IDSRN Project Awards

Field Partnerships to Conduct and Use Research

Awards in Fiscal Year 2001

Improving Patient Safety
Information Technology in Integrated Delivery Systems
Working Conditions and Quality of Care
Health Care for Minority Populations, Women, and Children
Financial Incentives and Costs of Care

Improving Patient Safety

Integrated Delivery System Solutions for Transferring Medication Data across Patient Care Settings
Partner: Research Triangle Institute
Description: RTI examined how integrated delivery systems manage information transfer, a potential cause of medical errors. One study goal was to develop tools to evaluate the usefulness of technological solutions for this problem. A tool developed in this study is being evaluated in a follow-on study.
Period: 10/01-10/02
Funding: $200,000

Relationship of Nursing Home Policies and Quality
Partner: University of Minnesota
Description: The goal of this task order was to assess the frequency of negative events such as patient falls, hip fractures and pressure ulcers, and to determine the extent to which the variation in occurrence of these could be explained by the characteristics of the nursing home and its clinical and administrative practices.
Period: 10/01-9/03
Funding: $295,000

Increasing Patient Safety by Improving Compliance to Clinical Practice Guidelines for Diabetes Management through Electronically Generated Reminders on Patient Interval Reports and Day Sheets in a Multispecialty Group Practice Setting
Partner: Marshfield Medical Foundation
Description: This study was conducted to determine if low-cost electronic alerts or prompts could increase compliance among physicians to conform with evidence-based practice guidelines for physicians who treat patients with diabetes.
Period: 10/01-4/03
Funding: $138,000

Validating the AHRQ Patient Safety Indicators
Partner: Research Triangle Institute
Description: RTI is assessing the latest generation of AHRQ Quality Indicators, the Patient Safety Indicators, using clinical data from its partners, Intermountain Health Care, UPMC Health Systems and Providence Health System. These indicators are screening tools for flagging potential quality-of-care problems.
Period: 10/01-6/04
Funding: $300,000

Top of Page

Information Technology in Integrated Delivery Systems

Impact of EpiCare on the Management of Diabetes in the Geisinger Health System
Partner: Abt Associates
Description: A randomized controlled experiment was conducted among patients of the Geisinger Health System in Pennsylvania to determine the effect of electronic medical system automated reminders on compliance with standards of care for diabetes.
Period: 10/01-7/03
Funding: $214,000

Use of Encoded Guidelines in an Electronic Medical Record System for Targeted Tuberculin Testing and Treatment of Latent Tuberculosis
Partner: Denver Health
Description: This Denver Health study analyzed the effects of using computerized decision support systems on appropriate screening for latent tuberculosis, by encoding the CDC's guideline for this disease in the electronic medical record. The rules technology that was developed to encode the guideline is transferable to other information systems that have clinical decision support technology. This technology can also be used to encode the numerous other clinical guidelines that have been developed by various agencies and organizations.
Period: 1/02-7/03
Funding: $154,097

Effect of Using Rules Technology with Provider Order Entry in Medication Error Reduction
Partner: Denver Health
Description: Denver Health studied the effectiveness of using computerized order entry systems to reduce medication errors. The project focused on adverse events related to medication use that can lead to hyper- and hypokalemia, nephrotoxicity, thrombocytopenia, and hepatic inflammation. In addition, the investigators assessed provider satisfaction with the computerized decision support system within CPOE.
Period: 1/02-7/03
Funding: $244,760

Top of Page

Working Conditions and Quality of Care

Association of Working Conditions with Prescribing Errors in Primary Care Settings
Partner: HMO Research Network
Description: Kaiser Permanente Georgia and HealthPartners Health Plan examined whether primary care practice workload and organizational culture were related to rates of risky prescribing events, such as potentially dangerous drug combinations and the failure to monitor with laboratory tests, when warranted.
Period: 10/01-04/03
Funding: $198,000

Relationship of Provider Group Characteristics to Quality of Care and Medication Errors in Ambulatory Care Settings
Partner: HMO Research Network
Description: HealthPartners Health Plan and Albuquerque-based Lovelace Health Systems studied the effect of selected medical group practice characteristics on quality of care and patient safety. Two medication safety issues were targeted: drug-drug interactions and recommended laboratory monitoring of drug therapy. Rates of screening for breast cancer, cervical cancer, and cholesterol were calculated as measures of quality of care.
Period: 10/01-06/03
Funding: $300,000

