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������ƵStats: Rates of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia

The rate of ventilator-associated pneumonia during inpatient stays increased by 20.1 percent between 2016 and 2019. (Source: ������ƵHealthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #313,  [PDF, 1 MB].)

Today’s Headlines

• ������ƵCelebrates National Public Health Week.
• AHRQ-Funded Researchers Identify Barriers to Pediatric Mental Health Care in Emergency Department Workflows.
• Recruitment for Safety Program for HAI Prevention Is Open Through June.
• New Research and Evidence From AHRQ.
• Register for Upcoming National Action Alliance Webinar.
• ������Ƶin the Professional Literature.

������ƵCelebrates National Public Health Week

During National Public Health Week, ������Ƶis highlighting research, tools and resources that will improve public health by increasing access and effectiveness across health systems.

• ������’s patient tools aim to reduce healthcare-associated infections and other harms, enhance outcomes and improve healthcare quality and safety across all settings.
• ������’s leverages technology to transform healthcare delivery, integrating digital tools to enhance patient care, streamline operations and improve safety.

Visit ������’s website to learn more about how the agency’s work has contributed to public health in the United States.

AHRQ-Funded Researchers Identify Barriers to Pediatric Mental Health Care in Emergency Department Workflows

An AHRQ-funded research project at four southeastern U.S. emergency departments (EDs) has identified 394 unique barriers to pediatric mental and behavioral healthcare in those EDs. The study, which was published in Applied Ergonomics, analyzed more than 5,500 pediatric behavioral health visits using a novel approach of mapping patient journey and caregiver workflow by tracking structural elements of healthcare delivery over the ED’s workflow timeline, observing the processes and interviewing the staff. When researchers categorized the visits into three core segments of patient engagement—arrival, evaluation and treatment plan and disposition—they identified 237 barriers that occurred during patient evaluation, 148 during delivery of treatment plans and disposition and just nine during patient arrival at the EDs, suggesting potential points for intervention. . 

Recruitment for Safety Program for HAI Prevention Is Open Through June

������Ƶis recruiting adult intensive care units (ICUs) and non-ICUs to participate in a free 9-month program to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) rates in acute care hospitals. Participants in the ������ƵSafety Program for HAI Prevention: CLABSI will receive free expert consultation to promote infection prevention procedures and patient safety culture, learn how to enhance teamwork and communication and receive regular benchmarking reports comparing their progress with similar units. Participants also will receive continuing education (CEU/CME) credits. Recruitment for the CLABSI cohort is open through June 11, 2025. An informational webinar is scheduled for April 21 from noon to 12:30 p.m. ET. Visit the  for more information about the program and upcoming informational webinars. 

New Research and Evidence From AHRQ

• Systematic Review: .
• Rapid Evidence Product: .
• Systematic Review (draft open for comment): .
• Systematic Review (draft open for comment): .
• Technical Brief: .

Register for Upcoming National Action Alliance Webinar

The “Safety Culture: Measuring and Responding” webinar is the final installment in the National Action Alliance Safety Culture in Healthcare series, taking place April 15 from noon to 1 p.m. ET. This session will explore strategies for assessing and strengthening safety culture using ������’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) and real-world applications. Attendees will gain insights into the latest pulse version of the Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPS) and the role of data tracking in quality improvement.  to advance patient safety in your organization. 

������Ƶin the Professional Literature

Association between hospital efficiency and quality of care among fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with prostate cancer: a retrospective cohort study. Chhatre S, Malkowicz SB, Vapiwala N, et al. Cancers 2024 Dec 13;16(24):4154. Access the  on PubMed®.

Potential implications of using locally validated risk factors for drug-resistant pathogens in patients with community-acquired pneumonia in US hospitals: a cross-sectional study. Gasoyan H, Deshpande A, Imrey PB, et al. Clin Infect Dis 2024 Nov 22;79(5):1277-82. Access the  on PubMed®.

Oregon community benefit reform influenced not-for-profit hospitals’ charity care and medical debt write-off. Santos T, Lindrooth RC, Lee SD, et al. Health Aff 2025 Feb;44(2):196-205. Access the on PubMed®.

Barriers to perioperative palliative care across Veterans Health Administration hospitals: a qualitative evaluation. Evans EE, Bradley SE, Vitous CA, et al. Am J Surg 2025 Mar;241:116063. Epub 2024 Nov 8. Access the on PubMed®.

Incidence of and risk factors for subsequent lower respiratory tract infection following an infant RSV hospitalization. Lee R, Ding T, Riddell CA, et al. Children 2025 Feb 2;12(2):183. Access the  on PubMed®.

An electronic health record metadata-mining approach to identifying patient-level interprofessional clinician teams in the intensive care unit. Yakusheva O, Khadr L, Lee KA, et al. J Am Med Inform Assoc 2025 Mar;32(3):426-34. Access the on PubMed®.

Nurse practitioner care environments and provider shortages among patients with multiple chronic conditions. McMenamin A, Turi E, Liu J, et al. Res Nurs Health 2025 Apr;48(2):271-80. Epub 2025 Jan 30. Access the  on PubMed®.

Co-created improvement goals and strategies for implementing SBIRT and MAUD in primary care settings in a facilitator-supported, tailored implementation study. Kenzie ES, Weekley T, Barnes C, et al. Transl Behav Med 2025 Jan 16;15(1):ibae059. Access the  on PubMed®.