May 21, 2004, Issue No. 135
AHRQ News and Numbers
The relationship between any use of dental care and insurance coverage
generally remained stable over the period 1996-2000. However, among people under
65 with private insurance, the percent receiving any dental care declined from
50.0 percent in 1996 to 47.8 percent in 2000. [Source: Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality, MEPS Research Findings #20: Dental Services: Use, Expenses, and Sources of Payment, 1996-2000.]
Today's Headlines:
- New AHRQ tool helps hospitals with emergency management
plans
- Significant increases in drug co-payments may reduce
patients' use of needed medications
- Article in NCI Cancer Bulletin features AHRQ's tobacco
cessation efforts
- Report available on research agenda for health and the
humanities
- Patient Safety Research Coordinating Center RFP
- Sixth Rocky Mountain Workshop: How to Practice Evidence-based
Health Care set for August
- AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting and affiliate meetings
set for June 3-9
- AHRQ names third Child and Adolescent Health Scholar
- Do you know how AHRQ's research is being used?
- Highlights from AHRQ's most recent monthly newsletter
- AHRQ in the professional literature
1. New AHRQ Tool Helps Hospitals With Emergency Management
Plans
AHRQ announced a first-ever evidence-based tool to help hospitals evaluate
their disaster training drills. The new resource—Evaluation of Hospital
Disaster Drills: A Module-Based Approach—is designed to help hospitals
identify strengths and weaknesses in their responses during a disaster drill and
improve their ability to fulfill required emergency management plans. It is
available from the Agency as a notebook with an accompanying CD-ROM. Developed
by the AHRQ-sponsored Evidence-based Practice Center at the Johns Hopkins
University, Baltimore, the new tool is based on several key principles,
including the need to plan drill objectives, train observers, document drill
activities, and debrief all participants. The tool's evaluation modules are
designed to capture all phases of drill activities, such as pre-drill planning
and recording activities in each area of the hospital, including incident
command, decontamination, triage, and treatment. The tool also includes four
supplemental forms to help institutions customize their drills to practice
response to specific health threats such as a bioterrorism incident. Select to
read the press
release and the tool.
2. Significant Increases in Drug Co-payments May Reduce Patients'
Use of Needed Medications
A new study co-funded by AHRQ shows that increasing patients' copayments for
prescription medications led to decreases in their use of eight classes of
therapeutic drugs. Researchers linked pharmacy claims data representing nearly
530,000 people age 18 to 64 who had employer-sponsored health insurance with
health benefit designs from 52 private health plans and 30 employers. The study
included one-tier, two-tier, three-tier, and coinsurance drug benefit plans of
all types. The simulated copayment increases were relevant for all plans but
were calibrated to two-tier plans. The analysis followed study subjects for
nearly 4 years. The study, "Pharmacy Benefits and the Use of Drugs by the
Chronically Ill," was led by Drs. Dana P. Goldman and Geoffrey F. Joyce and
their colleagues at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica, CA, as well as by
co-authors from Merck and California Healthcare Foundation. It was published in
the May 19 issue of JAMA. Select to read the press
release.
3. Article in NCI Cancer Bulletin Features AHRQ's Tobacco
Cessation Efforts
An article by AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., entitled "Putting
Science into Practice" was published in the May 4 issue of the NCI Cancer
Bulletin. Dr. Clancy's article highlights the Agency's efforts to put into
practice the U.S. Public Health Service's Clinical Practice Guideline, Treating
Tobacco Use and Dependence. Select to read the article [PDF Help] and visit AHRQ 's tobacco pathfinder on our Web site for a full menu of
guideline tools.
4. Report Available on Research Agenda for Health and the
Humanities
AHRQ released a report, Setting a Research Agenda for Health and the
Humanities, that summarizes the recommendations from an AHRQ/National
Endowment for the Humanities conference. The conference participants felt that a
collaborative research agenda depends on finding ways to introduce and fund
truly interdisciplinary rather than multidisciplinary research.
Interdisciplinary research-with cooperative analysis and shared understanding
that starts from the distinctly different modes of analysis, kinds of evidence,
and bodies of explanation employed in scientific research and the humanities-was
contrasted with multidisciplinary research, in which people might work on a
common project but be independent, guided by the terminology and culture of
their own discipline. In addition to the group as a whole, the conference had
four specific workgroups: end-of-life issues, family caregivers, patient safety,
and access to care. A print copy is available by sending an E-mail to ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov.
5. Patient Safety Research Coordinating Center RFP
AHRQ issued a new Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking applicants to serve as
AHRQ's patient safety research coordinating center. The purpose of this contract
is to support the needs of the Agency's patient safety initiative and to serve
as a resource and support center that links together all the components of the
Agency's patient safety research portfolio and connects with other Federal and
non-Federal patient safety stakeholders. The contract will be awarded for 3
years with two 1-year renewal options. Deadline for proposals is July 13, 12
Noon EDT. Select to read the RFP.
