National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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- (-) Access to Care (13)
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- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (3)
- Respiratory Conditions (1)
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- Uninsured (4)
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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 13 of 13 Research Studies DisplayedLewis VA, Spivack S, Murray GF
FQHC designation and safety net patient revenue associated with primary care practice capabilities for access and quality.
Researchers assessed capabilities around access to and quality of care among primary care practices serving a high share of Medicaid and uninsured patients compared to practices serving a low share of these patients. Data from the National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems was analyzed. They found that federally qualified health centers were more likely than other types of primary care practices (both safety net practices and other practices) to possess capabilities related to access and quality. However, safety net practices were less likely than non-safety net practices to possess health information technology capabilities.
AHRQ-funded; HS024075.
Citation: Lewis VA, Spivack S, Murray GF .
FQHC designation and safety net patient revenue associated with primary care practice capabilities for access and quality.
J Gen Intern Med 2021 Oct;36(10):2922-28. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-06746-0..
Keywords: Vulnerable Populations, Primary Care, Access to Care, Uninsured, Medicaid, Quality of Care
Leeds IL, Jones C, DiBrito SR
Delay in emergency hernia surgery is associated with worse outcomes.
The purpose of this study was to determine if the variation in timing of urgent surgery impacts surgical outcomes. The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP) database was searched for emergent surgeries in 2011-2016 for abdominal hernia resulting in obstruction or gangrene by primary post-op diagnosis. Findings showed that delayed surgery was associated with increased rates of major complications, longer operative times, longer postoperative lengths of stay, increased re-operations, increased readmissions, and increased 30-day mortality. Next-day surgery and surgery delayed more than one day were associated with increased odds of a major complication.
AHRQ-funded; HS024547.
Citation: Leeds IL, Jones C, DiBrito SR .
Delay in emergency hernia surgery is associated with worse outcomes.
Surg Endosc 2020 Oct;34(10):4562-73. doi: 10.1007/s00464-019-07245-4..
Keywords: Surgery, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care, Critical Care, Access to Care, Digestive Disease and Health, Outcomes
Lee H, Caldwell JT, Maene C
Racial/ethnic inequities in access to high-quality dialysis treatment in Chicago: does neighborhood racial/ethnic composition matter?
Investigators examined whether neighborhood racial composition contributes to racial/ethnic inequities in access to high-quality dialysis care in Chicago. Data from the United States Renal Data System was merged with the ESRD Quality Incentive Program file and the American Community Survey (2005-2009) for facility and neighborhood characteristics. The investigators concluded that expanding opportunities for Blacks and Hispanics to gain access to racially integrated and minority neighborhoods may help alleviate racial/ethnic inequities in access to quality care among kidney disease patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS00078.
Citation: Lee H, Caldwell JT, Maene C .
Racial/ethnic inequities in access to high-quality dialysis treatment in Chicago: does neighborhood racial/ethnic composition matter?
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2020 Oct;7(5):854-64. doi: 10.1007/s40615-020-00708-8..
Keywords: Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Access to Care, Urban Health, Dialysis, Disparities, Quality of Care, Kidney Disease and Health
Ellis RJ, Schlick CJR, Feinglass J
Failure to administer recommended chemotherapy: acceptable variation or cancer care quality blind spot?
This study examined hospital variation in cancer patients who did not receive recommended chemotherapy. Patients with breast, colon, and lung cancers who did not receive chemotherapy from 2000 to 2015 were identified from the National Cancer Database. A total of 183,148 patients at 1281 hospitals were included. For breast cancer, 3.5% of patients failed to receive recommended chemotherapy, and 6.6% with colon, and 10.7% with lung cancer. Sociodemographic factors showed that patients were less likely to receive chemotherapy if they were uninsured or on Medicaid, as were non-Hispanic black patients with both breast and colon cancer. There was also significant hospital variation with failure to administer as high as 21.8% for breast, 40.2% for colon, and 40.0% for lung cancer.
AHRQ-funded; HS000078; HS026385.
