Registration Open for September 28 AHRQ Research Summit on Diagnostic Safety

AHRQ Stats: Medical Care for Sports Injuries

In 2013, bicycle riding was the most common sports-related reason for hospital stays and emergency department visits among males ages 18 to 64. It was also the most common sports-related reason for hospital stays among females ages 18 to 44 that year. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #207: Sports-Related Emergency Department Visits and Hospital Inpatient Stays, 2013.)

Today's Headlines:

• Registration Open for September 28 AHRQ Research Summit on Diagnostic Safety.
• AHRQ Study Presents First Evidence of Downward Trend in HIV Hospital Admissions After 2010.
• AHRQ Chartbook: Health Care Became More Affordable From 2011 to mid-2015.
• Register Now: August 29 Webinar on Assessing Safety Risks Associated With Electronic Health Records.
• Still Time To Register for August 25 AHRQ Webinar on Innovation in Health Care Delivery .
• Featured Case Study: South Carolina Hospital's Use of AHRQ Patient Safety Program Leads to Significant Decrease in Urinary Infections.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Registration Open for September 28 AHRQ Research Summit on Diagnostic Safety

Join AHRQ experts and industry leaders at a Sept. 28 AHRQ research summit to discuss the state of the science on diagnostic safety and strategies to improve diagnosis in health care. AHRQ Research Summit: Improving Diagnosis in Health Care will build on the 2015 National Academies of Medicine report and will discuss diagnostic safety issues related to using data and measurement, health information technology and organizational factors. Access the agenda and register to attend in person or via webcast. In-person registration is limited.

AHRQ Study Presents First Evidence of Downward Trend in HIV Hospital Admissions After 2010

Hospital admissions to treat HIV fell by one-third between 2000 and 2013, even though the number of people living with HIV increased by more than 50 percent during that time, according to a new AHRQ study. The analysis is the first to show that a downward trend in the number of hospital admissions per person living with HIV continued after 2010. Based on HIV patient data in five states—California, Florida, New Jersey, New York, South Carolina—the study found that people with HIV were 64 percent less likely to be hospitalized in 2013 than they were in 2000. The study attributed the reduction to highly active antiretroviral therapy to treat HIV that was introduced between 1995 and 2000 as well as clinicians' enhanced ability to treat HIV. Access the abstract of the study, "Hospital Use by Persons With HIV in the 21st Century: a 5-State Study," which was published in Medical Care.

AHRQ Chartbook: Health Care Became More Affordable From 2011 to mid-2015

The cost of health care became more affordable from 2011 through the first half of 2015 as fewer people overall reported having trouble paying their medical bills within the past year, according to AHRQ's newly released Chartbook on Care Affordability. The percentage of people who reported trouble paying their medical bills decreased from 21 percent to 17 percent. This applied to people under age 65 of all income levels and race/ethnicity. However, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to have problems paying medical bills in all years as compared with whites. From 2006 to 2013, health care also became more affordable for individuals ages 18 to 64 with four or more chronic conditions. The percentage of these people who had trouble paying their medical bills decreased from 48 percent in 2006 to 38 percent in 2013. This applied to individuals whose family health insurance premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses totaled more than 10 percent of annual family income. Access the National Quality Strategy “Priorities in Focus” brief that outlines current payment and delivery system reforms to make care more affordable.

Register Now: August 29 Webinar on Assessing Safety Risks Associated With Electronic Health Records

Registration is open for an AHRQ webinar on Aug. 29 from 12:30 to 2 p.m. ET to highlight safe use of electronic health record systems. The webinar will focus on methods to evaluate the safety of computerized provider order entry (CPOE) functionality. Presenters will discuss methods to identify "wrong-patient" errors when ordering medications and tests, as well as describe updates to a CPOE evaluation tool that assesses critical alerts. Earn 1.5 hours of continuing medical education credits /continuing education units for participating.

Still Time To Register for August 25 AHRQ Webinar on Innovation in Health Care Delivery

Don't forget to register for a free webinar to learn how three AHRQ-sponsored “learning communities” are implementing innovations to address challenges in health care delivery. This Web event on Aug. 25 from 1:30 to 3 p.m. ET is presented by AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange, in collaboration with AcademyHealth. 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.

Featured Case Study: South Carolina Hospital's Use of AHRQ Patient Safety Program Leads to Significant Decrease in Urinary Infections

Implementation of AHRQ's Comprehensive Unit-based Safety Program (CUSP) helped the Medical University of South Carolina hospital reduce catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) from 8.6 percent in 2012 to 1.1 percent in 2015. Key to the hospital's success has been the use of AHRQ's CUSP poster, "AHRQ Safety Program for Reducing CAUTI in Hospitals" (PDF File, 13.4 MB). Access the case study.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Beyond infection: device utilization ratio as a performance measure for urinary catheter harm. Fakih, Gould CV, Trautner BW, et al. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016 Mar;37(3):327-33. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Emergency department use in the US-Mexico border region and violence in Mexico: Is there a relationship? Geissler KH, Holmes GM. J Rural Health 2015 Summer;31(3):316-25. Epub 2015 Feb 23. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Association between atopic dermatitis and extracutaneous infections in US adults. Strom MA, Silverberg JI. Br J Dermatol 2016 Apr 28. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Association between AD and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in US children and adults. Strom MA, Fishbein AB, Paller AS, et al. Br J Dermatol 2016 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Morbidity and mortality of Stevens-Johnson syndrome and toxic epidermal necrolysis in United States adults. Hsu DY, Brieva J, Silverberg NB, et al. J Invest Dermatol 2016 Jul;136(7):1387-97. Epub 2016 Mar 30. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Evaluation of the association between Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS) measures and catheter-associated infections: results of two national collaboratives. Meddings J, Reichert H, Greene MT, et al. BMJ Qual Saf 2016 May 24. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Comorbidities and inpatient mortality for pemphigus in the U.S.A. Hsu DY, Brieva J, Sinha AA, et al. Br J Dermatol 2016 Jun;174(6):1290-8. Epub 2016 May 25. Access the abstract in PubMed®.

Effects of staffing and regional location on influenza and pneumococcal vaccination rates in nursing home residents. Miller EL, Alexander GL, Madsen RW. J Gerontol Nurs 2016 Feb;42(2):38-44. Epub 2015 Dec 9. Access the abstract in PubMed®.