Research Activities

March 2011, No. 367

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Re-engineered discharge project dramatically reduces return trips to the hospital
From the Director

Patient Safety and Quality

Hospitals with a high volume of sepsis admissions have lowest mortality rates
Hospitals face dilemmas about disclosure of large-scale adverse events
Most process-of-care events do not harm transplant patients, but they boost costs and lengthen hospital stays
Person-to-person transmission of E. coli resistant to fluoroquinolone drugs is rare among hospital patients
Automated screening of patient electronic medical records is only the first step to identifying a medication problem
When health plans share physicians, they may have less incentive to improve care quality

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research

Better adherence to diabetes medications means fewer hospitalizations and emergency department visits
Hospitals with more patients who receive angioplasty within 90 minutes of a heart attack have lower mortality rates
Hospitalizations for bacterial pneumonia in Texas towns bordering Mexico three times higher than the national average
Colony-stimulating factor is effective in reducing infection for elderly patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on chemotherapy

Women's Health

Bariatric surgery before pregnancy reduces the risk of gestational diabetes in obese women
Obesity rates are higher among sexually abused and lesbian women
In vitro fertilization has advantages over natural conception for couples who both carry the cystic fibrosis trait

Child/Adolescent Health

Kidney stone rates in children may be on the rise
Antipsychotic use doubles for very young children, while mental health visits are few
Children with a medical home more likely to receive health screenings and advice

Disparities/Minority Health

Asthma project helps resident physicians improve care for minority patients
Blacks have worse colorectal cancer survival rates than whites
Medicare-insured patients with head or neck cancer differ little in mortality risk because of race or ethnicity
Perception of racial discrimination among blacks linked to socioeconomic position
Even with universal health insurance, the homeless in Canada encounter barriers to obtaining health care
Expert workshop discusses disparities in health care quality and role of health IT in underresourced settings

Mental Health

Parents of adults with mental illness face the challenges of being an aging caregiver

Elderly/Long-Term Care

Anemia is common among nursing home residents and affects their physical functioning
Better hospital quality of care for the elderly is associated with lower mortality after discharge
More nursing home residents are receiving hospice care

Health Care Costs and Financing

HIV treatment costs much more when patients start treatment later in the disease
Preventive dental care saves money on total dental care for Medicare beneficiaries

Agency News and Notes

Landmark initiative to reduce healthcare-associated infections cuts deaths among Medicare patients in Michigan ICUs
Aching back sends more than 3 million to emergency departments
Operating room procedures account for nearly half of hospitals' treatment costs
Approximately 5 percent of seniors report one or more cognitive disorders
Growth in Medicaid patient hospital admissions outpace those for privately insured patients
One-fifth of the U.S. population has no doctor or other usual source of medical care
Routine osteoporosis screening recommended for all women over age 65
AHRQ report finds unclear value of pretesting autoimmune disorder patients before prescribing thiopurine drugs
AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange offers innovative solutions to caring for women with gestational diabetes
Innovations show the benefits of using phone-based care management

Announcements

New technical brief on stroke care published
New look for AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange Web site
2010 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award recipients announced

Research Briefs

Research Briefs
Follow AHRQ News on Twitter
Healthcare 411

AHRQ Publication No. 11-RA006
Current as of March 2011

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. March 2011, No. 367. AHRQ Publication No. 11-RA006. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/mar11/

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