NYSDA Publications

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Issues Regulatory Update

Apr 7, 2026

April 7, 2026 | Issue 990

In This Week's Issue: primary care webinar; SOPS survey pilot; CAHPS data submission; maternal morbidity findings

April 9 Webinar: Research in Primary Care Practices

Join AHRQ’s National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research for a webinar, Practice-Based Research Networks: The Value of Research in Real Primary Care Practices, on April 9 from 2–3:30 p.m. ET.  In this webinar, learn about key findings from AHRQ’s Primary Care Practice-Based Research Networks Publications, 2014–2023: Synthesis Report.  Three Practice-Based Research Network (PBRN) researchers will share information about their research network and the kinds of research they conduct.  They will also discuss the value and impact of PBRN research, followed by Q&A.  Advance registration is required.  Register Now.

AHRQ Seeks Medical Offices for SOPS® Survey Pilot

AHRQ seeks medical offices to participate in a pilot test of an updated Surveys on Patient Safety Culture® (SOPS®) Medical Office Survey (Version 2.0) with new Workplace Safety Supplemental Items.  The revised survey is shorter and includes updated and new items based on feedback from users, providers, and staff.  The Workplace Safety Supplemental Items assess key aspects of workplace safety, including perceptions of aggression from patients and visitors, burnout, and overall workplace safety.  Participating medical offices will receive free survey administration and feedback reports comparing their results with other pilot sites.  Visit the website to learn more.

Child Hospital CAHPS® Data Submission Open Through April 10

AHRQ’s Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Child Hospital Database will open for voluntary data submission from March 9 to April 10 for organizations that have administered the survey.  Participating organizations will receive individual feedback reports comparing their results to aggregated results from all database participants.  For more information about the Child Hospital survey database, please visits CAHPS Database website.

Even after Discharge, Maternal Morbidity Risks Remain

Data collected through AHRQ’s 2019-2021 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) State Inpatient Databases (SID) and State Emergency Department Databases (SEDD) show 87.1 severe maternal morbidity (SMM) events during admission for every 10,000 deliveries.  A further review of post-discharge data, published in the American Journal of Perinatology, has found that continuing to track readmission data for 42 days after leaving the hospital increased the rate of SMM events by 32 percent to 115.0 per every 10,000 deliveries.  Coagulopathy, acute renal failure, and sepsis were the most common SMM events overall, with coagulopathy being the most common SMM event during delivery hospitalizations and sepsis the most common SMM event triggering readmissions in the early postpartum period.  Existing SMM measures capture SMM events only during delivery, but the significant number of post-discharge events found here suggests a need for measurement of SMM during the postpartum period.

AHRQ Stats: Trends in Inpatient Stays with Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

The number of inpatient stays for nonalcoholic fatty liver disease increased by 88.1 percent between 2016 and 2022, from 376,300 to 707,800.  On average, the number of stays increased by 11.1 percent each year.  (Source: AHRQ Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #317, Inpatient Stays Related to Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease, 2016-2022.)