Lance's Corner

AHRQ Issues Regulatory Update

Jun 3, 2025

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has issued its weekly regulatory update, which can be read below.

June 3, 2025, Issue #960

 

AHRQ Stats: U.S. Adults Treated for Diet-Related Conditions

An average of 84.1 million adults were treated for at least one major diet-related condition annually during 2021 and 2022. The majority, 76.4 million, received treatment for cardiovascular diseases, while 25.4 million people received treatment for diabetes and 2.6 million people received treatment for breast and colorectal cancer. (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #561, Expenditures for Key Diet-Related Health Conditions, 2021-2022.)

Today's Headlines:

Study Reveals Sharp Decline in Mothers' Mental Health

The percentage of mothers reporting “excellent” mental health dropped from 38 percent in 2016 to 26 percent in 2023, according to a new study in JAMA Internal Medicine. Using data from the National Survey of Children’s Health, researchers analyzed responses from 198,417 female biological or adoptive parents of children aged 0 to 17. During the same eight-year period, reports of “excellent” physical health declined from 28 percent to 24 percent. Mental health ratings were lower among mothers who were born in the United States, were single parents, had less education or had children who were publicly insured or uninsured. In contrast, fathers were more likely than mothers to report excellent mental and physical health, though their reports showed relatively similar declines throughout the study period. The authors suggest the decline in parents’ mental health may be an early warning sign of worsening mental health in the U.S. population, especially among women.

Breast Density Linked to Higher Cancer Risk

Women with dense breast tissue are more likely to develop breast cancer, according to a recent study co-funded by AHRQ and published in the American Journal of Epidemiology. Using data from 33,542 women in the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium, researchers used a novel approach to account for differences in how easily cancer is detected in dense versus nondense breast tissue. Even after adjusting for these differences, women with dense breasts were about 1.7 times as likely to have breast cancer. The findings support laws requiring patient notification and underscore the importance of discussing personalized screening options with a healthcare provider. Clinicians can use this research to better inform patients and guide decisions around screening and risk assessment. Access the abstract.

Measuring What Matters: SOPS Tools Capture Nursing Home Staff Views on Safety Culture

AHRQ’s Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) provide a standardized approach to enable healthcare facilities, researchers and policymakers to assess staff perceptions of patient safety culture in healthcare settings nationwide. The SOPS Program recently introduced updates to the Nursing Home Survey including a revised core survey, pilot test findings and updated results from the Workplace Safety Supplemental Items.
  • The new SOPS Nursing Home Survey 2.0 is shorter than the original 2008 survey, reducing the number of items from 44 to 25 while maintaining core areas such as Staffing, Handoffs and Information Exchange and Management Support. It also includes Speaking Up, which assesses whether staff feel comfortable voicing safety concerns.
  • A pilot test was conducted in 2024 with 1,341 respondents across 27 nursing homes, including administrators, nurses, nursing assistants, physicians, therapists and support staff. Among the findings: Speaking Up about safety concerns received the highest score at 86 percent positive, while staffing received the lowest score at 54 percent positive, reflecting ongoing concerns about workforce shortages and time constraints. Only 65 percent of respondents gave their nursing home an overall safety rating of Excellent or Very Good.
  • Updated results from the 2025 Workplace Safety Supplemental Items reflect input from 3,683 staff across 72 nursing homes. These items, which are meant to complement the SOPS Nursing Home Survey by focusing on staff workplace safety culture, show mixed results. For example, 89 percent of respondents felt adequately equipped to move patients safely, but only 57 percent positively rated interactions among staff.
Learn more about the new survey and latest results.

Access the New Quality Indicators Software Repository

AHRQ is excited to announce the launch of its Quality Indicators Software Repository, an open-source community designed to foster collaboration, innovation and improvements to the programming code used to calculate the AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs). The repository will be a dedicated space for users to collaborate, share knowledge, suggest improvements, submit code modifications and contribute to measure refinements. The platform will serve as a hub for discussions, information exchange and cross-collaboration for users of the AHRQ QIs. Access the repository.

