Contents

Feature Story

• Community hubs ensure better care for the most vulnerable

Disparities/Minority Health

• Treatment by physicians with same race and language as the patient may improve medication adherence
• Different attitudes among blacks and whites affect their preference for same-race physicians
• Hispanics with HIV have different communication styles with their health care providers than whites
• Immigrants to the United States and Canada have worse access to care than native-born counterparts
• Patient gender does not influence the management or diagnosis of acute abdominal pain in the elderly, but affects outcome

Health Care Costs and Financing

• Increasing premiums and other costs in Oregon's Medicaid program in 2003 led many to drop out
• Patients with chronic diseases who pay coinsurance less likely to refill their medication than those with fixed copayments
• "Piece-rate" performance incentives for physicians improve childhood immunization rates
• Half of all annual medical expenditures are for chronic diseases

Patient Safety and Quality

• Nursing homes more often voluntarily terminate from Medicare and Medicaid programs in States with strong quality regulations
• Length of stays in emergency departments varies considerably
• An automated phone response system can help track adverse drug events in primary care patients

Outcomes/Effectiveness Research

• Organizational culture distinguishes top-performing hospitals in patient outcomes from heart attack
• No consistent association found between volume or quality and outcomes of complex surgeries for cancer
• Chemotherapy and radiation therapy for lung cancer linked to cardiac disorders
• Combination diuretic therapy for heart failure appears useful, but needs a stronger evidence base
• Patients with sickle cell disease employ various strategies to control their pain

Child/Adolescent Health

• Doctor's comments during a child's physical exam can affect whether parents push for antibiotics
• Obesity among South Carolina children differs by age, gender, and race
• Dilators more cost-effective than surgery for correcting congenital condition in females

Elderly/Long-Term Care

• Mental status deficits a major factor in elderly falls in the hospital
• Older persons with chronic kidney disease and lower systolic blood pressure have higher mortality rates
• Elders' preferences for end-of-life care are not captured by documentation in their medical records

Health Information Technology

• Physicians' unfamiliarity with electronic personal health records may slow their adoption
• Physicians weigh the costs and benefits of integrating e-prescribing systems with electronic health records

Agency News and Notes

• Medication side effects, injuries up dramatically
• Use of episiotomy and forceps during childbirth down, C-section rates up

Announcements

• Partnership for Patients initiative launched to improve care and lower costs for Americans
• New comparative effectiveness review released on traumatic brain injury and depression
• New guide helps TeamSTEPPS® trainers�learn how�to teach simulation
• HCUP offers new online tutorial series modules
• AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program presentations from the Eisenberg Conference Series 2010 are now available
• New AHRQ podcasts focus on cystic fibrosis and health literacy
• Grant applications requested that focus on health care for priority populations

Research Briefs