NYSDA Publications

AHRQ Issues Regulatory Update

Jun 24, 2025

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

AHRQ News Now title banner with AHRQ.gov URL

June 24, 2025 | Issue #963

In This Week's Issue: Digital healthcare webinar; screening toolkit for urinary incontinence; chronic liver disease forecast; patient safety webinar recording

July 17 Webinar: Empower Patients Through Digital Healthcare Tools

AHRQ hosts a webinar on July 17, 2025, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. ET, to explore how digital health tools can empower patients to take an active role in their health and drive meaningful, sustainable behavior change.  The panel will examine how clinical decision support systems, artificial intelligence-powered platforms, and mobile health apps can help healthcare providers engage patients in managing chronic conditions and making informed decisions about their health.

The webinar will feature research from the following panelists:

  • May May Leung, Ph.D., R.D.N., associate professor, chair, Division of Nutrition Interventions, Communication and Behavior Change, Tufts University.
  • Antoinette Schoenthaler Ed.D., professor of population health and medicine, New York University Langone Health.
  • David Dorr, M.D., M.S., chief research information officer, codirector, Center for AI-Enabled Learning Health Science, Oregon Health & Science University.
  • Moderator: Kevin Chaney, M.G.S., senior advisor for dissemination and innovation, Division of Digital Healthcare Research, Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement, AHRQ.

Access the Division of Digital Healthcare Research’s National Webinars page for more details on upcoming events and on-demand recordings of past webinars.

New Toolkit Helps Primary Care Teams Screen for Urinary Incontinence

The loss of bladder control—called urinary incontinence (UI)—is a common chronic condition that affects more than 50 percent of women aged 20 and older in the United States, yet fewer than 30 percent of women over 40 receive treatment.  Primary care practices and providers can help close this gap, and a new AHRQ toolkit offers them the tools to do so.  Steps for Increasing Urinary Incontinence Screening: A Guide for Primary Care Practices is designed to help primary care teams implement routine UI screening and follow-up care with minimal disruption to existing workflows.  Developed as part of AHRQ’s EvidenceNOW Managing Urinary Incontinence initiative, in partnership with the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, the toolkit includes practical strategies to prepare the clinic, build staff and leadership buy-in, select screening tools, assign team roles, and sustain the practice over time.  It also offers scripting tips, workflow examples, and access to evidence-based, nonsurgical treatment options such as bladder training, pelvic floor therapy, and behavior change strategies.  By proactively addressing UI, practices can improve quality of life for patients, reduce stigma, and enhance satisfaction with care.

Chronic Liver Disease Projected To Increase Significantly by 2050

Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), the most common cause of chronic liver disease, could affect 41.4 percent of U.S. adults by 2050, up from 33.7 percent in 2020, according to an AHRQ-supported study in JAMA Network Open.  To project the rates of MASLD through 2050, researchers used national health data and a long-term health simulation model of nearly 3 million individuals, incorporating factors like age, sex, obesity, and diabetes.  Their projections indicate that nearly 122 million people could be affected by this serious liver condition, which can lead to fibrosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, liver transplant, or death.  According to the authors, these findings should inform health systems’ decisions and planning to prevent and treat liver disease in the coming years.

Implementing the Patient Safety Structural Measure: Webinar Recording Now Available

TeamSTEPPS®, daily safety briefs, just culture policies, and the incorporation of patient-reported safety events are a few of the strategies that support implementation of the five Patient Safety Structural Measure (PSSM) domains.  In a May 13 webinar, AHRQ’s National Action Alliance for Patient and Workforce Safety hosted presenters from Patients for Patient Safety US, ECRI, and Barton Health.  Speakers showcased resources and practical approaches that align with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ five PSSM domains: Leadership Commitment, Strategic Planning and Organizational Policy, Culture of Safety and Learning Health System, Accountability and Transparency, and Patient and Family Engagement.  A curated library of tools and resources that support PSSM implementation by domain can be found on the National Action Alliance’s tools and resources page.  Access the recording and presenter materials from this session.

AHRQ Stats: Private Insurance Expenditures for Diet-Related Conditions

During 2021 and 2022, private insurance spent an average of $100 billion annually to treat key diet-related conditions, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and some cancers.  (Source: AHRQ Medical Expenditure Panel Survey Statistical Brief #561, Expenditures for Key Diet-Related Health Conditions, 2021–2022.)

AHRQ in the Professional Literature

Characteristics, clinical care, and outcomes of sepsis among patients boarding in the emergency department.  Blank JA, King JE, Grant JF, et al. J Hosp Med. 2025 Apr;20(4):368-73. Epub 2024 Oct 27.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Overcoming inertia: provider perspectives on de-implementation strategies in preoperative testing.  Kim E, Antunez AG, Nanua D, et al. Am J Surg. 2025 Apr;242:116228. Epub 2025 Jan 30.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

The combined and comparative impacts of financial incentives versus practice facilitation implementation support for social risk screening in community health centers.  Hessler D, Marino M, Kaufmann J, et al. Health Serv Res. 2025 May;60(suppl 3):e14448. Epub 2025 Feb 10.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Proposing design evaluation metrics for anesthesia providers' workspace in ambulatory surgical settings.  Soman DA, Shokrollahi Ardekani M, Joseph A, et al. HERD. 2025 Apr;18(2):319-42. Epub 2025 Feb 25.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Weight stigma in adolescents with obesity from low-income backgrounds: qualitative perspectives from adolescents and caregivers.  Darling KE, Panza E, Warnick J, et al. J Adolesc Health. 2025 May;76(5):928-34. Epub 2025 Feb 18.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Emerging models of care using IT in long-term/post-acute care: a comparative analysis of human and AI-driven qualitative insights.  Alexander GL, Livingstone A, Han S, et al. J Gerontol Nurs. 2025 Apr;51(4):6-11.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Practical design considerations for cluster randomized controlled trials: lessons learned in community oncology research.  Dressler EV, Pugh SL, Gunn HJ, et al. J Natl Cancer Inst Monogr. 2025 Mar 1;2025(68):56-64.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.

Achieving RoutIne Screening for Emotional health (ARISE) in pediatric subspecialty clinics.  Al Zahidy M, Montori V, Gionfriddo MR, et al. J Pediatr Psychol. 2025 Jan;50(1):141-9.  Access the abstract on PubMed®.