AHRQ To Award $5 Million for Health Services Research Related to COVID-19

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Today's Headlines:

• AHRQ To Award $5 Million for Health Services Research Related to COVID-19.
• AHRQ Announces Challenge To Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health .
• AHRQ Grantee Releases Surge Capacity Tool for Hospitals.
• Study Defines Eight Types of Diagnostic Errors, Suggests Mitigation Strategies.
• AHRQ Views Blog Post: AHRQ Tools Can Boost Healthcare Teamwork During the COVID-19 Crisis.
• New Opioid Pain Management Guide Recommends Providers Use Telehealth for Patient Visits During Pandemic.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

AHRQ To Award $5 Million for Health Services Research Related to COVID-19

HHS has announced that AHRQ plans to award $5 million in grants to support novel, high-impact studies that evaluate the responsiveness of healthcare delivery systems, healthcare professionals and the overall U.S. healthcare system to the COVID-19 pandemic. The new funding opportunity will focus on the healthcare system’s response during and following the pandemic in four areas: improving the quality of care and patient outcomes; improving patient safety; understanding the pandemic’s impact on socially vulnerable populations and people with multiple chronic conditions; and understanding how digital health innovations such as telehealth contributed to the health system response to COVID-19. Funded projects will include multi-method, rapid-cycle research with the ability to produce and disseminate initial findings within 6 months after award and then regularly throughout the remainder of the award period. Access the funding announcement.

AHRQ Announces Challenge To Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health

AHRQ has announced a new challenge competition to improve postpartum mental health care for rural American families. One in seven mothers experiences a postpartum mental health condition, defined as the onset of depression or anxiety within one year of giving birth. Rural women and families face barriers to accessing adequate care for postpartum mental health problems, including limited availability of mental healthcare providers, child care and transportation. The new Cross-Sectional Innovation to Improve Rural Postpartum Mental Health Challenge will award $175,000 in cash prizes in two submission categories. Five winners of the Success Story Category will receive $15,000 each, and two winners of the Program Proposal category will receive $50,000 each. The goal of the challenge is to elicit local solutions to improve postpartum mental health, then share those successes with healthcare systems, healthcare professionals, local and state policymakers, Federal partners and the public. Access details about the challenge, the AHRQ press release and information about other AHRQ challenges.

AHRQ Grantee Releases Surge Capacity Tool for Hospitals

A new surge capacity tool developed by AHRQ grantee James Benneyan, Ph.D., can help hospitals determine their operational needs during a pandemic, including requirements for beds, ventilators, personal protective equipment, medications and staff. The tool automatically generates results for 1- to 30-day projections, based on individual hospital and patient data, and is free to hospitals worldwide. The surge capacity tool is among AHRQ-supported resources, toolkits and research findings available to help fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Benneyan is executive director of the Healthcare Systems Engineering Institute and a professor of industrial engineering at Northeastern University in Boston.

Study Defines Eight Types of Diagnostic Errors, Suggests Mitigation Strategies

A new AHRQ-funded study describes eight common and emerging categories of diagnostic errors and offers suggestions to mitigate their impact. Identifying and reducing the incidence of these types of errors is a key agency priority. Writing in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, the authors reviewed recently published literature and collaborative discussions from around the world to identify common types and causes of diagnostic errors, which they categorized and defined using easy-to-understand terminology. Researchers also provided technological and systems-based strategies to mitigate and reduce the eight types of errors. Access the abstract.

AHRQ Views Blog Post: AHRQ Tools Can Boost Healthcare Teamwork During the COVID-19 Crisis

During the COVID-19 outbreak, healthcare providers may want to review the AHRQ team training curriculum TeamSTEPPS®, according to a new AHRQ Views blog post by Jeffrey Brady, M.D., M.P.H., director of AHRQ’s Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. TeamSTEPPS, developed by AHRQ and the Department of Defense, improves patient safety by guiding organizations’ efforts to increase collaboration and communication among healthcare professionals. In the blog post, Dr. Brady reviews TeamSTEPPS elements including the Essentials Course, the Pocket Guide App, and webinars. Access the blog post. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address and select “AHRQ Views Blog.”

New Opioid Pain Management Guide Recommends Providers Use Telehealth for Patient Visits During Pandemic

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, primary care physicians should provide opioid therapy for their patients through telehealth visits using two-way video such as Skype or FaceTime, or by telephone, according to a new AHRQ-funded guide. Advantages of telehealth visits include gaining insights into the patient’s home setting, making patients more comfortable by being able to receive care outside of a medical setting, and allowing patients to receive care without leaving home. Providers should advise patients to check if their health insurance covers video and telephone visits, the guide recommends. Providers also should document in each patient’s medical record that telehealth was provided to comply with social distancing recommendations and to decrease the risk of infection. The AHRQ-funded Six Building Blocks program, which produced the guide, is an evidence-based quality improvement program to help primary care providers improve chronic pain management for patients who use long-term opioid therapy. Access the guide.

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:

• Preparedness for COVID-19: in situ simulation to enhance infection control systems in the intensive care unit.
• Safety at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic: how to keep our oncology patients and healthcare workers safe.
• Hospital-acquired Conditions Reduction Program, patient safety, and Magnet designation in the United States.

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 Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic Review: Labor Dystocia.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Special article: Risk communication during COVID-19. Abrams EM, Greenhawt M. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract 2020 Apr 15. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The potential health care costs and resource use associated with COVID-19 in the United States. Bartsch SM, Ferguson MC, McKinnell JA, et al. Health Aff 2020 Apr 23. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Comparison of cost center-specific vs hospital-wide cost-to-charge ratios for operating room services at various hospital types. Childers CP, Dworsky JQ, Russell MM, et al. JAMA Surg 2019 Jun 1;154(6):557-8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Treatments for primary squamous cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the skin: a systematic review and network meta-analysis: summary of an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality comparative effectiveness review. Drucker AM, Adam GP, Rofeberg V, et al. J Am Acad Dermatol 2020 Feb;82(2):479-82. Epub 2019 Jun 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Health care provider factors associated with patient-reported adverse events and harm. Giardina TD, Royse KE, Khanna A, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2020 May;46(5):282-90. Epub 2020 Feb 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Impact of a "chart closure" hard stop alert on prescribing for elevated blood pressures among patients with diabetes: quasi-experimental study. Ramirez M, Chen K, Follett RW, et al. JMIR Med Inform 2020 Apr 17;8(4):e16421. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Health information technology for ambulatory care in health systems. Shi Y, Amill-Rosario A, Rudin RS, et al. Am J Manag Care 2020 Jan;26(1):32-8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Surgeon work captured by the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program across specialties. Tang AB, Childers CP, Dworsky JQ, et al. Surgery 2020 Mar;167(3):550-5. Epub 2019 Dec 19. Access the abstract on PubMed®.