Contents

Feature Story

• MONAHRQ® gains momentum
• From the Director

Patient Safety and Quality

• Less than half of pharmacy computer systems studied correctly identified drug-drug interactions
• Simpler drug warning labels are easier to understand
• Medical students, interns, and residents need training to disclose medical errors
• Certain factors increase risk of medication errors in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
• Going "smooth" can help relieve weekday crowding at children's hospitals
• Transparency enhances physician communication with patients

Chronic Disease

• Minimally invasive heart treatments have reduced bypass surgeries and influenced valve repair and replacement
• Full use of evidence-based therapies for heart failure could save nearly 70,000 lives each year
• Cancer patients more likely to face higher cost burdens than those with other chronic conditions
• Possible blood biomarkers for poorer asthma control identified
• Study identifies fractures most and least likely to be caused by osteoporosis
• A structured goal-setting approach can improve care outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes

Health Information Technology

• Patients with type 2 diabetes express mixed reactions to a mobile phone and Web-based disease management program
• Study identifies costs of implementing electronic health records in network of physician practices

Acute Care/Hospitalization

• Heart attack victims should use emergency transport services, not self or family to get to the hospital
• Physician recommendations for defibrillator therapy not influenced by race or gender

Health Care Costs and Financing

• Medicare Part D reduces out-of-pocket costs and modestly boosts prescription volume

Women's Health

• Married couples who have twins are more likely to divorce
• Disease that springs from water parasites may also be a risk factor for HIV for women in sub-Saharan Africa
• Women on Medicare with poor chances of living 4 more years often forego screening mammograms

Child/Adolescent Health

• More research is needed on outcomes after maternal-fetal surgery
• A small number of drugs are used most commonly during pediatric hospitalizations
• Human rhinovirus linked to bronchiolitis and upper respiratory infections among healthy term infants

Agency News and Notes

• Hospital deaths from heart failure cut by half over 7 years
• Hospitalizations for children with influenza and skin infections increased in the last decade
• More than 20,000 emergency room visits for air and paintball gun injuries in 2008
• Nighttime-breathing treatments backed by strongest evidence among options to treat sleep apnea

Announcements

• Task Force updates recommendation on screening for bladder cancer in asymptomatic adults
• AHRQ releases tool to help Spanish-speaking consumers reduce medication errors
• New Spanish-language guides inform decisions about heart disease and other illnesses
• New report shows strengths and areas for improvement in nursing homes
• AHRQ releases report on designing consumer reporting systems for patient safety events
• AHRQ report examines impact of human resource patterns on quality and safety