| February 23, 2021, Issue #752 Six percent of nursing homes were affiliated with a U.S. health system in 2018. Overall, 46 percent of the nation's health systems included a nursing home. (Source: AHRQ, Comparative Health System Performance Data Brief #8: Nursing Homes Affiliated with U.S. Health Systems, 2018.) AHRQ is seeking public comments on clinical algorithms used in medical practice that may introduce bias into decision-making or negatively affect access, quality or health outcomes among racial and ethnic minority groups. Clinical algorithms are a set of steps that clinicians take to guide decision-making in preventive services, diagnosis and clinician management. Following public input, AHRQ will undertake an evidence review to understand: which algorithms are currently used in different clinical settings; the type and extent of their validation; their potential for bias with impact on access, quality and outcomes of care; awareness among clinicians of these issues; and strategies for developing and testing clinical algorithms to assure that they are free of bias. The deadline for providing comments is 11:59 PM ET on April 16. Patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) are more common in communities with favorable health and socioeconomic conditions, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in Health and Place. The PCMH model is designed to deliver primary care that is comprehensive, patient-centered, coordinated, accessible and safe. Researchers used county-level data to examine the distribution of PCMHs while overlapping data on factors such as premature mortality, alcohol-impaired driving deaths, drug poisoning deaths and information from patients who reported fair or low health status. Data showed that counties with lower uninsured and lower poverty rates were most likely associated with PCMH availability. According to researchers, the analysis showed that structured interventions to tackle longstanding inequities in the quality of primary care are less available in communities where health and socioeconomic needs are greatest. Access the abstract.  Check out our latest AHRQ grantee profile featuring the work of George Rust, M.D., M.P.H., a professor of behavioral sciences and social medicine at Florida State University College of Medicine in Tallahassee. Dr. Rust has devoted his career to understanding disparities and making health equity a reality for minority and disadvantaged populations. With AHRQ support, he has mentored minority health services researchers, built a Medicaid database to benefit diverse patients and pursued a formal education in research methodologies. Access more about Dr. Rust's work as well as additional AHRQ profiles. | A new AHRQ initiative developed to explore nonsurgical therapies for urinary incontinence in women is the subject of a new AHRQ Views blog post by AHRQ Medical Officer Jill Huppert, M.D., M.P.H., and Arlene S. Bierman, M.D., M.S., director of AHRQ's Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. While many women in the United States suffer from urinary incontinence, few receive evidence-based care. AHRQ has released a new Funding Opportunity Announcement to develop and implement interventions to increase diagnosis and treatment for women with urinary incontinence in primary care. AHRQ will allocate up to $15 million in three-year grants to five nonprofit organizations. The deadline for submissions is March 24. Access the blog post and more information, including how to participate in a Feb. 25 technical assistance call. AHRQ's Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include: Review additional new publications in PSNet's current issue or access recent cases and commentaries in AHRQ's WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web). Nominations are being accepted for AHRQ's annual Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Outstanding Article of the Year Award. The award will recognize research published in peer-reviewed journals in 2020 that used the HCUP databases to explore and address healthcare research topics and issues. One clinical winner and one policy winner will be chosen. Authors may self-nominate or be nominated by another individual. For those nominating an individual, please notify the author. Awards will be presented at an HCUP session during the June 14 to 17 AcademyHealth 2021 Virtual Annual Research Meeting. The nomination deadline March 3 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Access more information or email questions to HCUPPres@us.ibm.com. | AHRQ in the Professional Literature A novel cluster sampling design that couples multiple surveys to support multiple inferential objectives. O'Malley AJ, Park S. Health Serv Outcomes Res Methodol. 2020 Sep;20(2-3):85-110. Epub 2020 Jun 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Inter-region transfers for pandemic surges. Michelson KA, Rees CA, Sarathy J, et al. Clin Infect Dis. 2020 Oct 10. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®. Assessing burden of central line-associated bloodstream infections present on hospital admission. Leeman H, Cosgrove SE, Williams D, et al. Am J Infect Control. 2020 Feb;48(2):216-8. Epub 2019 Sep 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Using appropriateness criteria to identify opportunities to improve perioperative urinary catheter use. De Roo AC, Hendren S, Ameling JM, et al. Am J Surg. 2020 Sep;220(3):706-13. Epub 2020 Jan 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Addressing unmet basic needs for children with sickle cell disease in the United States: clinic and staff perspectives. Loo S, Brochier A, Wexler MG, et al. BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 Jan 12;21(1):55. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Untold stories in user-centered design of mobile health: practical challenges and strategies learned from the design and evaluation of an app for older adults with heart failure. Cornet VP, Toscos T, Bolchini D, et al. JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2020 Jul 21;8(7):e17703. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Geographic variation in the consolidation of physicians into health systems, 2016-18. Kimmey L, Furukawa MF, Jones DJ, et al. Health Aff. 2021 Jan;40(1):165-9. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Understanding how health systems facilitate primary care redesign. Harvey JB, Vanderbrink J, Mahmud Y, et al. Health Serv Res. 2020 Dec;55(Suppl 3):1144-54. Access the abstract on PubMed®. Contact Information For comments or questions about AHRQ News Now, contact Bruce Seeman, (301) 427-1998 or Bruce.Seeman@ahrq.hhs.gov. |
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