AHRQ's Updated MONAHRQ® Software Offers Organizations New Features To Provide Health Care Quality Information to Consumers

Issue Number

#527

AHRQ's Electronic Newsletter summarizes Agency research and programmatic activities.

July 26, 2016

AHRQ Stats: Health Care Coverage for Hispanics

From January 2010 through June 2015, the uninsured rate among Hispanics declined from 42 percent to 26 percent. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 2015 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report and 5th Anniversary Update on the National Quality Strategy.)

Today's Headlines:

AHRQ's Updated MONAHRQ® Software Offers Organizations New Features To Provide Health Care Quality Information to Consumers.
Mortality Rates Similar for Safety-Net and Other Hospitals, AHRQ Study Finds.
Register Now: August 25 Webinar Will Highlight Innovation in Health Care Delivery.
New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
Abstracts Due August 8 for Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference.
AHRQ Study Estimates Cost Increase When Surgical Patients Develop Pressure Ulcers.
Did You Know? AHRQ Offers Wide Range of Free Continuing Education on Improving atient-Centered Care.
AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ's Updated MONAHRQ® Software Offers Organizations New Features To Provide Health Care Quality Information to Consumers

AHRQ has released an updated version of its free MONAHRQ® software, which enables hospitals, nursing homes, doctors, health plans and other organizations to generate consumer websites that offer a wide range of data on health care quality. A public health department, for example, may use MONAHRQ 7 to report hospital discharge data by county. As another example, hospitals can use MONAHRQ 7 to identify areas to improve, highlight top performers and use performance information in contract negotiations. The updated MONAHRQ 7 software lets users report data from AHRQ's Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey on nursing homes and medical practices, as well as display information via more than 10 infographic templates depicting hospital and nursing home data on quality of care. MONAHRQ 7 also lets users show cost and quality data for coronary artery bypass grafting. Any organization can use MONAHRQ, either with inpatient and emergency department data it already has or by importing publicly available data such as Hospital Compare, Nursing Home Compare and Physician Compare from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. State agencies and other reporting organizations in 16 states already use MONAHRQ to enable public reporting of health care quality.

Mortality Rates Similar for Safety-Net and Other Hospitals, AHRQ Study Finds

A new AHRQ-funded study found that safety-net hospitals appeared to perform equally as well as other hospitals when evaluated according to medical and surgical mortality rates. The researchers analyzed 2006–2011 data from 1,891 urban, nonfederal, general acute hospitals in 31 states. Findings suggested that despite ongoing financial disadvantages faced by safety-net hospitals, the quality of care at these hospitals as measured by inpatient mortality was mostly comparable to that at other hospitals. Results also showed that mortality rates actually declined over time for all hospitals, according to the data from AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project and other sources. "Measuring Mortality Performance: How Did Safety-Net Hospitals Compare with Other Hospitals?" appeared in the July issue of Medical Care. Access the abstract.

Register Now: August 25 Webinar Will Highlight Innovation in Health Care Delivery

Register now for a free webinar to learn how three AHRQ-sponsored "learning communities" are implementing innovations to address challenges in health care delivery. The webinar on August 25 from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET is sponsored by AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange. Speakers will share results and lessons learned from implementing new strategies to tackle these common challenges: Advancing the Practice of Patient- and Family-Centered Care in Hospitals, Reducing Non-Urgent Emergency Services and Promoting Medication Therapy Management for At-Risk Populations.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

Abstracts Due August 8 for Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference

The 9th International Diagnostic Error in Medicine Conference, scheduled November 6-8 in Hollywood, California, will provide instruction, insight and tools to enable health care professionals to reduce diagnostic error and harm. A call for abstracts is open, and you are invited to submit abstracts addressing the epidemiology of diagnostic error, predisposing factors for diagnostic error, and strategies to detect or reduce diagnostic error. The conference is sponsored by the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. Learn more about the conference and abstract submission.

AHRQ Study Estimates Cost Increase When Surgical Patients Develop Pressure Ulcers

An AHRQ study found that 4 percent of patients 65 and older undergoing major surgery developed pressure ulcers, increasing the cost of their hospital stays by an average of 44 percent, or $8,200. Pressure ulcers developed in adults during hospital stays cost about $1.5 billion in 2012, authors estimated. To determine these estimates, the researchers used 2011–2012 data from AHRQ's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases and the Medicare Patient Safety Monitoring System. The study, "Marginal Hospital Cost of Surgery-Related Hospital-Acquired Pressure Ulcers," appeared in Medical Care. Access the abstract.

Did You Know? AHRQ Offers Wide Range of Free Continuing Education on Improving Patient-Centered Care

As a part of its activities to produce research and evidence, along with tools and training materials, that help health care providers use current evidence in practice, AHRQ offers free Web-based continuing education for physicians, physician assistants, nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists and others. Eligible professionals can read articles and view on-demand webinars that highlight evidence-based practices for improving the quality and safety of patient care. The continuing education/continuing medical education activities highlight evidence-based approaches to treating conditions commonly seen in ambulatory care as well as tools and approaches to improving inpatient safety. Access a full list of topics.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Costs of care for hospitalization for pemphigus in the United States. Hsu D, Brieva J, Silverberg JI. JAMA Dermatol 2016 Jun 1;152(6):645-54. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Use of complementary and alternative medicine in Bayamón, Puerto Rico. Torres-Zeno RE, Rios-Motta R, Rodríguez-Sánchez Y, et al. P R Health Sci J 2016 Jun;35(2):69-75. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

The effectiveness of Total Worker Health interventions: a systematic review for a National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop. Feltner C, Peterson K, Weber RP, et al. Ann Intern Med 2016 May 31. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Defining safety in the nursing home setting: implications for future research. Simmons SF, Schnelle JF, Sathe NA, et al. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016 Jun 1;17(6):473-81. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Systematic review of racial disparities in human papillomavirus-associated anal dysplasia and anal cancer among men who have sex with men. Walsh T, Bertozzi-Villa C, Schneider JA. Am J Public Health 2015 Apr;105(4):e34-45. Epub 2015 Feb 25. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

The relationship between violence in northern Mexico and potentially avoidable hospitalizations in the USA-Mexico border region. Geissler K, Stearns SC, Becker C, et al. J Public Health (Oxf.) 2016 Mar;38(1):14-23. Epub 2015 Feb 19. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Innovations in data collection, management, and archiving for systematic reviews. Li T, Vedula SS, Hadar N, et al. Ann Intern Med 2015 Feb 17;162(4):287-94. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

How, why, and for whom do emergency medicine providers use prescription drug monitoring programs? Smith RJ, Kilaru AS, Perrone J, et al. Pain Med 2015 Jun;16(6):1122-31. Epub 2015 Feb 17. Access the abstract in PubMed®.