Variation in Preventive Care in Children Receiving Chronic Glucocorticoid Therapy

Improving Outcomes of Pediatric Lupus Care Delivery With Provider Goal-Setting Activities and Multidisciplinary Care Models

OBJECTIVE

The present study was undertaken to evaluate high-quality care delivery in the context of provider goal-setting activities and a multidisciplinary care model using an electronic health record (EHR)-enabled pediatric lupus registry. We then determined associations between care quality and prednisone use among youth with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

METHODS

We implemented standardized EHR documentation tools to autopopulate a SLE registry. We compared pediatric Lupus Care Index (pLCI) performance (range 0.0-1.0; 1.0 representing perfect metric adherence) and timely follow-up 1) before versus during provider goal-setting activities and population management, and 2) in a multidisciplinary lupus nephritis versus rheumatology clinic. We estimated associations between pLCI and subsequent prednisone use adjusted for time, current medication, disease activity, clinical features, and social determinants of health.

RESULTS

We analyzed 830 visits by 110 patients (median 7 visits per patient [interquartile range 4-10]) over 3.5 years. The provider-directed activity was associated with improved pLCI performance (adjusted β 0.05 [95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.01, 0.09]; mean 0.74 versus 0.69). Patients with nephritis in multidisciplinary clinic had higher pLCI scores (adjusted β 0.06 [95% CI 0.02, 0.10]) and likelihood of timely follow-up than those in rheumatology (adjusted relative risk [RR] 1.27 [95% CI 1.02, 1.57]). A pLCI score of ≥0.50 was associated with 0.72-fold lower adjusted risk of subsequent prednisone use (95% CI 0.53, 0.93). Minoritized race, public insurance, and living in areas with greater social vulnerability were not associated with reduced care quality or follow-up, but public insurance was associated with higher risk of prednisone use.

CONCLUSION

Greater attention to quality metrics is associated with better outcomes in childhood SLE. Multidisciplinary care models with population management may additionally facilitate equitable care delivery.

Implementation Science in Pediatric Rheumatology: A Path to Health Equity

Implementation science is the study of processes that promote reliable uptake of evidence-based practices into clinical care. The integration of implementation science and health disparities research approaches has been proposed as a method to reduce health inequity through detection, understanding, and implementation of health equity-focused interventions. In this review, we provide an argument for the study of implementation science in pediatric rheumatology in light of previously observed health disparities, present a framework for the study of health equity and implementation science in pediatric rheumatology, and propose next steps to accelerate action.

Factors Associated With Variation in Pediatric Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Care Delivery

Objective

Patients with pediatric systemic lupus erythematosus (pSLE) and mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD) receive only a fraction of recommended care. Using published quality indicators and guidelines, we developed a 13‐item pediatric lupus care index (p‐LuCI) to quantify the proportion of recommended clinical evaluations and comorbidity prevention interventions completed and the timeliness of follow‐up. Our objective was to assess baseline index performance and identify sources of p‐LuCI variation.

Methods

We performed a cross‐sectional study in patients with pSLE or MCTD and analyzed the performance of individual p‐LuCI process metrics and calculated the overall p‐LuCI score. We identified factors associated with the p‐LuCI using multivariable linear regression with clustering by provider.

Results

For 110 patients (99 with pSLE and 11 with MCTD), the median p‐LuCI was 65.2% (interquartile range: 9.1‐92.3%). Component performance ranged from 27.3% (on‐time scheduling) to 95.4% (steroid‐sparing treatment). Patients with p‐LuCI scores above the median had higher scores across all 13 components. Higher p‐LuCI scores were independently associated with disease‐modifying antirheumatic drug use (β = 14.3 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.5‐27.2]), nephritis (β = 10.4 [95% CI, 5.1‐15.8]), higher provider pSLE/MCTD volume (β = 3.1 [95% CI, 1.9‐4.2] per patient), assignment to rheumatology fellow trainee (β = 36.3 [95% CI, 17.3‐55.2]), and disease duration of less than 1 year (β = 12.6 [95% CI, 0.7‐24.5]). Differences by race, ethnicity, and/or insurance were not observed.

Conclusion

Using an index of recommended pSLE care metrics, we identified significant variation in performance by disease, treatment, and provider characteristics. The p‐LuCI may be useful to assess care quality at the patient, provider, and practice levels and to identify areas in need of greater standardization.

Quality of Care in Childhood-onset Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Report of an Intervention to Improve Cardiovascular and Bone Health Screening

OBJECTIVE

Initial benchmarking of childhood-onset systemic lupus erythematosus (cSLE) quality indicators revealed suboptimal performance across multiple centers. Our aim was to improve cardiovascular and bone health screenings at a tertiary treatment center for cSLE. This included annual measurements of vitamin D, lipid profiles, and bone mineral density through dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA).

METHODS

Quality improvement methodology was applied to design and implement a standardized previsit planning process to electronically entered and saved orders for needed screenings prior to a scheduled clinic visit. Process outcomes were measured using statistical process control charts. Univariate analyses were completed to assess patient-level factors.

RESULTS

During the study, 123 patients with cSLE participated across 619 clinic visits. The percentage of patients with completed screenings improved from 54% to 92% for annual vitamin D, 55% to 84% for annual lipid profiles, and 57% to 78% for DXA, which was sustained for more than 1 year. Providers responded to a majority of abnormal results, and improvement in the average vitamin D level was observed over time. Higher levels of disease activity, damage, number of clinic visits, and screenings completed at baseline were observed in patients with all screenings completed at the end of the intervention.

CONCLUSION

Implementation of elements of the chronic illness care model for cSLE management improved performance of cardiovascular and bone health screenings, a step toward preventing longterm morbidity in cSLE. Our study also suggests that more patient interaction with the healthcare system may promote successful completion of health maintenance screenings.

Outcome Monitoring and Clinical Decision Support in Polyarticular Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis

OBJECTIVE

Inconsistent assessment and treatment may impair juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) outcomes. We aimed to improve polyarticular JIA (rheumatoid factor-positive and -negative) outcomes by standardizing point-of-care disease activity monitoring and implementing clinical decision support (CDS) to reduce treatment variation.

METHODS

We performed a quality improvement initiative in an outpatient pediatric rheumatology practice. The interventions, implemented from April to November 2016, included standardized disease activity measurement, disease activity target review, and phased introduction of polyarticular JIA CDS to guide medication selection, dosing, treatment duration, and tapering. Process measures included visit-level target attestation (goal: 50%) and CDS use (goal: 15%). Our goal was to reduce the polyarticular JIA clinical Juvenile Arthritis Disease Activity Score (cJADAS-10) by at least 10%. Included patients had at least 2 visits from April 2016 through July 2017, and were classified as having early (≤ 6 mos) or established disease (> 6 mos).

RESULTS

Patients with polyarticular JIA (n = 97; 81% established disease) were observed for 10.3 months (interquartile range: 6.4-12.3). Target attestation and CDS use occurred in a mean of 77% and 45% of polyarticular JIA visits, respectively. The median cJADAS-10 decreased significantly in both early (16.5 to 2.7, p < 0.001) and established polyarticular JIA (2.1 to 1.0, p = 0.01). A high proportion of patients with early disease received biologic therapy (73.7%). In established disease, although prescription of nonbiologic and biologic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs remained similar overall, adalimumab prescribing increased (12.8% to 23.1%, p = 0.008).

CONCLUSION

Implementation of structured disease activity monitoring and CDS in polyarticular JIA was associated with significant reductions in disease activity scores in both early and established disease.