Full Research Reports

Design and Evaluation of Three Administration on Aging (AoA) Programs: Chronic Disease Self-Management Program Evaluation Design: Final Evaluation Design Report. May 2011.
This report evaluates the effectiveness of the Stanford University Chronic Disease Self-Management Programs (CDSMP), as administered by the AoA.

Environmental Scan of Patient Safety Education and Training Programs: Contract Final Report. June 2013.
This report presents the results of an environmental scan of existing patient safety education and training programs. It presents data collected and cataloged on 333 current, active, and recurring patient safety education and training programs; a characterization of those programs by various factors, including sponsor, target audience, program objectives, delivery method, duration, and cost; and recommendations for potential future patient safety education and training efforts. (13-0051-EF)

Evaluation of ARRA Comparative Effectiveness Research Dissemination Contract Efforts: Consumer and Clinician Survey Analysis Report: Second Survey Administration and Longitudinal Report, October 2013.
The goal of the evaluation contract was to assess secular trends in consumer and clinician awareness of Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) and specific CER topics. Specifically, the data collection effort was to ascertain 1) if and how levels of awareness, understanding, use, and perceived benefits of CER are changing and 2) trends in awareness of AHRQ's EHC Program. Using a computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey and a mail survey, respectively, IMPAQ/Battelle assessed levels of awareness and use of CER among consumers and clinicians at two points in time. This report focuses on the second data collection phase (wave 2) and presents a longitudinal analysis of the wave 1 and wave 2 consumer and clinician survey data.

Evaluation of ARRA Supported Grantee Efforts to Implement and Spread CER Findings: Final Report, November 2014.
This report includes the Final Summative Evaluation Webinar description and agenda, the written Webinar transcript, and Powerpoint slide sets from the Webinar presentations, including a list of tools and resources that each of the 6 grantee sites developed or adapted.

Evaluation of Health IT Tools and Resources Available at the AHRQ NRC for Health IT Web Site: Final Report. July 2013.
This guide introduces literacy challenges and states the importance of ensuring that health information technology addresses the needs of as many users as possible, including those with limited access to technology or limited literacy. It provides some examples of health IT specifically geared toward individuals with limited literacy, identifies principles of accessible and usable health IT, provides a list of additional resources, and includes a checklist intended to help purchasers and developers identify best practices when purchasing or designing systems that support patients, especially those who might have limited literacy or limited access to health IT.

Evaluation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force Recommendations: Final Report. December 2007.
The Interagency Working Group on Health Care Quality (IWG) ensures that Federal agencies work in a coordinated way toward the common goal of improving the quality of care. (08-M011-EF)

Evaluation of the Use of AHRQ and Other Quality Indicators: Final Contract Report. December 2007.
This report the uses of, market for, and demand for AHRQ and other Quality Indicators. (08-M012-EF)

Future Directions for the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports: Institute of Medicine Report. December 2010.
IOM Report on the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. (11-0026-EF)

Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: Environmental Scan Report. May 2012.
This report presents the results of an environmental scan conducted by AIR to serve as a foundation for the development of the Guide to Patient and Family Engagement. (12-0042-EF)

Health Care Systems for Tracking Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests: Final Report. December 2010.
This report summarizes the experience of the CNA Health ACTION (Accelerating Change and Transformation in Organizations and Networks) Partnership in implementing and assessing a health care intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening and followup. This report also contains a description of dissemination plans and efforts to date to spread the uptake of this intervention to other health care settings. (11-0016-1-EF)

Hispanic Diabetes Disparities Learning Network in Community Health Centers. March 2008.
Hispanics have a higher prevalence of diabetes and are disproportionately burdened with the complications and disability from diabetes. This report describes the development of a learning network project that included interventions and needs assessments at community health centers to help reduce the diabetes disparity in the Hispanic population. (08-0044-EF)

Improving Patient Flow and Reducing Emergency Department Crowding: A Guide for Hospitals. October 2011.
This guide presents step-by-step instructions that can be used by hospitals in planning and implementing patient flow improvement strategies to ease emergency department crowding. (11(12)-0094)

Improving the Measurement of Surgical Site Infection Risk Stratification/Outcome Detection
This final contract report was commissioned in 2009 with the objective of developing techniques to improve the identification and surveillance of likely cases of surgical site infection using data on four common procedures (hernia repair, coronary artery bypass grafts, and hip and knee arthroplasty)

Patient Self-Management Support Programs: An Evaluation: Final Contract Report. November 2007.
This report identifies and examines factors that purchasers and builders of self-management support programs should consider when they are deciding on program components. (08-0011)

Practice-Based Research Network Reports on Community Acquired Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. March 2011.
AHRQ's Practice-Based Research Networks in Colorado, Iowa, and North Carolina conducted 2-year projects related to infections caused by community acquired methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. (11-0007-1-EF, 11-0007-2-EF, and 11-0007-3-EF)

Prospects for Care Coordination Measurement Using Electronic Data Sources. March 2012.
This report presents an assessment of the potential for measuring care coordination processes using data from electronic data sources. (12-0014-EF)

Race, Ethnicity, and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement: Institute of Medicine Report. March 2010.
IOM Report on the National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. (10-0058-EF)

The National Health Plan Collaborative: Overview of Its Origins, Accomplishments, and Lessons Learned: Final Report. September 2009.
This report summarizes findings from the evaluation of the NHPC. (09-0078-EF)

Proactive Risk Assessment of Surgical Site Infection in Ambulatory Surgery Centers: Final Contract Report. April 2013.
This report has two primary objectives: using proactive risk assessment, to identify the realm of risk factors associated with surgical site infections resulting from procedures performed at ambulatory surgery centers; and to design an intervention to reduce the likelihood of such infections due the most common risk factors identified by the proactive risk assessment.  (12-0046)

Women With Diabetes: Quality of Health Care, 2004-2005. November 2008.
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, November 2008, 92 pp. Uses national data sets to show gaps in knowledge about quality of care among women with diagnosed diabetes. Examines quality of care for U.S. women with and without diagnosed diabetes and presents 15 measures of health care quality showing the use of services in several areas. (08(09)-0099)