Top of Page

Health Care for Minority Populations, Women, and Children

Capacity to Conduct Studies on the Impact of Race/ethnicity on Access, Use, and Outcomes of Care
Partner: Denver Health
Description: Denver Health collaborated with the Research Triangle Institute and Weill Medical College of Cornell University to assess the extent to which data from integrated delivery systems could be used to determine the impact of race/ethnicity on access to, and use of, health care and associated clinical outcomes. The study also yielded information on strategies that might be adopted to improve capacity to examine the health consequences of minority disparities.
Period: 01/01-10/01
Funding: $163,427

Model Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Service (CLAS) Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement Projects (QAPI) for Medicare+Choice Organizations
Partner: HMO Research Network
Description: Two guides were developed at Lovelace Clinic Foundation to help managed care organizations plan for and provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services to Medicare+Choice patients. The study was funded CMS through an interagency agreement with AHRQ.
Period: 10/01-9/02
Funding: $250,000

Use of Linked Databases to Assess Selected Quality Indicators for Maternal Health
Partner: HMO Research Network
Description: Kaiser Permanente Northern California assessed the usefulness of selected quality indicators for predicting health outcomes for pregnant women and children. The study also examined whether variations exist in patterns of care among subpopulations of pregnant women and children.
Period: 10/01-12/02
Funding: $193,000

Does Differential Diffusion of New Innovations Contribute to Disparities in Health Care?
Partner: Center for Health Care Policy and Evaluation (CHCPE)
Description: CHCPE and RAND assessed whether differential diffusion of cardiac technologies over time contributed to observed racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health care. The study included 7 years of claims data from commercial managed care plans affiliated with UnitedHealthcare. Eight cardiac technologies in varying stages of diffusion were assessed.
Period: 10/01-1/03
Funding: $200,000

Addressing the Impact of Racial and Ethnic Disparities on Access, Use and Outcomes of Care
Partner: Denver Health
Description: Denver Health collaborated with Weill Medical College of Cornell University to compare diabetic outcomes for patients from two major healthcare systems: the Denver Health System and the New York Presbyterian Healthcare System. The major objectives of this study were: (1) to assess whether racial or ethnic disparities in access and use of care related to diabetes are present within and between the two hospital systems; (2) to describe efforts in both health systems to address disparities; (3) to propose approaches to mitigating disparities in these health systems; and (4) where one or more of these approaches is being implemented, to evaluate the impact of each approach in reducing disparities. The study was funded by the Office of Minority Health/Office of the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services through an interagency agreement with AHRQ.
Period: 11/01-10/02
Funding: $225,000

Top of Page

Financial Incentives and Costs of Care

Incidence of Reduced Use of Prescribed Medication in Response to Out-of-Pocket Costs Among Medicare Beneficiaries
Partner: Center for Health Care Policy and Evaluation (CHCPE)
Description: This Minneapolis-based division of UnitedHealth Group examined data for a sample of Medicare+Choice enrollees to examine how different out-of-pocket requirements affected their prescription medicine-taking behavior.
Period: 10/01-8/03
Funding: $190,000

Effects of Financial Incentives in Medical Group Practices and the Work Environment on the Quality of Care
Partner: The University of Minnesota
Description: This study included three separate analysis to assess: (1) the influence of the structure and culture of the group practices and practice and physician level financial incentives on per member per year (PMPY) costs, (2) the effects of these same variables (but in a restricted model) on prescription drug errors, and (3) the influence of the variables in the restricted model on mammography and Pap smear rates in the practices. The study included data on over 70,000 enrollees who received care in 136 practices during the study year (2001) and 250,490 prescriptions filled for those enrollees.
Period: 10/01 - 03/03
Funding: $242,000

Top of Page
Proceed to Next Section

Current as of February 2005

---

Internet Citation:

IDSRN Project Awards: Field Partnerships to Conduct and Use Research: Awards in Fiscal Year 2001. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/research/idsrnproj01.htm

---