The latest edition of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Chartbook on Patient Safety shows a decline in health care gaps and highlights efforts by hospitals to reduce hospital-acquired conditions (HACs).
The chartbook is a supplement to the larger National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports. The latest edition includes information on quality of patient care, with greater detail about the 17 percent decline in hospital-acquired conditions reported in December 2015.
Additionally, the chartbook presents data on health care disparities experienced by racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups. Many disparities persist, however some gaps are becoming less pronounced over time, including the elimination of a difference in measured, postoperative catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) in Hispanic and non-Hispanic white patients.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services continues to promote hospitals’ efforts to reduce the prevalence of HACs, including through AHRQ’s Healthcare-Associated Infections program.
Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
