The Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality's National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports: Action
Agendas for the Nation. D. McNeill, E. Moy, C. Clancy,
American Journal of Medical Quality 21(3): May/June 2006, 206-209.
Discusses the 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare
Disparities Report, tracking the Nation's progress in improving health care
quality and reducing health care disparities across a broad range of
conditions, services, and population groups. (AHRQ 06-R048)
AHRQ Quality Indicators Brochures.
Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality, September 2006. AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs), measures of health
care quality that make use of readily available hospital inpatient
administrative data, consist of four modules measuring various aspects of
quality. Go to http://qualityindicators.ahrq.gov
for announcement of updates to AHRQ QI software.
Prevention Quality Indicators.
Identify hospital admissions that evidence suggests could have been avoided,
at least in part, through high-quality outpatient care. (AHRQ 06-M049-1)
Inpatient Quality Indicators.
Reflect quality of care inside hospitals including inpatient mortality for
medical conditions and surgical procedures. (AHRQ 06-M049-2)
Patient Safety Indicators. Reflect
quality of care inside hospitals, but focus on potentially avoidable
complications and iatrogenic events. (AHRQ 06-M049-3)
Pediatric Quality Indicators.
Reflect quality of care inside hospitals and identify potentially avoidable
hospitalizations among children. (AHRQ 06-M049-4)
AHRQ Summit—Improving Health Care
Quality for All Americans: Celebrating Success, Measuring Progress, Moving
Forward. AHRQ Conference Summary Report, June 2005, 28
pp. Summarizes individual and panel presentation from AHRQ's first Quality
Summit held April 4, 2005, to identify strategies for addressing health care
quality and eliminating disparities. Examples from the field, findings from
the research, and lessons on leading by example are included. (AHRQ
05-0084)
AHRQ's National Healthcare Quality and
Disparities Reports: An Ever-Expanding Road Map for Improvement.
J. Brady, K. Ho, E. Kelley, C. Clancy, Health Services Research
42(3): June 2007, xi-xxi. Discusses refinements that have been made in the
National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report
and describes a new Web site and online resources for quality and disparities
data. (AHRQ 07-R061)
All or None Measurement: Why We Know So
Little About the Comprehensiveness of Care. E. Kelley,
International Journal for Quality in Health Care 19(1):2007, 1-3.
Discusses the benefits and limitations of using an "all or none"
approach to assessing quality of care by looking at data at the patient level
to examine whether a bundle or set of evidence-based interventions that are
supposed to be done for the patient are actually done for the patient. (AHRQ
07-R058)
Assessing the Validity of Self-Reported
Medication Adherence in Hepatitis C Treatment. S. Smith, A.
Wahed, S. Kelley, et al., Annals of Pharmacotherapy 41: July/August
2007, 1116-1123. Assesses the validity of self-reported medication adherence
provided by individuals in treatment for hepatitis C virus infection with a
regimen of peginterferon and ribavin. (AHRQ 08-R003)
The CAHPS® Hospital Survey: Development,
Testing, and Use. C. Crofton, C. Darby, M. Farquhar, et al.,
Journal of Quality and Patient Safety 31(11): November 2005, 655-659.
Describes how the CAHPS® consortium developed the CAHPS® Hospital Survey
instrument, how it was tested, and expectation for its use. (AHRQ 06-R017)
Consumer Assessment of Health Providers and
Systems (CAHPS®): Evolving to Meet Stakeholder Needs. C.
Darby C. Crofton, C. Clancy, American Journal of Medical Quality
21(2): March/April 2006, 144-147. Describes the evolution of the CAHPS® family
of survey instruments, from the project's beginning in the mid-1990s to the
present. Currently, there are about 30 instruments in use or in development.
(AHRQ 06-R047).
Design of the Physical Environment for
Changing Healthcare Needs. C. Clancy, S. Isaacson, K. Henriksen,
Health Environments Research & Design Journal 1(1): Fall
2007,
10-11. Discusses the role of the physical environment—including light,
noise, air quality, toxic exposures, temperature, humidity, and so on—in
health care organizations and how improvements in the physical environment
might lead to improvements in quality of care. (AHRQ 08-R027)
Emergency Departments in Crisis: Implications
for Accessibility, Quality, and Safety. C. Clancy, American
Journal of Medical Quality 22(1): January/February 2007, 59-62.
