Public Health Department Collaborates With Health System To Improve Mortality Surveillance
Issue Number
887
October 31, 2023
AHRQ Stats
Access more data on this topic in the associated statistical brief, plus additional AHRQ data infographics.
Today's Headlines:
- Public Health Department Collaborates With Health System To Improve Mortality Surveillance.
- Featured Impact Case Study: Expanded AHRQ Initiative Enables Rural Primary Care Providers in New Mexico To Treat Opioid Use Disorders With Medication.
- Highlights From AHRQ’s Patient Safety Network.
- Register Now for Nov. 30 Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds on Pain Management.
- Explore Careers at AHRQ.
- AHRQ in the Professional Literature.
Public Health Department Collaborates With Health System To Improve Mortality Surveillance
A mortality surveillance system established by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Denver Health and Hospital Authority identified more than six times the number of patient deaths after hospital discharge than through analysis of local system medical records alone, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in American Journal of Public Health. The enhanced data became available when the hospital authority’s quarterly reports were forwarded for matching to the State’s Vital Statistics Program. While the hospital authority identified 11,972 patients as deceased between 2016 and 2023, an additional 72,875 were identified after matching with public health records. Enhanced analyses have informed planning and policymaking, including expansion of a suicide prevention program that targets individuals with nonsuicidal overdoses after data demonstrated high overdose mortality among patients whose emergency department visits included psychiatric care. Access the abstract.
Featured Impact Case Study: Expanded AHRQ Initiative Enables Rural Primary Care Providers in New Mexico To Treat Opioid Use Disorders With Medication
Rural primary care practices in New Mexico have expanded on AHRQ’s Project ECHO model to train clinicians in the use of proven medication-assisted treatment for patients with opioid use disorder. Using video-conferencing technology to train, advise and support rural healthcare providers, the program works to ensure primary care staff all over the state are trained and supported to use medication in treating these patients. As of mid-August 2023, 1,059 primary care providers in rural New Mexico had attended a training session. (At left, Chris Alliman, M.D., talks with a patient in Albuquerque about medication for opioid use disorder.) Learn more in this new AHRQ Impact Case Study, plus other Impact Case Studies.
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:
- Impact of leadership walkarounds on operational, cultural and clinical outcomes: a systematic review.
- Second victim syndrome in intensive care unit healthcare workers: a systematic review and meta-analysis on types, prevalence, risk factors, and recovery time.
- Toxic leadership and its relationship with outcomes on the nursing workforce and patient safety: a systematic review.
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).
Register Now for Nov. 30 Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds on Pain Management
Registration is open for an AHRQ Evidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program Grand Rounds on pain management. The webinar on Nov. 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. ET will highlight three recently published EPC reports:
- Acute Treatments for Episodic Migraine.
- Nonopioid Pharmacologic Treatments for Chronic Pain.
- Living Systematic Review on Cannabis and Other Plant-Based Treatments for Chronic Pain.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates 50 million adults in the United States have chronic daily pain. Many do not receive effective treatment, resulting in profound physical, emotional and societal costs. This webinar is the third in a series of EPC Grand Rounds that are intended to expand awareness and address evidence gaps and implications for clinical practice.
Explore Careers at AHRQ
Join the team that strives to improve healthcare for all Americans by investing in health systems research, creating strategies to support practice improvement and providing data and analytics to identify opportunities for improvement. Current vacancies include:
- Health Scientist Administrator/Senior Advisor, Children's Health, Office of Extramural Research, Education, and Priority Populations. Application deadline: Nov. 3.
- Health Scientist Administrator, Patient Safety, Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety. Application deadline: Nov. 17.
AHRQ in the Professional Literature
The growing gap: a study of sleep, encoding, and consolidation of new words in chronic traumatic brain injury. Morrow EL, Mayberry LS, Duff MC. Neuropsychologia 2023 Jun 6;184:108518. Epub 2023 Feb 16. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Estimating state-specific population-based hospitalization rates from in-state hospital discharge data. Roemer M, Schaefer MB, Pickens GT, et al. Health Serv Res 2023 Aug 21. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.
A predictive decision analytics approach for primary care operations management: a case study of double-booking strategy design and evaluation. Zhou Y, Viswanatha A, Abdul Motaleb A, et al. Comput Ind Eng 2023 Mar;17. Epub 2023 Feb 18. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Home health agencies with high quality of patient care star ratings reduced short-term hospitalization rates and increased days independently at home. Li J. Med Care 2023 Oct 4. [Epub ahead of print.] Access the abstract on PubMed®.
A patient portal intervention to promote adolescent and young adult self-management skills. Allende-Richter S, Benitez AD, Ramirez M, et al. Acad Pediatr 2023 Aug;23(6):1252-8. Epub 2023 Feb 9. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Antibiotic use without a prescription: a multisite survey of patient, health system, and encounter characteristics. Grigoryan L, Paasche-Orlow MK, Alquicira O, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2023 Aug 22;77(4):510-7. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Landscape of pregnancy care in US community health centers. Putnam KE, Biel FM, Hoopes M, et al. J Am Board Fam Med 2023 Aug 9;36(4):574-82. Access the abstract on PubMed®.
Combining meta-analysis with multiple imputation for one-step, privacy-protecting estimation of causal treatment effects in multisite studies. Shu D, Li X, Her Q, et al. Res Synth Methods 2023 Sep;14(5):742-63. Epub 2023 Aug 1. Access the abstract on PubMed®.