Methods Minute
Welcome to the August 2012 installment of the HSR Methods Minute, AcademyHealth’s e-newsletter
providing up-to-date news and information on HSR data and methods.
Highlights...
New Call for Papers on Mixed Methods in Healthcare
Delivery Systems Research
HSR, in collaboration with the Agency for Healthcare Research
and Quality (AHRQ) has opened a call for papers on mixed
methods in healthcare delivery systems research for an
upcoming special issue. AHRQ and HSR aim to encourage
researchers to apply these methods to delivery systems research
and further develop the available methodologies for mixed
methods research. The deadline for receipt of manuscripts is
October 15, 2012.
New EPC Report on Qualitative Methods Available for
Comment
Read and comment on the AHRQ Effective Health Care Program
(EPC) Program report, titled “Handling Continuous Outcomes in
Quantitative Synthesis.” This report is part of the Methods Guide
for Comparative Effectiveness Research and comments are due
by September 4, 2012.
Recent Publications & Presentations…
Free Electronic Data Methods
(EDM) Forum Webinar!
Join us for a free EDM Forum webinar that will
address the critical role of computer applications in
collecting, processing, and representing medical data
for use in CER and PCOR. Presentations will discuss
current peer-reviewed literature at the intersection of
clinical informatics and CER; the tradeoffs inherent to
data collect across a variety of strategies, including
mobile devices; a comparison of six different clinical
informatics technology platforms that are currently
used for research; and an approach to assessing the
desirable characteristics of data models that can be
used for CER. This webinar will feature authors from
the EDM Forum’s Medical Care free, open access
supplement released in June.
Registration is free, but required.
*The EDM Forum aims to advance the national
dialogue on the use of electronic clinical data for the
conduct of CER, PCOR, quality improvement, and
clinical decision support. Resources, issue briefs,
upcoming events, and webinars are available
through the EDM Forum website. The EDM Forum is
supported by a three-year grant from the Agency for
Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
Best of ARM 2012 Compilation Now Available
A selection of the most popular sessions at this year’s Annual
Research Meeting is now available for registered participants.
One session of particular interest may be, “Methodology
Committee of the PCORI: 2012 Proposed Standards,
Implications, and Future Directions.” Registered participants will
need to log into their AcademyHealth account in order to view these sessions.
SHADAC Data Center Updates Employer-Sponsored Insurance Tables for 2011
The State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) updated its Data Center estimates related to employersponsored insurance (ESI) in firms with 50 to 99 employees to include estimates from the 2011 MEPS-IC tables, which
have been released on the MEPS Website. The Data Center includes three sets of ESI tables (with separate tables by
firm size for each state): (1) availability and enrollment in ESI; (2) premiums and employee contributions for ESI; and (3)
enrollee cost-sharing for ESI.
Webinar: Overview of HCUP Databases
The AHRQ Healthcare Cost Utilization Project (HCUP) will host the first of a two-part webinar series on HCUP databases,
products, and tools. This one-hour session will introduce health services and policy researchers to the HCUP databases
and related resources that can enhance their research studies by providing a general overview of the HCUP databases.
Registration opens today, August 22, 2012 and the webinar will take place on August 29, 2012.
Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) Includes Two New SHADAC Variables
IPUMS now has American Community Survey variables for SHADAC's Health Insurance Unit (HIU) and Federal Poverty
Guidelines (FPG) concepts for the 2008, 2009 and 2010 survey years. The HIU is a new tool that allows analysts to run
coverage estimates based on family units that reflect common dependent coverage practices and public program eligibility
rules. For more information on the HIU see SHADAC's brief "Defining ‘Family’ for Studies of Health Insurance Coverage."
The IPUMS data are available at this link and include the following new variables: HIUFPGBASE, HIUFPGINC, HIURULE,
HIUID, and HIUNPERS. Refer to this example of how to calculate HIU family income as a percent of the federal poverty
guidelines
Webinar: A Methodology for Conducting Rapid Evidence Reviews
This webinar, conducted by Dr. David Moher from the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, explored the use of rapid
reviews for knowledge synthesis and how the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute uses rapid reviews in their practice.
Upcoming Events...
AHRQ Annual Conference
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ's) Annual Conference will showcase the best of the Agency's
research and provides examples of how that research is being implemented at all levels in health care delivery. The
conference will take place from September 9-11 in Bethesda, MD. Registration closes on August 31, 2012.
Webinar Series: Leveraging Mobile Health (mHealth) Solutions for HSR
Join AcademyHealth for a free, four-part webinar series that will identify opportunities to leverage mHealth tools to solve
practical needs of health services researchers, address potential challenges and barriers to using mobile devices to
support HSR, and discuss how using a mobile solution can result in rigorous, publishable findings. The first session,
taking place on September 10, 2012, will demonstrate how useful HSR data can be collected quickly, reliably, and
affordably using innovative new tools.
Webinar: Overview of the HCUP Products and Tools
This one-hour session will introduce health services and policy researchers to the HCUP products and tools that facilitate
research, with a particular emphasis on HCUPnet, the free online data query system. The session will take place on
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at 2:00 PM ET and registration for this webinar will open on Wednesday, September
5, 2012.
National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP) Annual State Health Policy Conference
Registration is now open for NASHP's 25th Annual State Health Policy Conference, to be held October 15-17 in
Baltimore, MD. The conference theme this year is "Promoting Excellence Today and Tomorrow".
Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS)
G-I-N North America is co-sponsoring with the Section on Evidence Based Health Care (SEBHC) of The New York
Academy of Medicine a two-day conference on "Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice and Stakeholders
(E-GAPPS)." The conference will be held December 10-11, 2012 in New York City. Registration is open and conference
information is available at http://www.nyam.org/egapps2012.