The number of people treated in U.S. hospitals for illnesses and injuries from taking medicines jumped 52 percent between 2004 and 2008 – from 1.2 million to 1.9 million.
Hospital stays for uninsured patients jumped 21 percent between 2003 and 2008, after holding fairly steady during the previous 5 years.
Some medical and behavioral treatments may reduce certain behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders, but more research is needed to assess benefits and harms.
The proportion of poor adults age 40 and over with diabetes who had their blood sugar, eyes and feet examined at least once a year dropped from 39 percent to 23 percent between 2002 and 2007.
More than 75 million English-speaking adults in the United States have limited health literacy, making it difficult for them to understand and use basic health information.
HHS has released the National Quality Strategy, the first effort to create national aims and priorities to improve the quality of health care in the United States.
Screening for colorectal cancer improved among white, black, and Asian-Americans age 50 and over between 2000 and 2008.
U.S. community hospitals billed insurance companies and federal and state programs $1.2 trillion for inpatient care in 2008, a 28 percent increase over 2004.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force announces the appointments of Virginia A. Moyer, M.D., M.P.H., as chair, and Albert L. Siu, M.D., M.S.P.H., and Michael L. LeFevre, M.D., M.S.P.H., as co-vice chairs of the Task Force.
The number of patients who needed home health care after being discharged from hospitals surged by about 70 percent (2.3 million to 4 million) from 1997 to 2008.
More than 59 million Americans age 18 and older were diagnosed with high blood pressure in 2008.
The 2010 National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report have just been released.
Insurers and consumers spent $52.2 billion on prescription drugs in 2008 for outpatient treatment of metabolic conditions such as diabetes and elevated cholesterol.
Hospital staff in Michigan ICUs cut by more than 70 percent the rate of pneumonia in patients who are on ventilators by using a targeted quality improvement initiative.
Low-income Americans with COPD and those who lived in rural areas or the South or Midwest had the highest rates of hospitalization for symptoms of the disease.
Overall, an average of 3.7 million adults in the United States were treated for kidney disease each year between 2003 and 2007.
Older Americans who were treated in Michigan intensive care units (ICUs) saw larger decreases in their likelihood of dying while hospitalized than similar ICU patients in other Midwestern hospitals.
Roughly 3.4 million emergency department visits – an average of 9,400 a day – were specifically for back problems at U.S. hospitals in 2008.
Slightly over over 5 percent of the nearly 39 million Americans age 65 and older in 2007 reported one or more cognitive disorders, such as senility or dementia.
Hospital admissions of patients covered by Medicaid jumped by 30 percent between 1997 and 2008, compared to a 5 percent growth in those of patients with private health insurance.
In an update to its 2002 recommendation, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force now recommends that all women ages 65 and older be routinely screened for osteoporosis.
Roughly 60 million people -- 1 in 5 Americans -- have no usual source of medical care, such as a family doctor or clinic.
Approximately 19 million U.S. adults reported receiving treatment for diabetes in 2007, more than double the 9 million who said they received care in 1996.
Those who ranged in age from 75 to 84 years accounted for almost 14 percent of the 40 million admissions to U.S. hospitals in 2008, while those age 85 and older made up another 8 percent.
More than a quarter million women who gave birth in U.S. hospitals in 2008 had pre-existing diabetes or developed it during their pregnancy.
U.S. workers took an average of 14 sick days in 2007 due to their own illness or injury, and to care for a sick child or other family member.
The number of people admitted to the hospital because of dog bites increased by 86 percent – from 5,100 to 9,500 hospital stays – between 1993 and 2008.
Americans age 18 and older made over 98 million trips to hospital emergency departments in 2008 for problems ranging from broken bones to heart attacks.
AHRQ is funding $34 million in projects to help prevent healthcare-associated infections, one of the top 10 leading causes of death in the United States.
About one in 10 of the nearly 40 million hospitalizations in 2008 were potentially avoidable, if treated with appropriate outpatient care.
The proportion of Americans age 65 and older who were vaccinated against pneumonia increased from 53 percent to 58 percent, but the rate falls short of the goal of 90 percent.
The number of hospital admissions among Americans ages 45 and older for medication and drug-related conditions doubled between 1997 and 2008.
Hospital charges for the most expensive patient stays were most likely to be for treatment of blood infections, hardening of the arteries, or heart attacks.
Human growth hormone can be used successfully to treat some symptoms of cystic fibrosis, but its impact on the disease itself remains unknown.
AHRQ announced the award of $473 million in grants and contracts to support projects that will help people make health care decisions based on the best evidence of effectiveness.
American men with prostate cancer were 45 percent less likely to die from the disease in 2006 than they were in 1999. However, black men as a group were still at the highest rate of death.
Americans who were eligible for coverage under both Medicare and Medicaid in 2008 were hospitalized for bed sores, asthma and diabetes at more than twice the rate of other Medicare beneficiaries.
Between 1997 and 2007, the proportion of Americans treating their diabetes with oral medications increased from 60 percent to 77 percent; the proportion taking insulin decreased from 38 percent to 24 percent.
Two-thirds of the nation’s 1,131 public hospitals were in rural areas in 2008, but accounted for just 20 percent of the patients discharged from public hospitals that year.
AHRQ today released a series of free evidence-based guides designed to help Spanish speakers understand and compare the treatments for eight health conditions, including four for women.
Health care organizations should disclose medical mistakes that affect multiple patients even if patients were not harmed by the event.
Adults who developed health care-associated infections (HAIs) while in the hospital had to stay an average of 19 days longer than adults who didn't develop an infection.
U.S. hospitals spent $83 billion in 2008 caring for people with diabetes, nearly one of every five hospitalizations that year.
Between 2000 and 2006, the proportion of patients who died in the hospital after having heart bypass surgery fell from 42 to 24 deaths per 1,000 admissions.
A newer, less invasive method of heart valve replacement shows promise, but research is needed to understand its potential risks and benefits.
Treating back problems, one of the most bothersome medical problems, cost Americans more than $30 billion in 2007– up from $16 billion in 1997 (in 2007 dollars).
AHRQ's annual release of state-by-state data on health care quality now includes new data on health insurance categorized by source of payment.
The annual premium for a family health plan sponsored by an employer cost about 54 percent more in 2009 than it did in 2000.
Nearly 12 million visits made to U.S. hospital emergency departments in 2007 involved people with a mental disorder, substance abuse problem, or both.
The number of residents at nursing homes who were kept physically restrained dropped by more than half from 1999 to 2007.
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