Optimizing electronic blood ordering and supporting administration workflows to improve blood utilization in the pediatric hospital setting.

BACKGROUND: Red blood cell wastage occurs when blood is discarded rather than transfused, and ineffective ordering results in unnecessary crossmatch procedures. We describe how a multimodal approach to redesigning electronic ordering tools improved blood utilization in a pediatric inpatient setting and how using innovative application of time series data analysis provides insights into intervention effectiveness, which can guide future process improvement cycles. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team used best practices and Toyota Production System methodology to redesign electronic blood ordering and improve administration processes. We analyzed crossmatch to transfusion ratio and red blood cell wastage time series data extracted from our laboratory information system and electronic health record. We used changepoint analysis to identify statistically discernible breaks in each time series, compatible with known interventions. We performed causal impact analysis on red blood cell wastage time series data to estimate blood wastage avoided due to the interventions. RESULTS: Changepoint analysis estimated an 11% decrease in crossmatch to transfusion ratio and a 77% decrease in red blood cell monthly wastage rate during the intervention period. Causal impact analysis estimated a 61% reduction in expected wastage compared to the scenario if the interventions had not occurred. DISCUSSION: Our results show that electronic health record design is an important factor in reducing waste and preventing unnecessary crossmatching, and that time series analysis can be a useful tool for evaluating the long-term impact of each stage of intervention in a longitudinal process redesign effort for the purpose of effectively targeting future improvement efforts.

Thyroid Cancer Polygenic Risk Score Improves Classification of Thyroid Nodules as Benign or Malignant.

CONTEXT: Thyroid nodule ultrasound-based risk stratification schemas rely on the presence of high-risk sonographic features. However, some malignant thyroid nodules have benign appearance on thyroid ultrasound. New methods for thyroid nodule risk assessment are needed. OBJECTIVE: We investigated polygenic risk score (PRS) accounting for inherited thyroid cancer risk combined with ultrasound-based analysis for improved thyroid nodule risk assessment. METHODS: The convolutional neural network classifier was trained on thyroid ultrasound still images and cine clips from 621 thyroid nodules. Phenome-wide association study (PheWAS) and PRS PheWAS were used to optimize PRS for distinguishing benign and malignant nodules. PRS was evaluated in 73 346 participants in the Colorado Center for Personalized Medicine Biobank. RESULTS: When the deep learning model output was combined with thyroid cancer PRS and genetic ancestry estimates, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) of the benign vs malignant thyroid nodule classifier increased from 0.83 to 0.89 (DeLong, P value = .007). The combined deep learning and genetic classifier achieved a clinically relevant sensitivity of 0.95, 95% CI [0.88-0.99], specificity of 0.63 [0.55-0.70], and positive and negative predictive values of 0.47 [0.41-0.58] and 0.97 [0.92-0.99], respectively. AUROC improvement was consistent in European ancestry-stratified analysis (0.83 and 0.87 for deep learning and deep learning combined with PRS classifiers, respectively). Elevated PRS was associated with a greater risk of thyroid cancer structural disease recurrence (ordinal logistic regression, P value = .002). CONCLUSION: Augmenting ultrasound-based risk assessment with PRS improves diagnostic accuracy.

Better Guidelines and Policies: AAP's Partnership for Policy Implementation.

OBJECTIVES: In 2005, the American Academy of Pediatrics founded the Partnership for Policy Implementation (PPI). The PPI has collaborated with authors to improve the quality of clinical guidelines, technical reports, and policies that standardize care delivery, improve care quality and patient outcomes, and reduce variation and costs. METHODS: In this article, we describe how the PPI trained informaticians apply a variety of tools and techniques to these guidance documents, eliminating ambiguity in clinical recommendations and allowing guideline recommendations to be implemented by practicing clinicians and electronic health record (EHR) developers more easily. RESULTS: Since its inception, the PPI has participated in the development of 45 published and 27 in-progress clinical practice guidelines, policy statements, technical and clinical reports, and other projects endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics. The partnership has trained informaticians to apply a variety of tools and techniques to eliminate ambiguity or lack of decidability and can be implemented by practicing clinicians and EHR developers. CONCLUSIONS: With the increasing use of EHRs in pediatrics, the need for medical societies to improve the clarity, decidability, and actionability of their guidelines has become more important than ever.

