AHRQ Stats: Sepsis-related Inpatient Stays Increased between 2016-2021

From 2016 to 2019, the number of all sepsis-related inpatient stays in the U.S. increased by 20.1 percent to 2.1 million stays. With the emergence of COVID-19, inpatient stays related to sepsis reached about 2.5 million in 2021. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #306 – Overview of Outcomes for Inpatient Stays Involving Sepsis, 2016 – 2021 [PDF, 1 MB].)

Today's Headlines:

• Healthcare Spending Higher Among Adults Who Had Adverse Childhood Experiences.
• Impact Case Study: New Mexico Hospital Uses AHRQ Toolkit To Slash Catheter Use, Eliminate Infections.
• Consumer Surveys on Clinicians and Group Practices Valuable But Underused.
• Register Now: September 17 Virtual Research Meeting on the Use of Patient-reported Experience and Outcome Measures.
• Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• Upcoming AHRQ Webinars.
• AHRQ in the Professional Literature.

Healthcare Spending Higher Among Adults Who Had Adverse Childhood Experiences

A first-time estimate of healthcare spending among adults with adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) is the subject of a new AHRQ Views blog post. AHRQ’s research team—Thomas M. Selden, Ph.D.; Didem M. Bernard, Ph.D.; Sandra L. Decker, Ph.D.; and Zhengyi Fang, M.S.—found that in 2021, 62.6 percent of adults reported at least one ACE, such as household members' substance abuse or mental illness, divorced or separated parents, and physical, verbal, or sexual abuse. Adults with ACEs had 26.3 percent higher healthcare expenditures compared to those without ACEs, according to the research published in Health Affairs. In their blog post, AHRQ Director Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., M.H.S.A., and Dr. Selden emphasize how the research provides an urgent signal to improve the quality of healthcare and social services for those with ACEs by transforming our care delivery systems to be more person-centered. Access the blog post. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address.

Impact Case Study: New Mexico Hospital Uses AHRQ Toolkit To Slash Catheter Use, Eliminate Infections

Sierra Vista Hospital in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, implemented practices from AHRQ’s Toolkit for Reducing Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infections (CAUTIs) in Hospitals. The result: the 11-bed critical access hospital reduced the number of indwelling urinary catheter days by more than 90 percent and has not had a recurrence of CAUTI in more than a year. Catheter utilization per 1,000 patient days fell from 0.42 in 2021 to 0.19 in 2023 and sits at 0.20 through the first half of 2024. Learn more about the efforts of the Sierra Vista Hospital team (shown above) in the AHRQ Impact Case Study.

Consumer Surveys on Clinicians and Group Practices Valuable But Underused

Healthcare providers widely and successfully use data from AHRQ’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Clinician and Group Survey to assess changes in their ratings and specific aspects of patient experience, but the data have untapped potential for studying consumer choice, an AHRQ-funded literature review found. Researchers concluded that the survey is being used by healthcare providers successfully to assess a wide range of pre-post interventional changes in global ratings, such as overall provider rating or would recommend office or provider, and in specific aspects of patient experience, such as provider communication, access, courteous office staff, and patient-centeredness. They concluded that healthcare providers value the survey as a means of assessing change, evaluating interventions, and improving critical aspects of patient care experiences and healthcare delivery. Access the abstract.

Register Now: September 17 Virtual Research Meeting on the Use of Patient-reported Experience and Outcome Measures

Registration is open for AHRQ’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Systems and Providers virtual research meeting on Sept. 17 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. ET to explore the differences between patient-reported experience measures and patient-reported outcome measures, how they are connected, and how they can be used to measure and improve the quality and value of healthcare. Access more information, including how to register and a meeting agenda (PDF, 289 KB).

Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network

AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network (PSNet) highlights journal articles, books, and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

• Feedback loop failure modes in medical diagnosis: how biases can emerge and be reinforced.
• Hospital rating organizations' quality and patient safety scores: analysis of result discrepancies.
• Medication errors in emergency departments: a systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence and severity.

Review additional new publications in PSNet’s current issue, including recent cases and commentaries and AHRQ’s WebM&Ms (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic Review: Treatment of Stage I-III Squamous Cell Anal Cancer.
• Systematic Review (draft open for comment): Psychosocial and Pharmacologic Interventions for Disruptive Behavior in Children and Adolescents.

Upcoming AHRQ Webinars

• Sept. 5: Research on Women's Health in Primary Care.
• Sept. 10-12: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Household Component Data Users'.
• Sept. 11: Integrated Behavioral Health: The Journey to Becoming the Standard of Care.

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Racial and ethnic disparities in attendance to well-child visit recommendations during COVID-19. Abdus S, Selden TM. Acad Pediatr 2024 Aug;24(6):922-9. Epub 2024 Apr 16. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Mental health care use and quality among Medicaid adults with serious mental illness receiving care at Federally Qualified Health Centers vs. other settings. Myong C, Yang Z, Behr C, et al. BMC Health Serv Res 2024 Jul 17;24(1):825. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Interventions to improve system-level coproduction in the Cystic Fibrosis Learning Network. Gamel B, Albon D, Bandla S, et al. BMJ Open Qual 2024 Jul 27;13(3):e002860. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

National trends in billing patient portal messages as e-visit services in traditional Medicare. Liu T, Zhu Z, Holmgren AJ, et al. Health Affairs Scholar 2024 Apr;2(4):qxae040. Epub 2024 Apr 3. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Scaling the EQUIPPED medication safety program: traditional and hub-and-spoke implementation models. Vandenberg AE, Hwang U, Das S, et al. J Am Geriatr Soc 2024 Jul;72(7):2184-94. Epub 2024 Jan 23. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Development and implementation of a digital quality measure of emergency cancer diagnosis. Kapadia P, Zimolzak AJ, Upadhyay DK, et al. J Clin Oncol 2024 Jul 20;42(21):2506-15. Epub 2024 May 8. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Management of depression in adults: a review. Simon GE, Moise N, Mohr DC. JAMA 2024 Jul 9;332(2):141-52. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

An institutional approach to equity and improvement in child health outcomes. Unaka N, Kahn RS, Spitznagel T, et al. Pediatrics 2024 Aug 1;54(2). Access the abstract on PubMed®.