Organization

Agency For Healthcare Research And Quality


NEJM: Tips for handling disclosure of large-scale adverse events

Industry News | Thursday, September 02 2010
Healthcare organizations should disclose medical mistakes that affect multiple patients even if patients were not harmed by the event, according to an Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) funded research paper published in the Sept. 2 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
 

AMIA launches international health informatics partnership

Industry News | Wednesday, September 01 2010
The American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) has launched a non-profit, wholly owned subsidiary organization, called the Global Health Informatics Partnership, to serve as an international center for collaborative initiatives on healthcare informatics.
 

AHRQ: Hospital-acquired infections extend hospital stays, costs

Industry News | Monday, August 30 2010
On average, hospital stays for patients with healthcare-acquired infections were 19.2 days longer and the cost was nearly $43,000 greater than stays without infections, according to a statistical brief released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
 

AHRQ: Health IT, incentives spur practice-based population health

Industry News | Tuesday, August 17 2010
Practice-based population health (PBPH) may become a more widely viable option for primary care providers, according to a report released last month by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
 

AHRQ: Diabetes accounts for one-fifth of U.S hospitalizations, costs $83B

Top Stories | Monday, August 16 2010
In 2008, nearly one in five hospitalizations were diabetes-related, totaling more than 7.7 million stays and $83 billion in hospitalization costs--or 23 percent of total hospital costs in the U.S., according to a statistical brief released this month from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project.
 

AHRQ releases state snapshots of healthcare data, with insurance data

Industry News | Monday, July 26 2010
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ) annual release of state-by-state health quality data has been expanded to include new data on health insurance. The additional data are intended to provide information on healthcare quality categorized by source of payment, including private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and those without insurance.
 

AJR: Lack of insurance coverage could prohibit wider CTC screening

Top Stories | Wednesday, July 21 2010
Patients who have previously refused colorectal cancer screening are willing to undergo CT colonography (CTC), or virtual colonoscopy, but are not willing to pay for the exam themselves when not covered by insurance, according to a study in the August issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.
 

HHS seeks info on comparative effectiveness research

Industry News | Wednesday, July 21 2010
The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is requesting input on approaches to developing a comparative effectiveness research (CER) inventory that captures ongoing  CER efforts in the U.S.
 

AHRQ publishes hospital disaster supplements

Industry News | Friday, June 25 2010
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has published two new guides to help hospital administrators make decisions concerning staff and patient safety when a natural or manmade disaster or other catastrophic event occurs.
 

CT Screening: Where Do We Stand?

Cover Story | Monday, June 21 2010
Written by C.P. Kaiser
Ten years ago, it was nearly impossible to go through the day without seeing an advertisement for whole-body CT screening. Today it’s a different story. The radiation dose exposure from CT scanning has come under intense scrutiny and the value of CT screening must be proved in rigorous trials before many payors, especially Medicare, will consider reimbursing for an exam.
 

AHRQ allocates $25M to evaluate patient safety, medical liability

Industry News | Monday, June 14 2010
The Department of Health & Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is distributing demonstration and planning grants totaling $25 million to support efforts by states and health systems to implement and evaluate patient safety approaches and medical liability reforms.
 

AHRQ: Hard data about EMR usability is still scarce

Top Stories | Monday, May 31 2010
EMR vendors may say they're committed to developing and providing usable EMR products, but best practices and standards of design, testing and usability monitoring of EMRs are not readily available, according to a report funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
 

AHRQ: IMRT alleviates 'dry mouth,' but may not better reduce tumor size

Industry News | Sunday, May 30 2010
Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) is more successful than traditional radiation therapy in avoiding "dry mouth" when treating head and neck cancers, but it is unknown whether the treatment is better or worse at reducing the size of tumors, based on a comparative-effectiveness review funded by the Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
 

NQF forms new Health IT Advisory Committee, names members

Industry News | Monday, May 10 2010
The National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health IT Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and community healthcare organizations.
 

Study: Bar-code EMAR can reduce medication errors

Clinical Studies | Wednesday, May 05 2010
Using bar-code technology with an electronic medication administration record (eMAR) substantially reduces transcription and medication administration errors and potential drug-related adverse events, according to a study published in the May 6 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
 

HealthAffairs: EHRs must evolve to integrate into medical home

Industry News | Monday, April 19 2010
More research is needed but the EHR will likely be a foundational element of the medical home, according to an article in the April edition of HealthAffairs.
 

AHRQ: Consumer health IT requires alignment of academics, industry

Industry News | Friday, April 16 2010
"Collaboration between academic institutions and the technology industry could lead to significant advances in consumer health IT, but too many factors prevent the two types of entities from working together.” according to a March report on managing personal health information by the Agency for Healthcare and Research Quality (AHRQ),
 

AHRQ: Integration with workflow is key to CDS success

Industry News | Thursday, April 15 2010
Clinical decision support (CDS) systems can be successfully developed and implemented, and the knowledge base can be shared across clinical sites and EMR systems, according to a recent Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) report.
 

Illinois makes public mortality, safety rates of state hospitals on web site

Industry News | Wednesday, April 14 2010
A web site launched by the Illinois Department of Public Health in November 2009 aims to provide better transparency to state residence by making public healthcare data including infectious disease rates, mortality and patient safety, as well as quality and process of care measures.
 

SNM nets AHRQ grant for comparative effectiveness

Industry News | Wednesday, April 14 2010
SNM (formerly the Society of Nuclear Medicine) has been awarded a $48,000 grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to hold a conference to develop research on the comparative effectiveness of PET and other molecular imaging techniques.
 
Web Exclusives

Feature: U.S. needs national strategy to curb imaging overutilization

Medical imaging overutilization--a growing concern in the U.S.--exposes patients to unnecessary radiation, while also adding to rising healthcare costs, according to a study published online Aug. 24 in Radiology. In an interview, William R. Hendee, PhD, lead author, reviewed various methods by which medical imaging could be curtailed.

Radiology: Prelim study shows CE breast CT outperforms CT, mammo

Dedicated contrast-enhanced (CE) breast CT delivered significantly improved conspicuity of malignant breast lesions, including ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), compared with unenhanced breast CT and mammography, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology.

Radiology: Rad role may evolve as image-guided biopsies trend up

CT, ultrasound and MRI have helped shift biopsy techniques away from more invasive approaches toward image-guided percutaneous techniques, according to a study published in the September issue of Radiology. The trend toward less-invasive approaches translates into enhanced safety and efficiency and could lead to more interaction between patients and radiologists.

CMS Webinar: Incentive payments to offset EHR adoption, not reimburse

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) EHR incentive payments are not considered reimbursement for money expended on EHR technology, but are intended to offset the cost associated with adoption and ongoing meaningful use, according to CMS during an Aug. 12 webinar.

CMS webinar: Eligible professionals can expect EHR incentives in 2011

Funding incentives for EHR use is the main goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) meaningful use initiative, and there are incentive programs for both hospitals and eligible professionals, according to Elizabeth Holland, health insurance specialist at the Department of Health and Human Services, who spoke during a CMS-sponsored webinar Aug. 8.

Webinar: Stage 1 of meaningful use is for quality reporting acclimation

Stage 1 requirements for meaningful use incentives aim to strike a balance between the overall goal of EHR use and widespread adoption, while avoiding added work, said Jonathan Teich, MD, PhD, chief medical informatics officer at Elsevier Health Services, during a HIMSS webinar titled “Meaningful Use: Safety and Quality of Care.”

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