492 KB).

More AHRQ Webinars

• Oct. 17, 1 to 2 p.m. ET: Introducing the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Outpatient Mental Health Survey.
• Oct. 30, 1 to 2 p.m.: Improving Hospital Handoffs Using AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® Hospital Survey.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic Review (draft open for comment): Management of Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors in Youth .

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

In-home health risk assessments and chart reviews contribute to coding intensity In Medicare Advantage. Jacobs PD. Health Aff 2024 Jul;43(7):942-9. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Patient-centered clinical decision support challenges and opportunities identified from workflow execution models. Sittig DF, Boxwala A, Wright A, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2024 Aug;31(8):1682-92. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Pharmacist use of a population management dashboard for safe anticoagulant prescribing: evaluation of a nationwide implementation effort. Barnes GD, Chen C, Holleman R, et al. J Am Heart Assoc 2024 Sep 17;13(18):e035859. Epub 2024 Sep 9. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Assessing the Revised Safer Dx Instrument® in the understanding of ambulatory system design changes for type 1 diabetes and autism spectrum disorder in pediatrics. Brady PW, Ruddy RM, Ehrhardt J, et al. Diagnosis 2024 Aug 1;11(3):266-72. Epub 2024 Mar 25. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Development of a disease-based hospital-level diagnostic intensity index. Ellenbogen MI, Feldman LS, Prichett L, et al. Diagnosis 2024 Aug 1;11(3):303-11. Epub 2024 Apr 22. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

eConsultation for deprescribing among older adults: clinician perspectives on implementation barriers and facilitators. Growdon ME, Hunt LJ, Miller MJ, et al. J Gen Intern Med 2024 Oct;39(13):2461-70. Epub 2024 Jun 28. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Lack of knowledge of antibiotic risks contributes to primary care patients' expectations of antibiotics for common symptoms. Laytner LA, Trautner BW, Nash S, et al. Ann Fam Med 2024 Sep-Oct;22(5):421-5. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.

Electronic health record-based screening for intimate partner violence: a cluster randomized clinical trial. Lenert L, Rheingold AA, Simpson KN, et al. JAMA Netw Open 2024 Aug;7(8):e2425070. Access the abstract  on PubMed®.