Research Activities

November 2012, No. 387

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Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Improving care for patients with disabilities
From the Director

Patient Safety and Quality

Many hospitalized children receive numerous medications, raising potential safety concerns
Seniors learn some things from prescription drug advertisements, but can also be misled

Chronic Disease

Diabetes substantially affects school dropout rates and wages
Gaps in insurance coverage linked to less receipt of preventive services by patients with diabetes
Self-monitoring of blood pressure along with nurse counseling leads to greater blood pressure control
Breathing retraining techniques may help adult asthma
Patient decision aids can reduce uncertainty in decisions about whether to undergo total knee replacement
Radiation therapy linked to dry mouth in elderly patients with head and neck cancers

Emergency Care

Helicopter transport to trauma centers improves patient survival over ambulance transport
More hospitals with angioplasty capability have not improved access to the procedure

Health Care Costs and Financing

Bariatric surgery is not linked to lower costs among individuals with diabetes
Bundling payments reduces health care spending
Increased use of anesthesiologists in screening colonoscopy found to raise costs, but risks and benefits are still unknown

Child/Adolescent Health

Hospitalizations for kids with inflammatory bowel disease are frequent and costly
Consolidating blood draws may help reduce blood loss in critically ill children
Study questions usefulness of hospital readmission rates as marker of care quality for pediatric sickle cell disease
Mother-infant interactions associated with use of health services

Disparities/Minority Health

Many black parents believe soft bedding will keep their infants safe from sudden infant death syndrome
Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured patients less likely to receive drug-eluting stents than the privately insured
Studies find emotional and health problems and elevated deaths among recently released prisoners

Men's Health

Intensity-modulated radiation therapy for localized prostate cancer yields fewer side effects than other radiation treatments

Health Information Technology

Patients treated for heart failure in the emergency department fare better if there is an electronic health record available
Electronic standing orders increase delivery of preventive services
Study finds personal health records do not impact hypertension care
Physicians optimistic about potential for electronic prescribing but barriers to adoption still exist
Health information technology-supported quality improvement initiative reduces some ambulatory care disparities

Agency News and Notes

Procalcitonin guidance may lead to decreased antibiotic usage
Medicaid providers face common barriers to meaningful use
Progestogens effective for preventing preterm births in single pregnancies

Announcements

AHRQ-funded report shows promise in detecting surgical site infections
AHRQ offers free toolkit to strengthen medication reconciliation
Health Services Research extends call for papers on health IT

Research Briefs

Research Briefs

AHRQ Publication No. 13-RA002
Current as of November 2012

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Internet Citation:

Research Activities Newsletter. November 2012, No. 387. AHRQ Publication No. 13-RA002. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/nov12/index.html

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