Models Estimate Value of Creating Influenza Vaccines That Protect More Individuals

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Access more information on this topic in the associated Data Spotlight (PDF, 572 KB).

Today's Headlines:

• Models Estimate Value of Creating Influenza Vaccines That Protect More Individuals.
• AHRQ Grantee Profile Highlights How Aaron Carroll, M.D., M.S., Has Helped Advance Pediatric Health Services Research.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• Researchers Propose a Framework for EHR Interventions Targeting Patient Safety.
• Searchable AHRQ Database Provides Access to Health Services Research Findings.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Models Estimate Value of Creating Influenza Vaccines That Protect More Individuals

Creating an influenza vaccine that protects a wider range of individuals, through personalization or other means, could significantly reduce flu case volumes, deaths and costs, according to a new AHRQ co-funded study published in the Journal of Infectious Diseases. Flu vaccine effectiveness can vary significantly among individuals, due to differences in immune system response, body types and other factors. The study examined the value of creating vaccines that work on a larger proportion of the population than currently. To determine the cost and health effects of reducing this variability, the authors simulated different flu seasonal patterns and the impact of increasing a vaccine’s efficacy across the population. The models found that even a slight increase in vaccine efficacy (e.g., narrowing the range of efficacy from 0–90 percent to 10–90 percent) could avert more than five million influenza cases, $609.8 million in direct healthcare costs and $10.7 billion in costs of lost productivity annually. Access the abstract.

AHRQ Grantee Profile Highlights How Aaron Carroll, M.D., M.S., Has Helped Advance Pediatric Health Services Research

Read our grantee profile of Aaron Carroll, M.D., M.S., professor of pediatrics and associate dean for research mentoring at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis. Dr. Carroll laid the groundwork for continued progress in pediatric research through mentoring and sharing of evidence-based practices. Access Dr. Carroll’s grantee profile as well as profiles of other AHRQ grantees. 

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:

• Rate of diagnostic errors and serious misdiagnosis-related harms for major vascular events, infections, and cancers: toward a national incidence estimate using the “Big Three”.
• Clinical efficacy of combined surgical patient safety system and the World Health Organization's checklists in surgery: a nonrandomized clinical trial.
• Personal protective equipment for preventing highly infectious diseases due to exposure to contaminated body fluids in healthcare staff.

PSNet has also posted a new issue of WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web), which features expert analysis on medical errors. Topics in this issue explore Opioid-Induced Respiratory Depression Associated with Patient-Controlled Analgesia; Infant Overdose of Sodium Chloride; and Wrong Catheter in the Right Patient.

Researchers Propose a Framework for EHR Interventions Targeting Patient Safety

AHRQ-funded researchers have proposed a reporting framework for electronic health record (EHR) interventions targeting patient safety. The framework, called the Safety-related EHR Research (SAFER) Reporting Framework, builds on a model previously developed by the authors for design, development, implementation, use and evaluation of health information technology. Writing in a special supplement of Annals of Internal Medicine, the authors said a research reporting framework is necessary because the success of EHR-based interventions to improve patient safety depends not just on the intervention’s technical characteristics but also on the characteristics and behaviors of individuals and organizations targeted by an intervention, including how people work. However, current research reporting guidelines do not capture the complexity of factors such as workflow and organizational issues that influence these interventions. The SAFER Reporting Framework would enable reporting of patient safety-focused EHR-based interventions while accounting for context affecting intervention implementation, effectiveness, and generalizability. The framework can help explain why similar features and functions in EHRs have different outcomes in different settings and promote knowledge needed to improve safety benefits from EHRs. Access the abstract.

Searchable AHRQ Database Provides Access to Health Services Research Findings

Researchers looking for the latest research on topics ranging from diagnostic safety to primary care to health information technology can find it in AHRQ’s Research Studies database. This resource offers summaries of more than 7,500 published articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers. It includes summaries of journal articles, book chapters and working papers from 2013 to present. Updated monthly, the resource allows searching by keyword and provides links to journal abstracts. Access the database.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Scope and influence of electronic health record-integrated clinical decision support in the emergency department: a systematic review. Patterson BW, Pulia MS, Ravi S, et al. Ann Emerg Med 2019 Aug;74(2):285-96. Epub 2019 Jan 3. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Surgical decision making for older adults. Dworsky JQ, Russell MM. JAMA 2019 Feb 19;321(7):716. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Gerofit prehabilitation pilot program: preparing frail older veterans for surgery. Dworsky JQ, Castle SC, Lee CC, et al. J Healthc Qual 2019 Mar/Apr;41(2):91-8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Omissions of care in nursing home settings: a narrative review. Ogletree AM, Mangrum R, Harris Y, et al. J Am Med Dir Assoc 2020 May;21(5):604-14.e6. Epub 2020 Apr 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Improving social needs intervention research: key questions for advancing the field. Fichtenberg CM, Alley DE, Mistry KB. Am J Prev Med 2019 Dec;57(6s1):S47-s54. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Practices, perceptions, and attitudes in the evaluation of critically ill children for bacteremia: a national survey. Woods-Hill CZ, Koontz DW, King AF, et al. Pediatr Crit Care Med 2020 Jan;21(1):e23-e9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Incidence of infectious complications following cochlear implantation in children and adults. Lander DP, Durakovic N, Kallogjeri D, et al. JAMA 2020 Jan 14;323(2):182-3. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

It's complicated: patient and informal caregiver performance of outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy-related tasks. Keller SC, Cosgrove SE, Arbaje AI, et al. Am J Med Qual 2020 Mar/Apr;35(2):133-46. Epub 2019 Jun 4. Access the abstract on PubMed®.