Fiscal Year 2010
This fact sheet presents information about AHRQ's research dissertation grant program and briefly describes the 16 dissertation grant awards funded by the Agency in Fiscal Year 2010.
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Contents
Introduction
Project Descriptions
More Information
Introduction
The mission of the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality is to
improve the safety, quality, efficiency,
and effectiveness of health care for all
Americans. To help achieve the
Agency's mission, AHRQ supports
extramural research grants and
contracts, research training, conference
grants, and intramural activities.
AHRQ is committed to fostering the
next generation of health services
researchers who will focus their time
and expertise on some of the most
important problems facing our Nation's
health care system. An important
component of this effort is the Agency's
dissertation research grant program,
which provides 1-year awards to full-time
predoctoral students enrolled in
accredited research doctoral programs
in the United States, including Puerto
Rico and other U.S. Territories and
possessions.
To qualify for dissertation awards,
students must be U.S. citizens or
permanent residents by the time of the
grant award and must have completed
all of their doctoral requirements by the
time they submit a dissertation grant
application.
This fact sheet provides brief
descriptions of the 16 dissertation grant
awards funded by AHRQ in fiscal year
2010. Each entry includes the project
title, grantee's name and institution, his
or her area of focus, the grant number
and project period, and a short
description of the project.
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Project Descriptions
The Anticipatory Effects of Medicare
Part D on Drug Utilization.
Abby
Elizabeth Alpert, doctoral candidate in
Economics, University of Maryland,
College Park. AHRQ grant HS019681;
project period August 1, 2010-September 29, 2011. This research will
examine the effects on beneficiary
behavior of the announcement in 2003
of forthcoming changes in the Medicare
Part D program for prescription
medication benefits for the elderly,
given that the actual program did not
begin until 3 years later. The goal of the
project is to estimate the causal
anticipatory effects of Part D on drug
utilization. Estimating the utilization effect of Part D is important for
evaluating whether the primary aims of
the policy—expanding access to
prescription drugs—were achieved and
for assessing the program's future
financial solvency.
An Evaluation of the Effectiveness
and Process of a Rapid Response
Team
Tanya Elise Lord, doctoral
candidate in Clinical and Population
Health Research, University of
Massachusetts Medical School. AHRQ
grant HS019118; project period June 1,
2010-August 30, 2011. This research
will evaluate the effectiveness of a rapid
response system (RRS) using a before
and after study designed to measure
changes in rates of cardiac arrest,
unanticipated intensive care unit (ICU)
admission from the floors, hospital
mortality, and code calls to the floor.
The goal is to provide valid measures of
the effectiveness of the intervention and
inform the ongoing national discussion
about the benefits and costs of RRS.
The findings ultimately may contribute
to a more efficient allocation of the
relevant public health resources.
Central Venous Catheter (CVC)-Related Bloodstream Infections in
Pediatric Oncology Patients
Rita
Secola, doctoral candidate in Nursing,
University of California, Los Angeles.
AHRQ grant HS019103; project
period June 1, 2010-May 31, 2011.
The purpose of this study is to
determine if a specialized central venous
catheter (CVC) team intervention will
reduce CVC-related bloodstream
infections in pediatric oncology
patients. The goal is to improve a
nursing model of care and outcomes for
pediatric oncology patients.
Creating a Foundation for the Design
of Culturally Informed Health
Information Technology
Rupa
Valdez, doctoral candidate in Industrial
and Systems Engineering, University of
Wisconsin at Madison. AHRQ grant
HS018809; project period February 1, 2010-January 31, 2011. This research
will generate design considerations to
guide the development of consumer
health information technology (IT) that
will facilitate interaction between
culturally diverse patients and members
of their social networks. This project
seeks to create a foundation for a design
strategy that leads to culturally
informed consumer health IT.
Consumer health IT shows great
promise to engage patients and
members of their social network and
promote their active participation in
improving patients' health.
