These four videos tell the story of how seven regional Cooperatives worked with more than 5,000 clinicians at over 1,500 small- and medium-sized primary care practices to improve the delivery of heart health services to about 8 million patients.
News and Updates for Healthcare Professionals
Videos Tell the Story of EvidenceNOW: Advancing Heart Health
News Alert: Aspirin not recommended to prevent first heart attack or stroke, USPSTF says
Starting a daily aspirin regimen in people age 60 or older can cause potentially serious harm including internal bleeding, the USPSTF warned Tuesday.
AHRQ Initiatives Support Better Heart Health for All Americans
September 29 is World Heart Day — an observance that aims to improve how we understand, prevent, and manage heart disease. This annual event brings together health organizations across all sectors to turn the spotlight on a condition that each year kills more than 17 million people worldwide.
Disparities in opioid overdose deaths continue to worsen for Black people, study suggests
NIH-supported study underscores the need for racially inclusive approach to address the opioid crisis in hard-hit areas.
Interventional Treatments for Acute and Chronic Pain: Systematic Review
Vertebroplasty is probably more effective than sham or usual care for vertebral compression fractures for reducing pain and improving function in older (Medicare-eligible) populations, but benefits are small. Benefits are smaller in sham compared with usual care controlled trials and larger in trials of patients with more acute symptoms.
NIH HEAL Initiative: Research Meets the Moment to Address the Opioid Public Health Crisis
NIH leadership highlight the results and progress of number strategies to find scientific solutions to address the nation’s opioid crisis.
Final Recommendation Statement: Screening for Prediabetes and Type 2 Diabetes
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force released today a final recommendation statement on screening for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. The Task Force recommends screening people ages 35 to 70 with overweight or obesity for prediabetes and diabetes. To view the recommendation, the evidence on which it is based, and a summary for clinicians. The final recommendation statement can also be found in the August 24, 2021 online issue of JAMA.
A Call for Action to Achieve Health Equity
The urgent need to ensure equity in the American healthcare system is the subject of a new AHRQ Views blog authored by members of AHRQ’s National Advisory Council. The COVID-19 pandemic has starkly illustrated healthcare’s existing racial and ethnic disparities. With that in mind, the blog post’s authors—Edmondo J. Robinson, M.D., M.B.A., Peter J. Embí, M.D., M.S., Ramanathan Raju, M.D., M.B.A., and Yanling Yu, Ph.D.—emphasize the need to level the playing field by pursuing economic and social justice. To do so, we must fully understand the role of social determinants of health in outcomes and equity. Given AHRQ’s strength in healthcare data collection and research, the authors wrote, the Agency is in a perfect position to lead this effort. Only through improved integration and coordinated efforts across health and human services do the authors feel the Nation will create a holistic and equitable health care system for all.
Coming Soon: PCD Collection on Health Disparities and Position Statement on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
As part of its ongoing efforts to acknowledge, examine, and report on less-explored factors such as social determinants of health, including forms of racism that have resulted in the generational injustices, on August 12 PCD will release an important collection:“ Advancing Health Equity, Eliminating Health Disparities, and Improving Population Health.” Articles appearing in this collection represent 10 papers submitted in response to PCD’s call for papers for the collection, along with 7 articles previously published in the journal. All 17 of these articles underwent the journal’s rigorous peer-review process. In addition, this collection features a position statement on the journal’s commitment to advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in its scientific leadership, publications, and communication.
Since its establishment in 2004, PCD’s mission has been to promote dialogue among researchers, practitioners, and policy makers worldwide on the integration and application of research findings and practical experience to address health disparities, advance health equity, and improve population health. To be the most successful in this mission requires that PCD adapt to a changing vocabulary and embrace areas of scientific exploration to include not only familiar terms and constructs such as race and ethnicity, health disparities, health inequities, social economic position, and social determinants of health but also all forms of racism, including structural and institutional racism. PCD is well positioned to address chronic disease prevention and health promotion within this changing landscape. This collection, including PCD’s position statement, demonstrates some of the intentional steps the journal has taken to bring attention to these issues. Learn more in the complete PCD collection announcement.
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) 2020 Report to Congress (RTC)
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s 2020 Report to Congress (RTC). The Innovation Center is required by statute to report to Congress on its activities, at minimum, every other year. This is the Innovation Center’s fifth RTC and covers activities from October 1, 2018 through September 30, 2020. All of the Innovation Center’s Reports to Congress can be found here