AHRQ Report Shows Gains in Access to and Affordability of Health Insurance

AHRQ Stats: Inappropriate Medications Prescribed for Seniors

The percentage of seniors who received potentially inappropriate prescription medications decreased from 3.3 percent in 2002 to 1.5 percent in 2012. About 2 percent of women and 1 percent of men were prescribed at least one of 11 medications that should be avoided in older adults in 2012. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2014 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report, Chartbook on Women's Health Care.)

Today's Headlines

1. AHRQ Report Shows Gains in Access to and Affordability of Health Insurance.
2. Register Now For Final Workshops on Shared Decision Making.
3. New Primer From AHRQ Discusses How Hospital Board Oversight Can Improve Patient Safety.
4. New Research and Data From AHRQ.
5. Study Examines Medicaid Payment Programs' Effect on Children's Immunization Rates.
6. AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

1. AHRQ Report Shows Gains in Access to and Affordability of Health Insurance

More people have health care coverage, have a usual place to go for medical care and can more easily afford medical bills after the Affordable Care Act’s provisions have taken effect, according to a new report by AHRQ. The 2015 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report and 5th Anniversary Update on the National Quality Strategy reflects gains in enrollment in qualified health plans through the Affordable Care Act’s Health Insurance Marketplace as well as expanded Medicaid coverage that became available in more than half of the states. The report found that the rate of uninsured Americans under age 65 decreased from 18 percent to 10 percent. Hispanics showed the biggest gains in having a usual place to go for medical care, climbing from 77 percent in 2010 to 83 percent in the first half of 2015. The cost of health care coverage, meanwhile, became more affordable as fewer people reported having trouble paying medical bills within the past year. This year’s report was the first to include an update on the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Quality Strategy. For more information on the report, read AHRQ’s press release, access an infographic that highlights findings and read AHRQ’s new blog post.

2.Register Now For Final Workshops on Shared Decision Making

Two opportunities remain to attend AHRQ’s SHARE Approach workshops—May 19 in Cranston, Rhode Island, and June 1 in Fairfield, California (with simultaneous video broadcasts at sites in Eureka and Redding, California). The SHARE Approach is a five-step process aimed at increasing the use of evidence in shared decision making between health care providers and patients. The SHARE Approach sessions are accredited one-day train-the-trainer workshops that support health care providers who seek to use patient-centered outcomes research findings in shared decision making. Participants may receive 6.25 hours of continuing medical education/continuing education credits.

3. New Primer From AHRQ Discusses How Hospital Board Oversight Can Improve Patient Safety

More direct oversight and specific management strategies by hospital boards can be used to enhance an organization's quality and safety performance, according to a new patient safety primer on organizational leadership posted on the AHRQ Patient Safety Network. Traditionally, hospital boards have had little oversight related to quality and safety performance. The new resource from AHRQ, Organizational Leadership and Its Role in Improving Safety, highlights efforts that hospital boards can take to improve safety. One effective tactic, for example, is increased use of "walkarounds," which are visits to clinical units to engage in frank discussions with frontline staff about safety concerns. Another strategy is to set quality and safety standards while ensuring that any safety issues brought to the board are addressed as soon as possible. Hospital boards also have the ability and obligation to prevent unprofessional or disruptive behavior by clinicians from putting patients at risk, according to the primer.

4. New Research and Data From AHRQ

• Improving Patient Safety in Ambulatory Surgery Centers: A Resource List for Users of the AHRQ Ambulatory Surgery Center Survey on Patient Safety Culture (PDF File, 405 KB).
• AHRQ Innovations Exchange: Health Care Innovations for African-American Populations.
• Radioterapia para tratar el cáncer de cabeza y cuello (Radiotherapy Treatments for Head and Neck Cancer).

5. Study Examines Medicaid Payment Programs' Effect on Children's Immunization Rates

A recent study found that children 19 to 23 months old who were enrolled in Medicaid pay-for-performance programs were 4 percent more likely to complete a recommended vaccination series. However, after analyzing a slightly broader age category—children 19 to 35 months old—the researchers found no overall effect on completion of a recommended vaccination series. These programs, also known as Value-Based Purchasing, reward physicians, hospitals and other health care providers for meeting certain performance measures for quality and efficiency. These programs are increasingly being used by state Medicaid programs to encourage high-quality care, but research on how the programs affect outcomes, such as childhood immunization rates, is scarce. More research is needed to fully understand the potential role of payments on improving vaccination rates, the authors stated. "Medicaid Pay for Performance Programs and Childhood Immunization Status" was supported in part by AHRQ and published online April 18 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. Read the full article.

6. AHRQ in the Professional Literature

The validity of disease-specific quality of life attributions among adults with multiple chronic conditions. Ware JE Jr, Gandek B, Allison J. Int J Stat Med Res 2016;5(1):17-40. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Outreach for annual colorectal cancer screening: a budget impact analysis for community health centers. Liss DT, French DD, Buchanan DR, et al. Am J Prev Med 2016 Feb;50(2):e54-61. Epub 2015 Sep 9. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

User-centered design groups to engage patients and caregivers with a personalized health information technology tool. Maher M, Kaziunas E, Ackerman M, et al. Biol Blood Marrow Transplant 2016 Feb;22(2):349-58. Epub 2015 Sep 5. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Are long-term cancer survivors and physicians discussing health promotion and healthy behaviors? Kenzik K, Pisu M, Fouad MN, et al. J Cancer Surviv 2016 Apr;10(2):271-9. Epub 2015 Jul 26. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Two-year follow-up of the effectiveness of a multifaceted intervention to improve adherence to annual colorectal cancer screening in community health centers. Baker DW, Brown T, Goldman SN, et al. Cancer Causes Control 2015 Nov;26(11):1685-90. Epub 2015 Sep 4. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Development and validation of the adolescent assessment of preparation for transition: a novel patient experience measure. Sawicki GS, Garvey KC, Toomey SL, et al. J Adolesc Health 2015 Sep;57(3):282-7. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Unplanned readmissions after hospitalization for severe sepsis at academic medical center-affiliated hospitals. Donnelly JP, Hohmann SF, Wang HE. Crit Care Med 2015 Sep;43(9):1916-27. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Enhancing coordination among the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and National Institutes of Health. Murray DM, Kaplan RM, Ngo-Metzger Q, et al. Am J Prev Med 2015 Sep;49(3 Suppl 2):S166-73. Access the abstract in PubMed®.