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´óÏóÊÓƵStats: Characteristics Associated With Opioid Prescription Fills

Between 2020 and 2021, 10.2 percent of adults aged 18 to 64 with incomes below the federal poverty line, 25 percent of those who were covered by public insurance due to a disability and 8.1 percent those who lived in rural areas filled at least one opioid prescription per year. (Source: ´óÏóÊÓƵMedical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #552, .)

Today's Headlines:

• ´óÏóÊÓƵSignals Interest in Research To Improve Healthcare for People With Disabilities.
• Impact of Reducing Time to Antibiotics for Sepsis Patients Can Vary Widely.
• Highlights From ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s Patient Safety Network.
• Patient Booklets on Recovering From Surgery Now Available in Spanish.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• Explore Careers at AHRQ.
• ´óÏóÊÓƵin the Professional Literature.

´óÏóÊÓƵSignals Interest in Research To Improve Healthcare for People With Disabilities

A new issued by ´óÏóÊÓƵsignals the agency’s interest in receiving health services research grant applications that advance the nation’s goal of improving health outcomes for people with disabilities. ´óÏóÊÓƵis interested in funding projects focused on disability research, addressing any healthcare delivery-related topic including innovative strategies to reduce disparities in quality of care, increase patient safety and improve healthcare access and effectiveness. About 42.5 million Americans live with disabilities, according to 2021 U.S. Census Bureau data, with older adults significantly more likely than younger adults to have a disability.  ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s new notice builds on the agency’s ongoing work, including an upcoming systematic review, . It also aligns with ´¡±á¸é²Ï’s focus on the need for evidence to improve the delivery of care as the U.S. population ages (PDF, 1.7 MB). For questions, please email Grant_Queries@ahrq.hhs.gov.

Impact of Reducing Time to Antibiotics for Sepsis Patients Can Vary Widely

Reducing the amount of time to give antibiotics to sepsis patients should contribute to better health outcomes, but the broad impact of reducing time-to-antibiotics may vary significantly, according to an AHRQ-funded study. In the study, published in Annals of the American Thoracic Society, researchers found that in 60 percent of hospitalizations patients received antibiotics within 48 hours of presentation and in 13 percent of hospitalizations patients experienced an adverse event, based on records of over 1.5 million hospitalized patients. The authors then ran simulations of 12 hospital scenarios based on the volume of sepsis cases (high, medium and low volume), and found that the effect of faster time to antibiotics varies markedly across simulated hospital scenarios, but new antibiotic-associated adverse events were rare. Access the .

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).

Patient Booklets on Recovering From Surgery Now Available in Spanish

Seven booklets developed by ´óÏóÊÓƵto help patients recover from surgery are now available in Spanish. These booklets were created by content experts for the ´óÏóÊÓƵSafety Program for Improving Surgical Care and Recovery. They help adult patients prepare for and recover from surgery both in the hospital and at home. The booklets in English and Spanish address preparing for and recovering from colorectal surgery, surgery for a broken hip, gynecologic surgery, emergency laparotomy, emergency gallbladder surgery and emergency appendectomy. A Users Guide (Word, 948 KB) is also available to help hospitals use the patient education booklets.

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic Review: .

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:

• , Center for Quality Improvement and Patient Safety/Division of Patient Safety Organizations. Application deadline: Dec. 8.

´óÏóÊÓƵin the Professional Literature

Neighborhood built environment and sleep health: a longitudinal study in low-income and predominantly African-American neighborhoods. Kim B, Troxel WM, Dubowitz T, et al. Am J Epidemiol 2023 May 5;192(5):736-47. Access the on PubMed®.

Lessons learned from a national initiative promoting publicly available standards-based clinical decision support. Dhopeshwarkar RV, Freij M, Callaham M, et al. Appl Clin Inform 2023 May;14(3):566-74. Epub 2023 Jul 26. Access the on PubMed®.

What works in medication reconciliation: an on-treatment and site analysis of the MARQUIS2 study. Schnipper JL, Reyes Nieva H, Yoon C, et al. BMJ Qual Saf 2023 Aug;32(8):457-69. Epub 2023 Mar 22. Access the on PubMed®.

Improving identification of Medicaid eligible community-dwelling older adults in major household surveys with limited income or asset information. McInerney M, Mellor JM, Ramamoorthy V, et al. Health Serv Outcomes Res Methodol 2023 Oct;23(4):416-32. Epub 2022 Dec 14. Access the on PubMed®.

How providers can optimize effective and safe scribe use: a qualitative study. Corby S, Ash JS, Florig ST, et al. J Gen Intern Med 2023 Jul;38(9):2052-8. Epub 2022 Nov 16. Access the on PubMed®.

Trends in acute care use for mental health conditions among youth during the COVID-19 pandemic. Overhage L, Hailu R, Busch AB, et al. JAMA Psychiatry 2023 Sep;80(9):924-32. Access the on PubMed®.

Use of intergovernmental transfers-based Medicaid supplemental payments to boost nursing home finances: evidence from Indiana nursing homes. Sharma H, Xu L. Med Care 2023 Aug;61(8):546-53. Epub 2023 Jun 9. Access the on PubMed®.

Experiences and communication preferences in pregnancy care among patients with a Spanish language preference: a qualitative study. Salinas KE, Bazan M, Rivera L, et al. Obstet Gynecol 2023 Nov 1;142(5):1227-36. Epub 2023 Sep 13. Access the on PubMed®.