New AHRQ Views Blog Posts on Clinical Decision Support, Learning Health Systems

AHRQ Stats: Mental and Substance Use Disorders Among Men

In 2016, alcohol-related disorders were the most common reason for mental and substance use disorder (MSUD) hospitalizations among men ages 45 to 64. Meanwhile, schizophrenia was the most common reason for MSUD hospitalizations among men ages 18 to 44. (Source: AHRQ, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #249: Inpatient Stays Involving Mental and Substance Use Disorders, 2016.)

Today's Headlines

• New AHRQ Views Blog Posts on Clinical Decision Support, Learning Health Systems.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

New AHRQ Views Blog Posts on Clinical Decision Support, Learning Health Systems

Enhancing the Use of Evidence with Interoperable Clinical Decision Support—An AHRQ-funded project developed to enhance physicians’ use of clinical decision support (CDS) to access evidence-based information is the subject of a blog post by Edwin Lomotan, M.D., medical officer and chief of clinical informatics in AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. The CDS Connect initiative provides resources to make CDS more sharable, interoperable and publicly available, helping health systems learn from each other in the process. Today, CDS Connect provides evidence-based information in areas such as cardiovascular disease and chronic pain. It was nominated for a 2019 national innovation award by the American Council for Technology and Industry Advisory Council.

Promoting Change Through Learning: AHRQ Builds Momentum for Learning Health Systems—A new online resource developed by AHRQ to support advancements among both fledgling and established learning health systems is the subject of a blog post by Chief Physician David Meyers, M.D. Learning health systems integrate insights from internal data generated from providing care, along with new findings from clinical and health systems research, and continuously put this knowledge into practice. AHRQ’s new resource includes case studies from four healthcare systems that have embraced the benefits of becoming a learning health system, as well as a brief that identifies the many paths to becoming and enhancing a system that learns. 

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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:

• Vital signs: pregnancy-related deaths, United States, 2011–2015, and strategies for prevention, 13 states, 2013–2017.
• A culture of openness is associated with lower mortality rates among 137 English National Health Service acute trusts.
• Reducing three infections across cardiac surgery programs: a multisite cross-unit collaboration.

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).

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Phenotyping and visualizing infusion-related reactions for breast cancer patients. Sun D, Sarda G, Skube SJ, et al. Stud Health Technol Inform 2017;245:599-603. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Changes in sexual function among midlife women: "I'm older... and I'm wiser." Thomas HN, Hamm M, Hess R, et al. Menopause 2018 Mar;25(3):286-92. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Protocol for the development of a core domain set for hidradenitis suppurativa trial outcomes. Thorlacius L, Ingram JR, Garg A, et al. BMJ Open 2017 Feb 20;7(2):e014733. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Online patient websites for electronic health record access among vulnerable populations: portals to nowhere? Tieu L, Schillinger D, Sarkar U, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2017 Apr 1;24(e1):e47-e54. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Mortality and pulmonary outcomes of extremely preterm infants exposed to antenatal corticosteroids. Travers CP, Carlo WA, McDonald SA, et al. Am J Obstet Gynecol 2018 Jan;218(1):130.e1-130.e13. Epub 2017 Nov 11. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Understanding how to improve quality and value for patients with acute myocardial infarction. Wasfy JH, Yeh RW. JAMA Cardiol 2018 Feb 1;3(2):102-3. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Effects of postacute settings on readmission rates and reasons for readmission following total knee arthroplasty. Welsh RL, Graham JE, Karmarkar AM, et al. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2017 Apr 1;18(4):367.e1-367.e10. Epub 2017 Feb 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Impact of comorbidities among Medicaid enrollees with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, United States, 2009. Westney G, Foreman MG, Xu J, et al. Prev Chronic Dis 2017 Apr 13;14:E31. Access the abstract on PubMed®.