New AHRQ Report Shows Sharp Rise Among Women for Opioid-Related Hospital Stays

AHRQ Stats: Declines in Employer-Sponsored Insurance

Enrollment rates for employer-sponsored insurance fell 7.1 percentage points from 2008 to 2015 in states that expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. The decline was 4.5 percentage points in non-xpansion states. (Source: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #499, Trends in Enrollment, Offers, Eligibility and Take-up for Employer-Sponsored Insurance: Private Sector, by State Medicaid Expansion Status, 2008-2015.)

Today's Headlines:

• New AHRQ Report Shows Sharp Rise Among Women for Opioid-Related Hospital Stays.
• Hospital Floors May Be Underappreciated Source of Healthcare-Associated Infections.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• New AHRQ Views Blog Posts.
• Comments Due July 12 on National Quality Forum Framework To Measure Diagnostic Safety.
• Applications Being Accepted for Summer TeamSTEPPS® Advanced Courses.
• Featured Case Study: TeamSTEPPS Helps Arizona Hospital Reduce Emergency Department Wait Times.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

New AHRQ Report Shows Sharp Rise Among Women for Opioid-Related Hospital Stays

Hospitalizations involving opioid pain relievers and heroin increased 75 percent for women between 2005 and 2014, a jump that significantly outpaced the 55 percent increase among men, according to a new statistical brief from AHRQ’s Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. By 2014, the rates of opioid-related hospitalizations for men and women were virtually identical (about 225 per 100,000 people). Access a new AHRQ infographic that illustrates the states in which opioid-related hospitalization rates were higher among women than men in 2014. The data are from Fast Stats, the agency’s online tool that offers national and state-specific data on hospital stays and emergency department visits, including data by age, gender, community-level income and urban versus rural residency. Access AHRQ’s press release on the report as well as a blog by Anne Elixhauser, Ph.D., a senior researcher at AHRQ.

Hospital Floors May Be Underappreciated Source of Healthcare-Associated Infections

Hospital floors may be a source of pathogens that can lead to healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), according to AHRQ-funded research published in the American Journal of Infection Control. Researchers at five Cleveland-area hospitals focused their testing on floors in Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infection isolation rooms. They sampled about 300 floor sites in 160 patient rooms and found C. difficile, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and vancomycin-resistant enterococci, all of which can cause HAIs in patients. Researchers found that frequently handled objects such as blood pressure cuffs and call buttons were often in contact with the floor, and that contact with objects on floors frequently resulted in transfer of pathogens to hands. Researchers concluded that patient floors may be an underappreciated source of pathogens and called for more research to determine the extent to which floors can be the source of HAIs. Access the abstract.

Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network

AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

• The impact of a diagnostic decision support system on the consultation: perceptions of general practitioners and patients.
• Mortality risks associated with emergency admissions during weekends and public holidays: an analysis of electronic health records.
• A comparison of medication administration errors from original medication packaging and multi-compartment compliance aids in care homes: a prospective observational study.

Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

New AHRQ Views Blog Posts

• Change and the Road Ahead for AHRQ.
• Momentum Is Building for Health Systems That "Learn."
• Helping Families Navigate the Challenges of Autism.

Comments Due July 12 on National Quality Forum Framework To Measure Diagnostic Safety

Public comments are being accepted through July 12 on the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) proposed framework for measuring diagnostic quality and safety. Feedback will inform recommendations for the development of priority measures to address gaps in diagnostic accuracy. To review the draft report, provide comments or get more information, access NQF’s project page or contact the NQF project team at diagnosticaccuracy@qualityforum.org.

Applications Being Accepted for Summer TeamSTEPPS® Advanced Courses

Apply now for your health care team to attend one of AHRQ’s no-cost TeamSTEPPS® Advanced Courses at regional training centers. Applications are due June 30 for an Aug. 1 course in Hyde Park, New York, and an Aug. 11 course in Chicago. Applications are due July 14 for an Aug. 25 course in Cleveland. TeamSTEPPS Advanced courses foster leadership development of TeamSTEPPS champions who are committed to integrating, spreading and sustaining TeamSTEPPS patient safety principles in their organizations. Access more information about courses, guidelines and the application process.

Featured Case Study: TeamSTEPPS Helps Arizona Hospital Reduce Emergency Department Wait Times

Banner Payson Medical Center in Payson, Arizona, used AHRQ’s TeamSTEPPS safety training program to tackle long emergency department wait times. Wait times dropped from a high of 89 minutes to just 18 minutes over the course of one year. Access the impact case study.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Radiologists' interpretive skills in screening vs. diagnostic mammography: are they related? Elmore JG, Cook AJ, Bogart A, et al. Clin Imaging 2016 Nov-Dec;40(6):1096-1103. Epub 2016 Jul 1. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Sex differences in outcomes following percutaneous coronary intervention according to age. Epps KC, Holper EM, Selzer F, et al. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2016 Feb;9(2 Suppl 1):S16-25. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Hemodialysis hospitalizations and readmissions: the effects of payment reform. Erickson KF, Winkelmayer WC, Chertow GM, et al. Am J Kidney Dis 2017 Feb;69(2):237-46. Epub 2016 Nov 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Association between out-of-pocket costs, race/ethnicity, and adjuvant endocrine therapy adherence among Medicare patients with breast cancer. Farias AJ, Du XL. J Clin Oncol 2017 Jan;35(1):86-95. Epub 2016 Oct 28. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Racial and ethnic disparities in the quality of health care. Fiscella K, Sanders MR. Annu Rev Public Health 2016;37:375-94. Epub 2016 Jan 18. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Relationship between a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expanded HIV testing initiative and past-year testing by race/ethnicity: a multilevel analysis of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Gaines TL, Caldwell JT, Ford CL, et al. AIDS Care 2016;28(5):554-60. Epub 2016 Jan 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
 
Evidence of altered matrix composition in iliac crest biopsies from patients with idiopathic juvenile osteoporosis. Garcia I, Chiodo V, Ma Y, et al. Connect Tissue Res 2016;57(1):28-37. Epub 2015 Nov 5. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Impact of nutrition standards on competitive food quality in Massachusetts middle and high schools. Gorski MT, Cohen JF, Hoffman JA, et al. Am J Public Health 2016 Jun;106(6):1101-8. Epub 2016 Apr 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.