Exploring the Intersection Between
Patient Safety Culture and Hospital
Nursing Practice
Patricia Groves,
doctoral candidate in Nursing,
University of Missouri, Columbia.
AHRQ grant HS018725; project
period March 1, 2010-April 30, 2011.
This research will examine how
organizational context (communicated
structures of rules and resources)
constrain and enhance the ability of
individual hospital staff nurses to keep
patients safe. The project seeks to
advance knowledge about safety and
safety culture in hospitals. This study
will provide information about how
hospitals might improve or strengthen
their safety culture to enhance the
ability of nurses to keep patients safe.
Exploring Organizational
Mechanisms for Success in Quality
Improvement
Sean O'Neill, doctoral
candidate in Policy Analysis, RAND
Corporation. AHRQ grant HS018799;
project period March 1, 2010-February
28, 2011. This research will explore the
fundamental mechanisms leading to
success in quality improvement (QI)
that, if better understood, could help in
the effort to make successful QI
replicable and scalable. The project
represents an important first step in
discovering and exploring the
decisionmaking processes of quality
improvement intervention (QII) teams over the entire course of a QII.
A General Mechanism for Explaining
Physician's Responses to Patients'
Requests
Matthew Test-Wojteczko,
doctoral candidate in Health Services
Research and Policy, University of
Rochester. AHRQ grant HS018797;
project period September 30, 2010-June 30, 2011. This research will
explore why physicians' responses to
patients' requests persistently vary, even
under controlled experimental
conditions. The project seeks to expand
the Healthy 2020 goal of increasing
satisfaction with health care providers'
communication skills in interactions
with elderly populations.
The Impact of Medical Inflation on
Guaranteed Renewable Health
Insurance
Robert Dan Lieberthal,
doctoral candidate in Economics,
University of Pennsylvania. AHRQ
grant HS018835; project period March
1, 2010-March 31, 2011. This research
will examine the impact of medical
inflation on the premiums and solvency
of guaranteed renewable individual
health insurance. The project seeks to
improve health insurance practices for
health insurance payers. This study will
determine the optimal investment
policy for guaranteed renewable
individual health insurance.
The Impact of Nursing Workforce
Organization on Outcomes of
Hospitalized Children
Heather
Tubbs-Cooley, doctoral candidate in
Nursing, University of Pennsylvania.
AHRQ grant HS018802; project
period June 1, 2010-May 31, 2011.
This research will explore the
relationship between hospital nursing
organization and patient outcomes for
children hospitalized with common
conditions; examine the differences in
outcomes between children's and
general hospitals; and explore the joint
effects of hospital nursing organization
and hospital type (children versus
general) on pediatric outcomes. The project seeks to provide information
about relationships between nursing
care and pediatric patient outcomes to
enhance the safety of hospital care for
this population.
The Magnet Journey: Understanding
the Role of Unit Culture in EBP
Adoptions
Kim M. Schippits, doctoral
candidate in Economics, Emory
University. AHRQ grant HS018233;
project period February 1, 2010-April
30, 2011. The purpose of this
exploratory study is to understand how
nursing unit culture affects the
emergence and maintenance of
evidence-based nursing practices in the
hospital setting. Evidence-based practice
(EBP) has been identified as a
cornerstone of safe and effective health
care and has been related to recent
improvements in several critical
outcomes, including ventilator
associated pneumonia, central line-associated
infections, and surgical site
infections. This study will begin to
identify how the magnet culture affects
the emergence and maintenance of EBP
implementation that will improve the
quality, safety, and effectiveness of care
provided.
Nursing Home Compare: Predictors
and Impact of Differing
Organization Response
Jennifer
Meagher, doctoral candidate in Social
Policy/Health Policy, Brandeis
University. AHRQ grant HS018836;
project period June 1, 2010-May 31,
2011. This research will explore the
effects and consequences of the public
reporting of nursing home quality in
order to build knowledge about these
types of market-based health care
quality improvement policies. The
project will seek to evaluate the long-term
effects of a policy intended to
improve nursing home quality.