6. Sixth Rocky Mountain Workshop: How to Practice Evidence-based
Health Care Set for August
Mark your calendar! AHRQ is co-sponsoring a 5-day workshop with the
University of Colorado School of Medicine, the Department of Preventive Medicine
& Biometrics, and the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center to be held
August 8-12 at the Keystone Resort in Keystone, CO. The workshop is designed to
challenge participants to integrate their skills in decisionmaking with
patients, communication, and policymaking. Participants focus on their specific
interest areas using a small-group, problem-solving format. Select to register and for more information.
7. AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting and Affiliate Meetings
Set for June 3-9
The AcademyHealth Annual Research meeting and affiliate meetings will be held
June 3-9 in San Diego. The theme for this year's meeting is "The Premier Forum
for Health Services Research." The meeting provides opportunities to present and
hear about cutting-edge research, debate timely policy issues, and learn about
new methods and funding sources. In conjunction with the annual meeting, AHRQ is
co-sponsoring several affiliate meetings:
- The ""Sixth Annual Child Health Services Researchers Meeting" on June 5
- "AHRQ Enhanced Emphasis on Translating Research Into Practice and Policy" on June 7.
- "What Do We Know About Quality? Key Findings from the First National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports" on June 8.
- "MEPS Data: What Every Researcher Should Know" and "HCUP: Data and Tools to Support Improvement in Health Care" on June 9.
8. AHRQ Names Third Child and Adolescent Health
Scholar
Carole M. Lannon, M.D., M.P.H., has been appointed as AHRQ's third Child and
Adolescent Health Scholar. Dr. Lannon is Director of the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) Steering Committee on Quality Improvement and Management and
co-Director of the North Carolina, Center for Children's Healthcare Improvement.
She serves as medical editor of AAP's Education for Quality Improvement in
Pediatric Practice, a Web-based QI tool that will form the basis for maintenance
of certification for pediatricians. She is also the principal investigator on
the AHRQ Partnership for Quality Cooperative Agreement to work with local child
health networks to improve care for children with
attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. She has contributed in other AHRQ
issues involving neonatal jaundice practice improvement, childhood obesity, and
developmental and preventive services for children. Dr. Lannon received her B.A.
from Macalester College. She earned her Doctor of Medicine from the University
of Minnesota Medical School and her Master's degree from the University of North
Carolina, School of Public Health. She has published peer-reviewed research
articles and given numerous scientific presentations.
9. Do You Know How AHRQ's Research Is Being Used?
We are always looking for ways in which AHRQ-funded research, products, and
tools have changed people's lives, influenced clinical practice, improved
policies, and affected patient outcomes. Impact case studies describe AHRQ
research findings in action. These case studies are used in testimony, budget
documents, and speeches. We would like to know if you are aware of any impact
your AHRQ-funded research has had on health care policy, clinical practice, or
patient outcomes. Contact AHRQ's Impact Case Studies Program at (301) 427-1243 with your
impact stories.
10. Highlights from AHRQ's Most Recent Monthly
Newsletter
Among the key articles in the online issue of Research Activities:
- Cervical cancer screening every 3 years after three or more normal Pap
tests is a safe option.
Current care guidelines recommend that Pap tests to screen for cervical
cancer can be extended to once every 3 years, instead of every year, among
low-risk women with three consecutive negative Pap test. Select to read this
article.
Other articles are:
- Improving depression care has long-lasting benefits for blacks and
Hispanics
- Step-by-step procedures may help health care providers treat victims of
intimate partner violence.
- Researchers examine ways to measure the quality of health services for
children and adolescents.
Select to read these articles and others.
11. AHRQ in the Professional Literature
We are providing the following hyperlinks to journal abstracts through
PubMed® for your convenience. Unfortunately, some of you may not be able to
access the abstracts because of firewalls or specific settings on your
individual computer systems. If you are having problems, you should ask your
technical support staff for possible remedies.
Johnson KB, Davison CL. Information technology: its importance to child
safety. Ambul Pediatr 2004 Jan-Feb;4(1):64-72. Select to access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Hoffman JM, Shah ND, Vermeulen LC, et al. Projecting future drug expenditures—2004. Am J Health Syst Pharm 2004 Jan 15;61(2):145-58. Select to
access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Nowalk MP, Bardella IJ, Zimmerman RK, et al. The physician's office: can it
influence adult immunization rates? Am J Manag Care 2004 Jan;10(1):13-19
Select to access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Gonzales R, Sauaia A, Corbett KK, et al. Antibiotic treatment of acute
respiratory tract infections in the elderly: effect of a multidimensional
educational intervention. J Am Geriatric Soc 2004 Jan;542(1):39-45.
Select to access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Gershon RR, Stone PW, Bakken S, et al. Measurement of organizational culture
and climate in healthcare. J Nurs Admin 2004 Jan;34(1):33-40. Select to
access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Murray ME, Darmody JV. Clinical and fiscal outcomes of utilization review.
Outcomes Manag 2004 Jan-Mar;8(1):19-25. Select to access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Cook RL, Harrison LH, Moreira RI, et al. High prevalence of sexually
transmitted diseases in young women seeking HIV testing in Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. Sex Transm Dis 2004 Jan;31(1):67-72. Select to access the abstract
on PubMed®.
Contact Information
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Current as of May 2004
Internet Citation:
AHRQ Electronic Newsletter. May 21, 2004, Issue No.
135. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/enews/enews135.htm