October 31 Deadline for Articles for Special Journal Issue on Data as a Driver of Health System Transformation
Articles about research that leverages data as a driver of health system transformation are due October 31 for a special AHRQ-sponsored issue of AcademyHealth’s open access, peer-reviewed journal eGEMs. The special eGEMS issue seeks to help AHRQ gain new data insights and capabilities and prepare for the future as rapid changes are under way in how researchers, clinicians, patients, policymakers and others use data to transform health care. AHRQ is interested in traditional general hypothesis testing, predictive analytics research, and case studies that showcase frontline innovations within health systems. Additional details on the special issue may be found here.
AHRQ’s State Snapshots Show Variations in Health Care Quality
Maine, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wisconsin and Massachusetts were the nation’s five top-performing States in an updated assessment of health care quality, according to the newly released State Snapshots from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). The interactive resource evaluates States based on more than 250 performance measures of health care quality and access, based on data from AHRQ’s 2017 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (QDR). State Snapshots show how each State fared according to access to care, type of care, setting of care, prevalence of diseases and conditions, health status of priority populations, and insurance status. The 2017 QDR shows that nationwide, from 2000 through 2016, almost 70 percent of person-centered care measures were improving, but 80 percent of care affordability measures remained the same. The State Snapshots reveal specific variations across States, including sizable disparities related to race, ethnicity, income and other factors. Learn more from a new AHRQ Views blog post and an infographic.
Realizing Simulation’s Potential To Improve Health Care Delivery
Jeffrey Brady, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s (AHRQ’s) Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety, has co-authored a blog post that emphasizes health care simulation training’s growing role among strategies to improve patient safety. The blog post is co-authored by Joseph Lopreiato, M.D., M.P.H., president of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), a professional society dedicated to education, research and service in health care simulation. The blog post highlighted AHRQ projects that have evaluated simulation training approaches while noting SSH’s sponsorship of Healthcare Simulation Week 2018 (Sept. 17-21).