Patient Handoffs Between Emergency
Department and Inpatient Physicians
Phillip Brian Hilligoss, doctoral
candidate in Information Sciences,
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
AHRQ grant HS018758; project period
May 1, 2010-April 30, 2011. This
research will follow a grounded research
theory methodology involving semi-structured
interviews and ethnography
to examine admission handoffs between
physicians in the emergency department
(ED) and various inpatient services of a
large U.S. tertiary teaching hospital. The
project seeks to contribute to the
growing discourse on the standardization
of patient handoffs in hospitals by
examining the sources and nature of
variation in the transitions of patients
from the ED to inpatient services in a
tertiary teaching hospital. This study will
provide a conceptual framework that
will guide practitioners as they look for
ways to improve handoff practices
within their own services and
institutions.
Pharmacists of Conscience: Ethical
Decisionmaking and Consistency of
Care
Elizabeth Chiarello, doctoral
candidate in Sociology, University of
California at Irvine. AHRQ grant
HS019703; project period September
30, 2010-August 31, 2011. This research
will examine how pharmacists make
challenging ethical decisions in their
work. Pharmacists who work in settings
with different laws, organizational
policies, and political communities help
determine how these dimensions
influence decisionmaking. The goal is to
understand how pharmacists make
choices and the effects of their
decisionmaking processes on patient
safety and access to care.
Providing Hospice Care for Children:
An Organizational Study
Lisa Lindley,
doctoral candidate in Nursing,
University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill. AHRQ grant HS020164; project
period September 30, 2010-September
29, 2011. The goal of this study is to
describe the provision of hospice care to
children and examine the effects of
institutional forces and financial
performance on provision of hospice
care to children while controlling for
organizational and market factors. The
project seeks to inform the development
of policies aimed at expanding access
and delivery of hospice care for children.
Understanding and improving access to
hospice care will offer terminally ill
children and their families the
opportunity to receive comprehensive
and individualized care that promotes
comfort, peace, and dignity at the end of
life.
Understanding Processes of Care and
Patient Safety Outcomes in Nursing
Homes
Kali Thomas, doctoral
candidate in Gerontology, University of
South Florida. AHRQ grant HS019671;
project period September 1, 2010-August 31, 2011. This research will
examine the relationships between top
management's ratings of nursing home
patient safety culture (a structural
attribute) and objective measures of safe
processes of care and resident outcomes.
The goal is to understand the
relationships that exist among patient
safety culture, processes of care, and
patient safety outcomes.
Where the Rubber Meets the Road:
Middle Managers Role in Innovation
Sarah Abigail Birken, doctoral candidate
in Health Policy and Management,
University of North Carolina, Chapel
Hill. AHRQ grant HS19107; project
period June 1, 2010-May 31, 2011. This research will assess the role of middle
managers in innovation implementation
in health care organizations. Theory
suggests that middle managers in
organizations that provide job resources
may reciprocate with increased
commitment to innovation
implementation. The project seeks to
identify high-leverage ways for health
care organizations to facilitate the
translation of evidence into practice and
contribute to a growing body of
literature on implementation
effectiveness.
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More Information
For more information about the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, please visit the AHRQ Web site at http://www.ahrq.gov. For more specific information on funding for dissertation grants and other training programs, including answers to commonly asked questions, please visit http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/training/trainix.htm.
For specific programmatic questions, please contact:
Brenda A. Harding, MA
Health Scientist Administrator
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
540 Gaither Road, Suite 2006
Rockville, Maryland 20850
301-427-1527
brenda.harding@ahrq.hhs.gov
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AHRQ Publication No. 11-P009-EF
Current as of March 2011
Internet Citation:
AHRQ's Health Services Research Dissertation Grant Program: New Starts, Fiscal Year 2010. Fact Sheet. AHRQ Publication 11-P009-EF, March 2011. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/fund/training/dissrt10.htm