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´óÏóÊÓƵStats: Insurance Coverage Among Mothers at Time of Birth

The percentage of mothers who had no insurance at the time of birth declined from 10.4 percent to 5.9 percent between 2008-2013 and 2014-2019. The percentage who had private coverage increased from 55.4 percent to 60.5 percent in that same time frame. (Source: ´óÏóÊÓƵMedical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #547, .)

Today's Headlines:

• Food Assistance Linked to Improved Health and Reduced Emergency Care Among Low-Income Children.
• ´óÏóÊÓƵGrantee Identifies Strategies To Improve Patient Safety in Radiation Therapy.
• Register Now for March 16 Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds on Telehealth.
• Highlights From ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s Patient Safety Network.
• ´óÏóÊÓƵSeeks New Director of Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• ´óÏóÊÓƵin the Professional Literature.

Food Assistance Linked to Improved Health and Reduced Emergency Care Among Low-Income Children

Participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) could reduce food hardship and emergency department visits for low-income children, especially those with special healthcare needs, according to an AHRQ-funded study published in Pediatrics. Using 2016–2019 National Survey of Children’s Health data, researchers found that SNAP participation was associated with a 22 percent reduction in food hardship for children with special healthcare needs and a 17 percent reduction in those without. They also identified a 9.7 and 7.9 percent increase, respectively, in excellent health status, and a 7.7 and 4.3 percent reduction in emergency department use, respectively. Access the .

´óÏóÊÓƵGrantee Identifies Strategies To Improve Patient Safety in Radiation Therapy

AHRQ's latest grantee profile features Lukasz Mazur, Ph.D., an associate professor of radiation oncology and director of the Healthcare Engineering Department at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. Dr. Mazur developed innovative simulation-based training to improve patient safety in radiation oncology. He also examined the effect of adding neurofeedback to simulation-based training on radiation therapists’ mental workload, situation awareness and performance. Neurofeedback is a treatment that provides real-time feedback of individuals’ brainwave patterns to help gradually train the brain to produce healthier patterns of activity, which can help improve mental clarity and concentration as well as reduce stress. Check out Dr. Mazur’s profile and the profiles of other ´óÏóÊÓƵgrantees.

Register Now for March 16 Evidence-based Practice Center Program Grand Rounds on Telehealth

is open for the first in a series of ´óÏóÊÓƵEvidence-based Practice Center (EPC) Program Grand Rounds. The event on March 16 from 1 to 3 p.m. ET will focus on telehealth, which has made healthcare more accessible for many who would otherwise not receive care, many of whom live in rural settings. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, nearly all medical appointments were carried out via telemedicine. Its exponential increase in use has given health systems the opportunity to implement and study telehealth’s effectiveness. The grand rounds is intended to expand awareness and implementation of the findings from two recent EPC evidence reports, and . Access and .

Highlights From ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s Patient Safety Network

´¡±á¸é²Ï’s highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

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Review additional new publications in PSNet’s or access recent in ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

´óÏóÊÓƵSeeks New Director of Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement

Applications are being accepted for individuals interested in serving as director of ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. The successful applicant will oversee a research portfolio that covers several programmatic areas including systematic evidence reviews; methods and measures of clinical decision-making and patient engagement; and quality, data and methods related to healthcare delivery and systems research, technical support and resource development. The director will serve as a principal adviser to ´óÏóÊÓƵleadership and represent the agency on national and international committees. Learn more about  and others at AHRQ, including:

• , Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. Application deadline: March 9.
• , Office of Management Services. Application deadline: March 13.
• , Office of Management Services. Application deadline: March 13.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic review (draft open for comment): .
• Systematic review (draft open for comment): .

´óÏóÊÓƵin the Professional Literature

Two-drug regimens for HIV treatment. Gibas KM, Kelly SG, Arribas JR, et al. Lancet HIV 2022 Dec;9(12):e868-e83. Epub 2022 Oct 26. Access the on PubMed®.

Intensifying approaches to address clinical inertia among cardiovascular disease risk factors: a narrative review. Lewinski AA, Jazowski SA, Goldstein KM, et al. Patient Educ Couns 2022 Dec;105(12):3381-8. Epub 2022 Aug 18. Access the on PubMed®.

Impact of Medicare eligibility on informal caregiving for surgery and stroke. De Roo AC, Ha J, Regenbogen SE, et al. Health Serv Res 2023 Feb;58(1):128-39. Epub 2022 Jul 14. Access the on PubMed®.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitalizations of children with neurologic impairment. Thomson J, Richardson T, Auger KA, et al. J Hosp Med 2023 Jan;18(1):33-42. Epub 2022 Dec 12. Access the on PubMed®.

A call to integrate health equity into learning health system research training. Coley RY, Duan KI, Hoopes AJ, et al. Learn Health Syst 2022 Oct;6(4):e10330. Epub 2022 Jul 24. Access the on PubMed®.

Association of skilled nursing facility ownership by health care networks with utilization and spending. Kalata S, Howard R, Diaz A, et al. JAMA Netw Open 2023 Feb;6(2):e230140. Access the on PubMed®.

Implementation of an evidence-based intervention with safety net clinics to improve mammography appointment adherence among underserved women. Holcomb J, Rajan SS, Ferguson GM, et al. J Cancer Educ 2023 Feb;38(1):309-18. Epub 2021 Nov 25. Access the on PubMed®.

Interventions to improve outcomes for high-need, high-cost patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Chang E, Ali R, Seibert J, et al. J Gen Intern Med 2023 Jan;38(1):185-94. Epub 2022 Oct 11. Access the on PubMed®.