Provider-Level and Hospital-Level Factors and Process Measures of Quality Care Delivered in Pediatric Emergency Departments

The Effect of a Collaborative Pediatric Emergency Readiness Improvement Intervention on Patients' Hospital Outcomes

OBJECTIVE

We hypothesized that collaborative intervention to improve weighted pediatric readiness score (WPRS) will be associated with decreased pediatric intensive care (PICU) mortality, PICU and hospital length of stay.

METHODS

This study analyzes the transfer of acutely ill and injured patients from general emergency departments (GEDs) to our institution. The intervention involved customized assessment reports focusing on team performance and systems improvement for pediatric readiness, sharing best practices and clinical resources, designation of a nurse PECC at each GED and ongoing interactions at 2 and 4 months. Data was collected from charts before and after the intervention, focusing on patients transferred to our pediatric emergency department (ED) or directly admitted to our PICU from the GEDs. Clinical outcomes such as PICU length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, and PICU mortality were assessed. Descriptive statistics were used for demographics, and various statistical tests were employed to analyze the data. Bivariate analyses and multivariable models were utilized to examine patient outcomes and the association between the intervention and outcomes.

RESULTS

There were 278 patients in the pre-intervention period and 314 patients in the post-intervention period. Multivariable analyses revealed a significant association between the change in WPRS and decreased PICU LOS (β=-0.05 [95% CI: -0.09, -0.01), p=0.023), and hospital LOS (β=-0.12 [95% CI: -0.21, -0.04], p=0.004), but showed no association between the intervention and other patient outcomes.

CONCLUSIONS

In this cohort, improving pediatric readiness scores in GEDs was associated with significant improvements in PICU and hospital length of stay. Future initiatives should focus on disseminating pediatric readiness efforts to improve outcomes of critically ill children nationally.

WHATS NEW

Improving pediatric readiness scores in general emergency departments is associated with improved downstream clinical outcomes demonstrated by reduced PICU and hospital length of stay.

Procurement of patient medical records from multiple health care facilities for public health research: feasibility, challenges, and lessons learned

Objectives

Studies that combine medical record and primary data are typically conducted in a small number of health care facilities (HCFs) covering a limited catchment area; however, depending on the study objectives, validity may be improved by recruiting a more expansive sample of patients receiving care across multiple HCFs. We evaluate the feasibility of a novel protocol to obtain patient medical records from multiple HCFs using a broad representative sampling frame.

Materials and Methods

In a prospective cohort study on HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis utilization, primary data were collected from a representative sample of community-dwelling participants; voluntary authorization was obtained to access participants' medical records from the HCF at which they were receiving care. Medical record procurement procedures were documented for later analysis.

Results

The cohort consisted of 460 participants receiving care from 122 HCFs; 81 participants were lost to follow-up resulting in 379 requests for medical records submitted to HCFs, and a total of 343 medical records were obtained (91% response rate). Less than 20% of the medical records received were in electronic form. On average, the cost of medical record acquisition was $120 USD per medical record.

Conclusions

Obtaining medical record data on research participants receiving care across multiple HCFs was feasible, but time-consuming and resulted in appreciable missing data. Researchers combining primary data with medical record data should select a sampling and data collection approach that optimizes study validity while weighing the potential benefits (more representative sample; inclusion of HCF-level predictors) and drawbacks (cost, missing data) of obtaining medical records from multiple HCFs.

Improving Pediatric Readiness and Clinical Care in General Emergency Departments: A Multicenter Retrospective Cohort Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the impact of a collaborative initiative between general emergency departments (EDs) and the pediatric academic medical center on the process of clinical care in a group of general EDs.

STUDY DESIGN

This retrospective cohort study assessed the process of clinical care delivered to critically ill children presenting to 3 general EDs. Our previous multifaceted intervention included the following components: postsimulation debriefing, designation of a pediatric champion, customized performance reports, pediatric resources toolkit, and ongoing interactions. Five pediatric emergency care physicians conducted chart reviews and scored encounters using the Pediatric Emergency Care Research Network's Quality of Care Implicit Review Instrument, which assigns scores between 5 and 35 across 5 domains. In addition, safety metrics were collected for medication, imaging, and laboratory orders.

RESULTS

A total of 179 ED encounters were reviewed, including 103 preintervention and 76 postintervention encounters, with an improvement in mean total quality score from 23.30 (SD 5.1) to 24.80 (4.0). In the domain of physician initial treatment plan and initial orders, scores increased from a mean of 4.18 (0.13) to 4.61 (0.15). In the category of safety, administration of wrong medications decreased from 28.2% to 11.8% after the intervention.

CONCLUSION

A multifaceted collaborative initiative involving simulation and enhanced pediatric readiness was associated with improvement in the processes of care in general EDs. This work provides evidence that innovative collaborations between academic medical centers and general EDs may serve as an effective strategy to improve pediatric care.