Research Activities, November 2011, No. 375

Contents

• About Research Activities

Feature Story

• AHRQ's annual conference focuses on innovation and collaboration
• From the Director

Disparities/Minority Health

• Blacks and patients at hospitals with a high percentage of black patients more likely to suffer adverse events
• Among patients with diabetes, racial/ethnic discrimination by health care providers is uncommon
• Blacks have higher rates of pituitary adenoma

Patient Safety and Quality

• Nearly 1 in 10 outpatient computerized prescriptions contains errors
• Nurses in hospital units with a higher proportion of short-term patients take longer to respond to patient call lights

Primary Care

• Primary care model helps treat underserved patients with hepatitis C virus infection

Prevention

• Fecal occult blood tests and followup need to be better targeted to healthy older adults

Chronic Disease

• Brief psychotherapy helps multiple sclerosis patients with insomnia and depression
• Study finds regional differences in physicians' recommendations of implantable cardioverter-defibrillators

Health Information Technology

• Physicians who use electronic health records more intensively are more likely to use patient registries to improve care
• Parents are satisfied with telemedicine care for their child's obesity

Child/Adolescent Health

• Children are commonly exposed to ionizing radiation from medical diagnostic imaging procedures
• Pediatric emergency department visits surged during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic, but few children were hospitalized
• Recent trends in hospital use by children and youths are a mixed bag—lower for teen pregnancies, much higher for skin infections

Agency News and Notes

• Blood infections most costly hospital care in 2009
• Updated report highlights hospitals' progress in reducing bloodstream infections
• AHRQ initiative encourages better two-way communication between clinicians and patients
• Off-label use of atypical antipsychotics not supported by evidence for some conditions
• Hospital readmissions for COPD highest among black patients
• Uncertainty surrounds use of terbutaline to prevent preterm birth

Announcements

• Report finds DMARDs effective in treating juvenile arthritis
• AHRQ director helps consumers navigate the health care system in a new advice column on the Web
• Updated GERD research reviews and summaries available
• Brief on multidisciplinary pain programs for chronic noncancer pain available
• New AHRQ white paper helps decisionmaking and consistency in public reporting

• Research Briefs
• Healthcare 411
• Follow AHRQ news on Twitter