Examines the role of hospital emergency departments in providing emergency
care and more routine treatment, including current challenges and efforts to
ensure continued quality and safety of care. (AHRQ 07-R038)
Emergency Departments in Crisis:
Opportunities for Research. C. Clancy, Health Services
Research 42(1, Part 1): February 2007, xiii-xx. Discusses the state
of emergency medicine and describes opportunities for research on ways to
improve the quality of emergency medicine and care in hospital emergency
departments. (AHRQ 07-R041)
Enhancing Quality Improvement. C.
Clancy, Healthcare Papers, 6(3):2006, 46-50. Discusses the significant
opportunities for improvements in quality of care in most, if not all,
developed nations. (AHRQ 07-R005)
Factors Associated with High-Quality/Low-Cost
Hospital Performance. H. Jiang, B. Friedman, J. Begun,
Journal of Health Care Finance 32(3): Spring 2006, 139-152. Explores
organizational and market characteristics associated with superior hospital
performance in both quality and cost of care, using the Healthcare Cost and
Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases for 10 States in 1997 and 2001.
(AHRQ 06-R054)
The First National Reports on United States
Healthcare Quality and Disparities. A. Poker, H. Hubbard,
Journal of Nursing Care Quality 19(4): October-December 2004,
316-321. Provides an overview of the framework, development, and future uses
of the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports by consumers,
practitioners, researchers, and policymakers. Discusses the role of
information technology in improving the quality of health care in the United
States. (AHRQ 05-R001)
From Information on Quality to Quality
Information. C. Clancy, HSR: Health Services Research
39(6): December 2004, 1631-1634. Addresses issues in making information on
quality useful and used by consumers and health care purchasers. (AHRQ
05-R023)
Improving the Quality of Nursing Care Using
the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Data. R. Hughes, C. Clancy,
Journal of Nursing Care Quality 22(2): April-June 2007, 93-96.
Describes the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and discusses how nurses in
practice, research, and policymaking can use MEPS data for the benefit of
patients and organizational improvement. (AHRQ 07-R055)
Informing Quality Health Care. C.
Clancy, Healthcare Financial Management March 2006, 64-68.
Commentary on the importance of quality in the health care system. Discusses
the role of the government, AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program, and
quality-improvement principles. (AHRQ 06-R057)
Integrating Literacy, Culture, and Language
to Improve Health Care Quality for Diverse Populations. D.
Andrulis, C. Brach, American Journal of Health Behavior 31:Sept/Oct
2007, S122-S132. Examines the interrelationship of literacy, culture, and
language and the importance of addressing their interactions in order to
improve health care quality for low-literacy and other vulnerable individuals.
(AHRQ 07-R079)
Is Our Pharmacy Meeting Patients' Needs? A
Pharmacy Health Literacy Assessment Tool: User's Guide. Agency
for Healthcare Research and Quality, October 2007, 66 pp. Presents a tool to
measure how well an organization is serving patients with limited health
literacy. It is designed for use primarily in outpatient pharmacies of large,
urban, public hospitals that serve low-income populations with a high
incidence of chronic disease and limited health literacy skills. (AHRQ
07-0051)
Issues in the Design of Training for Quality
and Safety. K. Henriksen, E. Dayton, Quality and Safety in
Health Care 15(Suppl I):2006, 17-24. Explores changes in the
practice of medicine and the health care delivery environment and describes
how health care training and education can benefit from findings in the
behavioral and cognitive sciences. (AHRQ 07-R042)
Missed Opportunities for Quality
Improvement. K. Ho, E. Kelley, J. Brady, et al., American
Journal of Medical Quality 22(4): July/August 2007, 296-299. Discusses
the data presented in the 2006 National Healthcare Quality Report and National
Healthcare Disparities Report, briefly describes AHRQ's "Questions Are
the Answer" campaign, and talks about the important role of prevention in
health care quality improvement. (AHRQ 07-R075)
Modifying DRG-PPS to Include Only Diagnoses
Present on Admission: Financial Implications and Challenges. C.
