Closing the Quality Gap: A Critical Analysis of Quality Improvement Strategies. AHRQ 04-0051-1
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, August 2004, 75 pp. The first publication in this multi-volume series examines the challenges of improving the adoption rate for best practice guidelines, and the methodology used to analyze literature relevant to the series topics.
Closing the Quality Gap: Antibiotic Prescribing Behavior. AHRQ 04(06)-0051-4
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, January 2006, 158 pp.E The fourth publication in this multi-volume series provides a critical analysis of quality improvement strategies to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, targeting both prescribing of antibiotics for non-bacterial illnesses and prescribing of broad-spectrum antibiotics when narrow-spectrum agents are indicated.
Closing the Quality Gap: Asthma Care Strategies. AHRQ 04(07)-0051-5
Technical Review 9, January 2007, 199 pp. The fifth publication in this multi-volume series presents and evaluation of the evidence that quality improvement strategies can improve the processes and outcomes of outpatient care for children and adults with asthma.
Closing the Quality Gap: Care Coordination. AHRQ 04(07)-0051-7
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, June 2007, 158 pp. The seventh publication in this multi-volume series defines care coordination interventions and discusses how they are influenced by factors in the health care setting and how they relate to patient outcomes and health care costs.
Closing the Quality Gap: Diabetes Care Strategies. AHRQ 04-0051-2
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, September 2004, 200 pp. The second publication in this multi-volume series examines strategies for improving the quality of care for adult type 2 diabetic patients through changes in provider behavior, patient behavior, and modifications to the organization of care.
Closing the Quality Gap: Hypertension Care Strategies. AHRQ 04-0051-3
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, September 2004, 75 pp. The third publication in this multi-volume series provides a systematic assessment of different quality improvement strategies in the process of hypertension identification and management.
Closing the Quality Gap: Prevention of Healthcare-Associated Infections. AHRQ 04(07)-0051-6
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 9, January 2007, 107 pp. The sixth publication in this multi-volume series examines the effects of quality improvement strategies on promoting adherence to interventions for prevention of selected infections (surgical site infections, central-line associated bloodstream infections, ventilator-associated pneumonia, and catheter-associated urinary tract infections) and on the rates of such infections.
Criteria for Distinguishing Effectiveness From Efficacy Trials in Systematic Reviews. AHRQ 06-0046
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 12, April 2006, 19 pp. Proposes and tests seven hallmarks of study design to create a tool that can help researchers and those producing systematic reviews to distinguish more readily and more consistently between efficacy and effectiveness studies.
Determinants of Increases in Medicare Expenditures for Physicians Services. AHRQ 04-0008
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 7, October 2003, 101 pp. Describes the processes used to update payment rates for Medicare physicians' services, analyzes national trends in expenditures for physicians' services, and disaggregates the changes in Medicare expenditures for physicians' services into the components specified in Congressional legislation.
Empirical Evaluation of the Association Between Methodological Shortcomings and Estimates of Adverse Events. AHRQ 07-0003
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Technical Review 13, October 2006, 31 pp. Assesses the association between perceived methodological shortcomings and estimates of serious complications from surgical and medical interventions. Compares estimates of harms from studies meeting eight pre-defined criteria designed to assess the quality of harms reporting to studies not meeting the criteria.
Evidence-Based Practice: AHRQ's Role in Generating and Disseminating Knowledge AHRQ 08-R023
M. Coopey, M. Nix, C. Clancy, AORN Journal, 86(5):November 2007, 857-860. Describes three of AHRQ's initiatives for promoting evidence-based practice the Evidence-based Practice Centers program, the National Guideline Clearinghouse, and the National Quality Measures clearinghouse and discusses the role and contributions of nurses and nursing research in furthering evidence-based practice.
GRADE: Assessing the Quality of Evidence for Diagnostic Recommendations AHRQ 09-R031
H. Schunemann, A. Oxman, J Brozek, et al., ACP Journal Club 149(6):December 2008, JC6-2-JC6-3. Describes a rigorous and transparent approach for grading the quality of research evidence and strength of recommendations that can be used to guide clinical practice.
Identifying and Using Good Practice Guidelines AHRQ 09-R079
K. Lin, D. Slawson, American Family Physician, 80(1):July 2009, 67-69. Discusses the attributes of "good" practice guidelines and the evidence that should be considered by guideline developers. (AHRQ 09-R079)
Importance of Recommendations for Gestational Weight Gain AHRQ 09-R085
C. Kelly, C. Clancy, Journal of Nursing Care Quality, 24(2):April-June 2009, 96-99. Discusses the availability of new evidence that reinforces the importance of counseling women about the need to follow established recommendations for weight gain during pregnancy. (AHRQ 09-R085)
