Research Activities, May 2010, No. 357

Contents

About Research Activities

Feature Story

Hospital charges for the uninsured have soared

Health Care Costs and Financing

Children with health insurance are less likely to receive needed services if their parents are uninsured

Patient Safety and Quality

Adverse events occurring during pediatric sedation are recorded in charts but not always reported
Restricting residents' working hours decreases teaching time but improves well-being
Study provides insights into problems confronting quality improvement educational programs in rural hospitals
Participation in reporting quality data can be costly for physicians and practices
Improvements are needed to better measure mental health care quality

Pharmaceutical Research

Atypical antipsychotic medications increase fracture risk in patients with Parkinson's disease
Combination treatment reduces acute kidney injury due to infusion of contrast dye during cardiac catheterization
Cost-effectiveness analysis supports genetic testing before patients with metastatic colorectal cancer are given irinotecan
Published sources on warfarin interactions with other drugs, food, and supplements tend not to agree
Anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy increases risk for certain mycobacteria infections

Emergency Medicine

Some patients are more satisfied when they are given usually unnecessary antibiotics for upper respiratory infections
Emergency department treatment of asthma with systemic corticosteroids is not always timely

Health Information Technology

Drug monitoring may be improved by the use of health information technology and clinical pharmacists
Physicians with electronic health records are more able to generate patient registries
Health information technology improves the timely availability of diagnostic information

Disparities/Minority Health

Racial and ethnic minority groups are less aware than whites of genetic testing for cancer risk

Elderly/Long-Term Care

Opioid-naïve nursing home residents are commonly prescribed long-acting opioids, a potentially dangerous practice

Women's Health

While young women are knowledgeable about the HPV vaccine, many have yet to be vaccinated to prevent cervical cancer

Chronic Disease

Team-based care of patients with hypertension improves control of blood pressure

Market Forces

General hospitals are stepping up specialty services in response to competition from single specialty hospitals

Agency News and Notes

Treating blood infections tops annual hospital cost increases
Why women are admitted to the hospital
Patients who take a proton-pump inhibitor with medicine to prevent blood clots are less likely to be hospitalized for bleeding ulcers

Announcements

AHRQ launches Healthcare 411 en Español
Technical specifications for AHRQ's Common Formats allow electronic collection of patient safety data

Research Briefs

Research Briefs
Healthcare 411
Subscribe to AHRQ's Electronic Newsletter
Visit the AHRQ Patient Safety Network Web Site