Citation: Ellis RJ, Schlick CJR, Feinglass J .
Failure to administer recommended chemotherapy: acceptable variation or cancer care quality blind spot?
BMJ Qual Saf 2020 Feb;29(2):103-12. doi: 10.1136/bmjqs-2019-009742..
Keywords: Treatments, Cancer, Healthcare Delivery, Access to Care, Healthcare Utilization, Social Determinants of Health, Vulnerable Populations, Uninsured, Hospitals, Quality of Care
Harris VC, Links AR, Kim JM
Follow-up and time to treatment in an urban cohort of children with sleep-disordered breathing.
The purpose of this study was to evaluate follow-up and timing of sleep-disordered breathing diagnosis and treatment in urban children referred from primary care. Researchers found that half of the children referred for sleep-disordered breathing evaluation are lost to follow-up from primary care. Obstructive sleep apnea severity did not predict follow-up or timeliness of treatment. They conclude that these findings suggest social determinants may pose barriers to care in addition to the clinical burden of sleep-disordered breathing.
AHRQ-funded; HS022932.
Citation: Harris VC, Links AR, Kim JM .
Follow-up and time to treatment in an urban cohort of children with sleep-disordered breathing.
Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 2018 Aug;159(2):371-78. doi: 10.1177/0194599818772035..
Keywords: Access to Care, Children/Adolescents, Disparities, Healthcare Delivery, Patient-Centered Healthcare, Quality of Care, Respiratory Conditions, Sleep Problems, Urban Health
Cole MB, Wright B, Wilson IB
Medicaid expansion and community health centers: care quality and service use increased for rural patients.
Investigators studied the impact of Medicaid expansion in rural areas. Data from 2011-2015 found that there was an 11.4% decline in uninsured patients and a 13.5% increase in Medicaid patients at community health centers (CHCs). Relative improvements were shown in patients with chronic conditions such as asthma and hypertension; and an increase in visits for mammograms and substance abuse disorders.
AHRQ-funded; HS024652.
Citation: Cole MB, Wright B, Wilson IB .
Medicaid expansion and community health centers: care quality and service use increased for rural patients.
Health Aff 2018 Jun;37(6):900-07. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2017.1542..
Keywords: Medicaid, Community-Based Practice, Rural Health, Access to Care, Quality of Care, Healthcare Utilization, Primary Care
Goff SL, Mazor KM, Guhn-Knight H
Factors that matter to low-income and racial/ethnic minority mothers when choosing a pediatric practice: a mixed methods analysis.
The authors sought to understand potential barriers to using quality data by assessing what factors mattered to women when choosing a pediatric practice. They found that pediatrician characteristics and factors related to access to care may be more important to low-income and racial/ethnic minority women than more commonly reported quality metrics.
AHRQ-funded; HS021864.
Citation: Goff SL, Mazor KM, Guhn-Knight H .
Factors that matter to low-income and racial/ethnic minority mothers when choosing a pediatric practice: a mixed methods analysis.
J Racial Ethn Health Disparities 2017 Dec;4(6):1051-60. doi: 10.1007/s40615-016-0309-x.
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Keywords: Access to Care, Quality of Care, Low-Income, Children/Adolescents, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Ndumele CD, Cohen MS, Cleary PD
Association of state access standards with accessibility to specialists for Medicaid managed care enrollees.
The researchers compared ratings of access to specialists for adult Medicaid and commercial enrollees before and after the implementation of specialty access standards. Overall, there was no significant improvement in timely access to specialty services for Medicaid managed care enrollees in the period following implementation of standard(s) nor was there any impact of access standards on insurance-based disparities in access.
AHRQ-funded; HS016978; HS017589.
Citation: Ndumele CD, Cohen MS, Cleary PD .
Association of state access standards with accessibility to specialists for Medicaid managed care enrollees.
JAMA Intern Med 2017 Oct;177(10):1445-51. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.3766.
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Keywords: Access to Care, Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), Quality of Care, Health Insurance, Patient Experience
Barnett ML, Linder JA, Clark CR
Low-value medical services in the safety-net population.