Learn More About the AHRQ Safety Program for HAI Prevention: CLABSI—Webinar Recording Available

Central-line associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI) affect about 30,000 hospital patients each year. To address this serious threat, the AHRQ Safety Program for Healthcare-Associated Infection Prevention is recruiting adult intensive care units and non-intensive care units to join a new CLABSI prevention cohort. In informational webinars held May 8 and 14, Valeria Fabre, M.D., co-investigator of the program and associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University, outlined how the program’s evidence-based strategies, expert coaching, benchmarking reports and other resources can help reduce CLABSI rates and strengthen teamwork and safety culture. Responding to webinar participants’ questions, Dr. Fabre explained that implementation advisors guide facilities through each step—from building staff buy-in to streamlining data collection. She noted that hospitals can share data already submitted to the National Healthcare Safety Network. Visit the website to access the presentation or register for an upcoming webinar on June 5, 11 or 24. Apply by June 30 to reduce CLABSI at your acute care facility.

Register for Upcoming Webinars

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Framework to Assist Stakeholders in Technology Evaluation for Recovery (FASTER) to mental health and wellness. Agarwal S, Jalan M, Hill R, et al. BMC Health Serv Res. 2025 Apr 30;25(1):623. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Using patient journey mapping and provider workflows to understand process barriers to pediatric mental and behavioral health care in emergency departments. Soman DA, Koscelny SN, Neyens D, et al. Appl Ergon. 2025 Jul;126:104512. Epub 2025 Mar 28. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

A scoping review of machine learning models to predict risk of falls in elders, without using sensor data. Capodici A, Fanconi C, Curtin C, et al. Diagn Progn Res. 2025 May 6;9(1):11. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Bringing team science to the ambulatory diagnostic process: how do patients and clinicians develop shared mental models? Samost-Williams A, Thomas EJ, Lounsbury O, et al. Diagnosis. 2025 Feb 1;12(1):25-34. Epub 2024 Oct 21. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Surgical second opinion for pancreatic cancer patients. Quinn PL, Nikahd M, Saiyed S, et al. J Am Coll Surg. 2025 Mar;240(3):270-8. Epub 2025 Feb 14. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Charting diagnostic safety: exploring patient-provider discordance in medical record documentation. Giardina TD, Vaghani V, Upadhyay DK, et al. J Gen Intern Med. 2025 Mar;40(4):773-81. Epub 2024 Sep 5. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Real-time symptom monitoring using electronic patient-reported outcomes: a prospective study protocol to improve safety during care transitions for patients with multiple chronic conditions. Plombon S, Rudin RS, Rodriguez J, et al. J Hosp Med. 2025 May;20(5):534-43. Epub 2025 Feb 16. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Adapting a risk prediction tool for neonatal opioid withdrawal syndrome. Reese TJ, Wiese AD, Leech AA, et al. Pediatrics. 2025 Apr;155(4):e2024068673. Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Contact Information
For comments or questions about AHRQ News Now, contact Karen Fleming-Michael at Karen.FlemingMichael@ahrq.hhs.gov or (301) 427-1798.

 

USDOL Issues Comprehensive Employer Guidance on Long COVID

The United States Department of Labor (USDOL) has issued a comprehensive set of resources that can be accessed below for employers on dealing with Long COVID.

Supporting Employees with Long COVID: A Guide for Employers

The “Supporting Employees with Long COVID” guide from the USDOL-funded Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) and Job Accommodation Network (JAN) addresses the basics of Long COVID, including its intersection with mental health, and common workplace supports for different symptoms.  It also explores employers’ responsibilities to provide reasonable accommodations and answers frequently asked questions about Long COVID and employment, including inquiries related to telework and leave.

Download the guide

Accommodation and Compliance: Long COVID

The Long COVID Accommodation and Compliance webpage from the USDOL-funded Job Accommodation Network (JAN) helps employers and employees understand strategies for supporting workers with Long COVID.  Topics include Long COVID in the context of disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), specific accommodation ideas based on limitations or work-related functions, common situations and solutions, and questions to consider when identifying effective accommodations for employees with Long COVID.  Find this and other Long COVID resources from JAN, below:

Long COVID, Disability and Underserved Communities: Recommendations for Employers

The research-to-practice brief “Long COVID, Disability and Underserved Communities” synthesizes an extensive review of documents, literature and data sources, conducted by the USDOL-funded Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) on the impact of Long COVID on employment, with a focus on demographic differences.  It also outlines recommended actions organizations can take to create a supportive and inclusive workplace culture for people with Long COVID, especially those with disabilities who belong to other historically underserved groups.