Zhan, A. Elixhauser, B. Friedman, et al., Medical Care 45(4): April
2007, 288-291. Uses 2003 data from two States (New York and California)
currently coding their data for conditions that are present on admission (POA)
to assess the financial impact if Medicare decides to pay based on POA
conditions only. Also examines the challenges involved in implementing POA
coding. (AHRQ 07-R081)
2007 National
Reports on Quality and Disparities Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality, February 2008. Reports focus on
quality of care and disparities in health care in America, overall
and for AHRQ's priority populations.
2007 National Healthcare Disparities Report.
244 pp. Finds that although some
of the biggest disparities in quality remain, progress has been
made in reducing disparities in several areas, such as dialysis,
hospital admissions for perforated appendix, and childhood
vaccinations. This year, the NHDR also reports on the biggest
disparities in quality documented over the years where there has
not been improvement, such as new AIDS cases. (AHRQ 08-0041)
2007 National Healthcare Quality
Report. 136 pp. Finds that health care quality continues
to improve, but the rate of improvement has slowed. In addition,
variations in the quality of health care across the Nation are
decreasing but not for all measures. The safety of health care also
has improved since 2000, but more needs to be done. (AHRQ 08-0040)
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National Quality Measures
Clearinghouse™ Tutorial. Agency for Healthcare Research and
Quality, October 2003, CD-ROM tutorial provides information on specific
evidence-based health care quality measures and measure sets. (AHRQ
04-0009-CD)
Pay for Performance: A Decision Guide for
Purchasers. AHRQ Final Contract Report, April 2006, 28
pp. Isolates and sequences 20 questions purchasers face in considering pay for
performance, reviews options and any available evidence—from empirical
evaluations and economic theory—that may inform future decision-making,
and discusses potential effects and unintended consequences. (AHRQ
06-0047)
Payment Matters? The Next Chapter.
P. McNamara, Medical Care Research and Review Supplement,
63(1): February 2006, 5S-10S. Latest in a series of coordinated efforts by AHRQ
to contribute to an ongoing national dialogue related to payment. Addresses
the research gap and adds to the collective understanding of
pay-for-performance. (AHRQ 06-R050)
The Performance of Performance
Measurement. C. Clancy, Health Services Research
43(5): October 2007, 1797-1800. Discusses the use of performance measurement to
drive clinical improvements and inform choices made by health care purchasers
and consumers. (AHRQ 08-R017)
Process Utility in Breast Biopsy. J.
Swan, W. Lawrence, J. Roy, Medical Decision Making 26: July-August
2006, 347-359. Describes the use of waiting trade-off in a circumstance where
measuring preferences via waiting for results of testing and treatment may not
be plausible for patients, owing to the urgency of the medical situation.
(AHRQ 06-R083)
Provider-Specific Report Cards: A Tool for
Health Sector Accountability in Developing Countries. P.
McNamara, Advanced Access 23: January 2006, 101-109. Discusses
universal design options for report cards, summarizes the evidence base,
presents developing country examples, reviews challenges, and outlines
implementation steps. (AHRQ 06-R023)
Purchaser Strategies to Influence Quality of
Care: From Rhetoric to Global Applications. P. McNamara,
Quality & Safety in Health Care 15: June 2006, 171-173.
Highlights and frames purchasers' strategies explicitly crafted to enhance the
quality and safety of care. (AHRQ 06-R051)
Quality-Based Payment: Six Case
Examples. P. McNamara, International Journal for Quality in
Health Care 17(4): May 2004, 357-362. Examines quality-based payment
design features, namely incentive structures and performance standards used to
benchmark quality. Raises debate about whether and how quality-based payment
might fit within a developing country's framework of strategies to ensure and
promote quality of care. (AHRQ 05-R060)
Quality-Based Purchasing in the United
States: Applications in Developing Countries? P. McNamara,
Spending Wisely: Buying Health Services for the Poor. In: Preker AS
and Langenbrunner JC, eds. World Bank, Chapter 22, 2005, pp. 375-388. Discusses
the quality-based purchasing movement globally, nationally, and regionally,
and talks about barriers, strategies to promote health accountability for
quality, and impact of employer strategies on quality. (AHRQ 06-R009)
Quality Tools to Improve Care and Prevent
Errors. M. Nix, M. Coopey, C. Clancy, Journal of Nursing Care
Quality 21(1): January-March 2006, 1-4. Provides a commentary on
patient safety in nursing practice, discussing quality tools to assist health
care professionals, policymakers, health plans, employers, patients, and
consumers in the development, promotion, and enhancement of quality within a
practice or organization. (AHRQ 06-R034)
Redesigning Health Systems for Quality:
Lessons from Emerging Practices. M. Wang, J. Hyun, M. Harrison,
et al., Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
32(11): November 2006, 599-611. Discusses the progress that has been made in
improving health care quality in the 5 years since the Institute of Medicine's
landmark report, Crossing the Quality Chasm. Also discusses lessons
that have been learned and provides suggestions for moving forward. (AHRQ
07-R030)
Resource Guides for State Action Complementary products help State
leaders implement quality improvement plans for their States or enhance
existing programs. Uses State-level data from National Healthcare Quality
Reports to help States assess the quality of care in their States and
fashion quality improvement strategies suited to State conditions.