The objective of this study was to measure rates of low-value care and high-value care received by patients without insurance or with Medicaid, compared with privately insured patients, and provided by safety-net physicians vs non-safety-net physicians. The study concluded that rates of low-value and high-value care were similar among physicians serving vulnerable patients and other physicians. Overuse of low-value care is a potentially important focus for state Medicaid programs and safety-net institutions to pursue cost savings and improved quality of health care delivery.
AHRQ-funded; HS021291.
Citation: Barnett ML, Linder JA, Clark CR .
Low-value medical services in the safety-net population.
JAMA Intern Med 2017 Jun;177(6):829-37. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2017.0401..
Keywords: Access to Care, Uninsured, Medicaid, Quality of Care
Cole MB, Galarraga O, Wilson IB
At federally funded health centers, Medicaid expansion was associated with improved quality of care.
In 2014 many uninsured, low-income nonelderly adults gained access to health insurance in states that expanded Medicaid eligibility under the Affordable Care Act. The researchers used a difference-in-differences approach to compare changes among 1,057 such centers in expansion versus nonexpansion States. Medicaid expansion was associated with improved quality for asthma treatment, Pap testing, body mass index assessment, and hypertension control.
AHRQ-funded; HS024652.
Citation: Cole MB, Galarraga O, Wilson IB .
At federally funded health centers, Medicaid expansion was associated with improved quality of care.
Health Aff 2017 Jan;36(1):40-48. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2016.0804.
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Keywords: Quality of Care, Policy, Uninsured, Low-Income, Access to Care
Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Schwebel DC
Relationship between adolescent report of patient-centered care and of quality of primary care.
This study investigated whether adolescent self-report of patient-centered care (PCC) varied by patient characteristics and whether receipt of PCC is associated with measures of adolescent primary care quality. It found that adolescent-reported PCC positively correlates with measures of high-quality adolescent primary care. The study provides support for using adolescent-report of PCC as a measure of adolescent primary care quality.
AHRQ-funded; HS020513.
Citation: Toomey SL, Elliott MN, Schwebel DC .
Relationship between adolescent report of patient-centered care and of quality of primary care.
Acad Pediatr 2016 Nov - Dec;16(8):770-76. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2016.01.006.
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Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Primary Care, Clinician-Patient Communication, Quality of Care, Access to Care
Ray KN, Chari AV, Engberg J
Disparities in time spent seeking medical care in the United States.
The researchers assessed how time associated with medical visits varied across socioeconomic variables and visit characteristics. They determined that patients spent on average 123 minutes obtaining medical care, including 86 minutes of clinic time and 38 minutes travel time. Clinic time was significantly longer for racial/ethnic minorities, individuals with less education, and unemployed individuals.
AHRQ-funded; HS022989.
Citation: Ray KN, Chari AV, Engberg J .
Disparities in time spent seeking medical care in the United States.
JAMA Intern Med 2015 Dec;175(12):1983-6. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2015.4468..
Keywords: Disparities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Social Determinants of Health, Access to Care, Quality of Care
Sharma R, Lebrun-Harris LA, Ngo-Metzger Q
AHRQ Author: Ngo-Metzger Q
Costs and clinical quality among Medicare beneficiaries: associations with health center penetration of low-income residents.
The authors determined the association between access to primary care by the underserved and Medicare spending and clinical quality across hospital referral regions (HRRs). They found that, compared with elderly fee-for-service beneficiaries residing in areas with low-penetration of health center patients among low-income residents, those residing in high-penetration areas may accrue Medicare cost savings.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Sharma R, Lebrun-Harris LA, Ngo-Metzger Q .
Costs and clinical quality among Medicare beneficiaries: associations with health center penetration of low-income residents.
Medicare Medicaid Res Rev 2014 Sep 8;4(3). doi: 10.5600/mmrr.004.03.a05.
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Keywords: Access to Care, Community-Based Practice, Quality of Care, Low-Income, Medicare