Research Activities, January 2013: Agency News and Notes: AHRQ report examines the effect of quality improvement interventions on palliative care

Research Activities, January 2013: Agency News and Notes: AHRQ report examines the effect of quality improvement interventions on palliative care

AHRQ report examines the effect of quality improvement interventions on palliative care

Patient education and self-management can help to reduce pain in patients with advanced and serious illnesses, according to a new report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on the impact of quality improvement interventions on palliative care. The authors, who are with the AHRQ-supported Johns Hopkins University Evidence-based Practice Center in Baltimore and were led by Sydney M. Dy, MD, also reviewed the evidence for the impact of quality improvement strategies on quality of life, patient or family satisfaction, health care utilization, and other outcomes. For details, go to Improving Health Care and Palliative Care for Advanced and Serious Illness. Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science at http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/gappallcaretp.htm.
The report is part of the Closing the Quality Gap: Revisiting the State of the Science series and builds on an earlier AHRQ series of evidence reports, Closing the Quality Gap: A Critical Analysis of Quality Improvement Strategies. To see the full list of completed AHRQ evidence reports, go to http://www.ahrq.gov/clinic/epc/epcseries.htm.