Asthma Care Quality Improvement: A Resource
Guide for State Action. 143 pp. (AHRQ 06-0012-1)
Asthma Care Quality Improvement: A Workbook
for State Action. 35 pp. (AHRQ 06-0012-2)
Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Resource
Guide for State Action. 152 pp. (AHRQ 04-0072)
Supplement. 4 pp. (AHRQ 04(05)-0072-1)
Diabetes Care Quality Improvement: A Workbook
for States. 38 pp. (AHRQ 04-0073)
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Report of Nationally Representative Values
for the Noninstitutionalized U.S. Adult Population for 7 Health-Related
Quality-of-Life Scores. J. Hanmer, W. Lawrence, J. Anderson, et
al., Medical Decision Making 26: July/August 2006, 391-400. Presents
age- and sex-stratified nationally representative values for several commonly
used preference-based and non-preference-based health-related quality-of-life
scores. Uses data from the 2001 wave of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
(AHRQ 06-R082)
The Role of the Physical Environment in
Crossing the Quality Chasm. K. Henriksen, S. Isaacson, B. Sadler,
C. Zimring, Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety
33(11): November 2007, 68-80. Discusses the use of evidence-based design
findings to help inform hospital decisionmakers about opportunities for
ensuring that quality and safety are designed into new and refurbished
facilities. (AHRQ 08-R028)
Simulation in Health Care: Setting Realistic
Expectations. K. Henriksen, M. Patterson, Journal of Patient
Safety 3(3): September 2007, 127-134. Examines the role of simulation
technology in training clinicians and discusses some of the
challenges—such as setting realistic expectations, identifying relevant
research questions, and developing well-rounded curricula—that need to
be addressed. (AHRQ 08-R009)
The Third National Reports on Healthcare
Quality and Disparities in the United States. National Data for Targeting
Improvements. M. Hand, F. Chesley, K. Ho, et al., Journal of
Nursing Care Quality 21(4):2006, 283-289. Discusses AHRQ's 2005
National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare
Disparities Report and their implications for nursing practice,
policy, and research. (AHRQ 07-R002)
Unintended Consequences of Information
Technologies in Health Care—An Interactive Sociotechnical
Analysis. M. Harrison, R. Kopel, S. Bar-Lev, Journal of the
American Medical Informatics Association 14:2007, 542-549. Develops
and illustrates a conceptual model of interactions between health information
technology (Health IT) and a health care organization's sociotechnical
system—including its workflow, culture, social interactions, and
technologies—and discusses some unanticipated consequences that only
become evident during Health IT implementation. (AHRQ 08-R008
Using the AHRQ Quality Indicators to Improve
Health Care Quality. A. Elixhauser, M. Pancholi, C. Clancy,
Journal of Medical Quality 20(5): September/October 2005, 239-252.
Discusses the AHRQ's Quality Indicators, their methodology, accessibility, and
the software that can be applied to hospital administrative data. (AHRQ
05-R007)
Using the National Healthcare Quality and
Disparities Reports for Executive Decision Making. A. Poker, M.
Farquhar, E. Dayton, Nurse Leader December 2005, 1-3. Discusses how
the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports can assist
nurse leaders in making key decisions about quality and patient safety. (AHRQ
06-R030)
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