Chlorhexidine Bathing Routine Reduces Infections in Nursing Homes
Issue Number
884
October 10, 2023
AHRQ Stats: Diseases Associated With Readmissions
Among patients diagnosed with a blood disease in 2020, 23.8 out of every 100 hospital stays resulted in a 30-day readmission, the highest rate of any diagnosis. Stays for neoplasms resulted in the second highest rate, with 19 readmissions for every 100 admissions. (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #304, Characteristics of 30-Day All-Cause Hospital Readmissions, 2016-2020.)
Today's Headlines:
- Chlorhexidine Bathing Routine Reduces Infections in Nursing Homes.
- AHRQ Director Robert Otto Valdez Elected to National Academy of Medicine.
- AHRQ Views Blog: During National Primary Care Week, AHRQ Celebrates the Tradition of Primary Care Practices Delivering Whole-Person Care.
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Creates Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guidelines Using AHRQ Research.
- Register Now for AHRQ’s October 25 Software Developers Meeting.
- Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
- During Health Literacy Month, AHRQ Highlights Resources To Support Patient Involvement.
- AHRQ in the Professional Literature.
Chlorhexidine Bathing Routine Reduces Infections in Nursing Homes
Nursing homes using a chlorhexidine bathing routine to clean the skin and nose with over-the-counter antiseptic solutions prevents serious infections and reduces the amount of antibiotic resistant organisms in the nursing home, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to an AHRQ-funded study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Each year, 3 million healthcare-associated infections in U.S. nursing homes cause 150,000 hospital admissions and 350,000 deaths. Researchers found that in nursing homes using the bathing routine, known as decolonization, two residents per month avoided transfers to the hospital due to infections. These nursing homes also significantly reduced transfers to the hospital for other causes. Nursing homes that used decolonization also saw significant reduction in the overall prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms including MRSA, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, and other resistant bacteria. Access the study and the AHRQ press release.
AHRQ Director Robert Otto Valdez Elected to National Academy of Medicine
Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., M.H.S.A., has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and recognized for service and leadership that “advanced our ability to measure and improve access, quality, and healthcare outcomes, especially for children and historically excluded communities.” Selected as AHRQ’s director in February 2022, Dr. Valdez was previously the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Professor Emeritus of Family & Community Medicine and Economics at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Since coming to AHRQ he has overseen the launch of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Action Alliance To Advance Patient Safety, guidance for healthcare organizations’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprints, and investments in expanding care for people with Long COVID. Learn more about Dr. Valdez and access the NAM press release.
AHRQ Views Blog: During National Primary Care Week, AHRQ Celebrates the Tradition of Primary Care Practices Delivering Whole-Person Care
AHRQ’s support for National Primary Care Week and the agency’s ongoing efforts to advance whole-person, patient-centered care are themes in a recent blog post by Tess Miller, Dr.PH., director of AHRQ’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. The agency embraces its growing leadership role in helping to advance primary care in an evolving healthcare landscape. At the center of AHRQ’s endeavors is the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR), which supports primary care research while providing tools and resources to advance the healthcare quality. These and other resources align with the agency’s commitment to protect and advance primary care’s unique role as the foundation of a strong healthcare system. Access the blog post. To receive all blog posts, submit your email address.
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Creates Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guidelines Using AHRQ Research
A new AHRQ Impact Case Study describes how the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) relies on AHRQ’s Effective Health Care Program systematic reviews to inform guidelines for its member physicians advising best treatment practices. As one example, ACOG has released clinical practice guidelines on pregnancy and postpartum mental health conditions using AHRQ’s 2021 systematic review, Maternal, Fetal, and Child Outcomes of Mental Health Treatments in Women: A Systematic Review of Perinatal Pharmacologic Interventions. According to recent CDC data, mental health conditions (including deaths from suicide and overdose/poisoning related to substance use disorders) are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death. Access the new Impact Case Study and additional Impact Case Studies about the use of AHRQ resources.
Register Now for AHRQ’s October 25 Software Developers Meeting
Registration is open for a virtual software developers meeting on Oct. 25, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET to discuss implementation of the Common Formats for patient safety data collection. Agenda topics include discussion of a new Common Formats commenting tool and a presentation from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s Electronic Health Record Association. Participation and discussion by meeting participants will be encouraged.
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:
- Inpatient EHR user experience and hospital EHR safety performance.
- Cognitive biases regarding utilization of Emergency Severity Index among emergency nurses.
- Reduced postdischarge incidents after implementation of a hospital-to-home transition intervention for children with medical complexity.
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).
During Health Literacy Month, AHRQ Highlights Resources To Support Patient Involvement
During October, Health Literacy Month, AHRQ highlights tools and resources designed to get patients and their families more involved in their healthcare. Agency tools are available to increase patient and family engagement and help healthcare organizations, leaders and professionals improve health literacy. Spanish-language resources are also available. Access more information about AHRQ’s overall effort to advance health literacy.
AHRQ in the Professional Literature
Effectiveness of an emergency department-based machine learning clinical decision support tool to prevent outpatient falls among older adults: protocol for a quasi-experimental study. Hekman DJ, Cochran AL, Maru AP, et al. JMIR Res Protoc 2023 Aug 3;12:e48128. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Evaluating the association between expanded coverage of direct-to-consumer telemedicine and downstream utilization and quality of care for urinary tract infections and sinusitis. Yu J, Huckfeldt PJ, Mink PJ, et al. Health Serv Res 2023 Oct;58(5):976-87. Epub 2023 Jan 31. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Application of participatory ergonomics to the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use. Xie A, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2023 Oct;49(10):529-38. Epub 2023 Jun 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Relationship between in-hospital adverse events and hospital performance on 30-day all-cause mortality and readmission for patients with heart failure. Wang Y, Eldridge N, Metersky ML, et al. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2023 Jul;16(7):e009573. Epub 2023 Jul 18. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Postpartum home blood pressure monitoring: a systematic review. Steele DW, Adam GP, Saldanha IJ, et al. Obstet Gynecol 2023 Aug 1;142(2):285-95. Epub 2023 Jun 13. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Assessing equitable recruitment in a digital health trial for asthma. Plombon S, Rudin RS, Sulca Flores J, et al. Appl Clin Inform 2023 Aug;14(4):620-31. Epub 2023 May 10. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events among older adults after hospitalization for major orthopedic procedures. Herzig SJ, Anderson TS, Urman RD, et al. J Patient Saf 2023 Oct 1;19(6):379-85. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Predictors of delayed diagnosis of pediatric CNS tumors in the emergency department. Young AL, Monuteaux MC, Cooney TM, et al. Pediatr Emerg Care 2023 Aug;39(8):617-22. Epub 2023 Apr 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.