Read the brief

Long COVID and Disability Accommodations in the Workplace

The policy brief “Long COVID and Disability Accommodations in the Workplace” explores Long COVID’s impact on the workforce and provides examples of policy actions different states are taking to help affected people remain at work or return when ready.  It was developed by the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) as part of its involvement in USDOL’s State Exchange on Employment and Disability (SEED) initiative.

Download the policy brief

Understanding and Addressing the Workplace Challenges Related to Long COVID

The report “Understanding and Addressing the Workplace Challenges Related to Long COVID” summarizes key themes and takeaways from an ePolicyWorks national online dialogue through which members of the public were invited to share their experiences and insights regarding workplace challenges posed by Long COVID.  The dialogue took place during summer 2022 and was hosted by USDOL and its agencies in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Surgeon General.

Download the report

Working with Long COVID

The USDOL-published “Working with Long COVID” fact sheet shares strategies for supporting workers with Long COVID, including accommodations for common symptoms and resources for further guidance and assistance with specific situations.

Download the fact sheet

COVID-19: Long-Term Symptoms

This USDOL motion graphic informs workers with Long COVID that they may be entitled to temporary or long-term supports to help them stay on the job or return to work when ready, and shares where they can find related assistance.

Watch the motion graphic

A Personal Story of Long COVID and Disability Disclosure

In the podcast “A Personal Story of Long COVID and Disability Disclosure,” Pam Bingham, senior program manager for Intuit’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in Tech team, shares her personal experience of navigating Long COVID symptoms at work.  The segment was produced by the USDOL-funded Partnership on Employment and Accessible Technology (PEAT) as part of its ongoing “Future of Work” podcast series.

Listen to the podcast

HHS OIG Issues Annual Report on State MFCUs

Per the notice below, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has issued its annual report on the performance of state Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs).

Medicaid Fraud Control Units Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report (OEI-09-24-00200) 

Medicaid Fraud Control Units (MFCUs) investigate and prosecute Medicaid provider fraud and patient abuse or neglect. OIG is the Federal agency that oversees and annually approves federal funding for MFCUs through a recertification process. This new report analyzed the statistical data on annual case outcomes—such as convictions, civil settlements and judgments, and recoveries—that the 53 MFCUs submitted for Fiscal Year 2023.  New York data is as follows:

Outcomes

  • Investigations1 - 556
  • Indicted/Charged - 9
  • Convictions - 8
  • Civil Settlements/Judgments - 28
  • Recoveries2 - $73,204,518

Resources

  • MFCU Expenditures3 - $55,964,293
  • Staff on Board4 - 257

1Investigations are defined as the total number of open investigations at the end of the fiscal year.

2Recoveries are defined as the amount of money that defendants are required to pay as a result of a settlement, judgment, or prefiling settlement in criminal and civil cases and may not reflect actual collections.  Recoveries may involve cases that include participation by other Federal and State agencies.

3MFCU and Medicaid Expenditures include both State and Federal expenditures.

4Staff on Board is defined as the total number of staff employed by the Unit at the end of the fiscal year.

Read the Full Report

View the Statistical Chart

Engage with the Interactive Map

GAO Issues Report on Medicaid Managed Care Service Denials and Appeal Outcomes

The United States Government Accountability Office (GAO) has issued a report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes.  GAO found that federal oversight is limited because it doesn't require states to report on Medicaid managed care service denials or appeal outcomes and there has not been much progress on plans to analyze and make the data publicly available.  To read the GAO report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes, use the first link below.  To read GAO highlights of the report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes, use the second link below.
https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106627.pdf  (GAO report on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes)
https://www.gao.gov/assets/d24106627_high.pdf  (GAO highlights on federal use of state data on Medicaid managed care service denials and appeal outcomes)

CMS Issues Latest Medicare Regulatory Activities Update

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued its latest update on its regulatory activities in the Medicare program.  While dentistry is only minimally connected to the Medicare program, Medicare drives the majority of health care policies and insurance reimbursement policies throughout the country.  Therefore, it always pays to keep a close eye on what CMS is doing in Medicare.  To read the latest CMS update on its regulatory activities in Medicare, use the link below.
https://www.cms.gov/training-education/medicare-learning-network/newsletter/2024-03-14-mlnc