A Standard Approach to Project-Based Learning in a Clinical Informatics Fellowship.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education suggests that Clinical Informatics (CI) fellowship programs foster broad skills, which include collaboration and project management. However, they do not dictate how to best accomplish these learning objectives. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe a standard approach to project-based learning for CI, to share its implementation, and to discuss lessons learned. METHODS: We created a standard approach to project-based learning based on concepts from adult learning theory, the project life cycle framework, the Toyota Production System, and Improvement Science. RESULTS: With this standard approach in place, we learned how best to support fellows in its use. In addition to this approach to supporting needs assessment, risk/change management, implementation, and evaluation/improvement skills, we found the need to develop fellow skills in collaboration, leadership, and time management/managing up. Supported by project-based learning using this standard approach, and with targeted project selection to meet topic-based learning objectives, fellows reached the ability to practice independently in 15 to 21 months. DISCUSSION: Fellows are uniquely positioned to ensure the success of projects due to their increased availability and protected time compared with attendings. They are readily available for project teams to draw upon their expertise with clinical workflows and understanding of technological solutions. Project-based learning addressing organizational priorities complements fellow project management coursework and improves fellows' ability to function successfully in large, complex, and dynamic organizations. Exposing fellows to contemporary problems, then addressing them through projects, provides fellows with up-to-date applied informatics knowledge. CONCLUSION: Project-based learning can ensure that many general CI learning objectives are supported inherently. It reinforces project management teachings, while providing fellows with a marketable project portfolio to aid with future job applications. Having projects tightly aligned with organizational priorities supports ongoing investment in fellowship programs.

Structure and Funding of Clinical Informatics Fellowships: A National Survey of Program Directors.

BACKGROUND: In 2011, the American Board of Medical Specialties established clinical informatics (CI) as a subspecialty in medicine, jointly administered by the American Board of Pathology and the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Subsequently, many institutions created CI fellowship training programs to meet the growing need for informaticists. Although many programs share similar features, there is considerable variation in program funding and administrative structures. OBJECTIVES: The aim of our study was to characterize CI fellowship program features, including governance structures, funding sources, and expenses. METHODS: We created a cross-sectional online REDCap survey with 44 items requesting information on program administration, fellows, administrative support, funding sources, and expenses. We surveyed program directors of programs accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education between 2014 and 2021. RESULTS: We invited 54 program directors, of which 41 (76%) completed the survey. The average administrative support received was $27,732/year. Most programs (85.4%) were accredited to have two or more fellows per year. Programs were administratively housed under six departments: Internal Medicine (17; 41.5%), Pediatrics (7; 17.1%), Pathology (6; 14.6%), Family Medicine (6; 14.6%), Emergency Medicine (4; 9.8%), and Anesthesiology (1; 2.4%). Funding sources for CI fellowship program directors included: hospital or health systems (28.3%), clinical departments (28.3%), graduate medical education office (13.2%), biomedical informatics department (9.4%), hospital information technology (9.4%), research and grants (7.5%), and other sources (3.8%) that included philanthropy and external entities. CONCLUSION: CI fellowships have been established in leading academic and community health care systems across the country. Due to their unique training requirements, these programs require significant resources for education, administration, and recruitment. There continues to be considerable heterogeneity in funding models between programs. Our survey findings reinforce the need for reformed federal funding models for informatics practice and training.

Creation and Evaluation of a Clinical Informatics Match: Initial Findings.

BACKGROUND: Clinical Informatics (CI) fellowship programs utilize the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) to gather applications but until recently used an American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) member-developed, simultaneous offer-acceptance process to match fellowship applicants to programs. In 2021, program directors collaborated with the AMIA to develop a new match to improve the process. OBJECTIVE: Describe the results of the first 2 years of the match and address opportunities for improvement. METHODS: We obtained applicant data for fellowship applicants in 2021 and 2022 from the ERAS and match data for the same years from the AMIA. We analyzed our data using descriptive statistics. RESULTS: There were 159 unique applicants over the 2-year period. Applicants submitted 2,178 applications with a median of 10 per applicant (interquartile range [IQR] 3-20). One hundred and four applicants (65.4%) participated in the match and ranked a median of seven programs (2-12). Forty-two programs in 2021 and 47 programs in 2022 offered a combined total 153 positions in the match. Participating programs ranked a median of eight applicants per year (IQR 5-11). Of participating applicants, 95 (91.3%) successfully matched and of those 66 (69.5%) received their top choice. Thirty-two programs (76.2%) matched at least one candidate in 2021 and 33 programs (70.2%) matched at least one candidate in 2022. In both years, 24 programs filled all available slots (57.1% in 2021 and 51.1% in 2022). CONCLUSION: Applicants were extremely successful in the new match, which successfully addressed most of the challenges of the simultaneous offer-acceptance process identified by program directors. However, applicant attrition resulted in a quarter of programs going unmatched. Although many programs still filled slots outside the match, fellowship slots may remain unfilled while the CI practice pathway remains open.

Integrating Web Services/Applications to Improve Pediatric Functionalities in Electronic Health Records.

The past decade has seen a substantial increase in the use of electronic health records (EHRs) by health care providers caring for children. However, gaps in pediatric-specific functionalities continue to exist in some EHR systems, including population-specific growth curves, immunization clinical decision support, weight-based medication dosing with rounding, calculation of pediatric hypertension percentiles, age-specific developmental assessment, newborn bilirubin nomograms, anticipatory guidance reminders, and other functionalities described elsewhere. Implementing pediatric functionalities into EHRs is critical to the provision of safe pediatric care. As an alternative to direct implementation in EHRs, EHR vendor agnostic Web applications, Web services, and application programming interfaces offer an opportunity to provide pediatric functionalities and eliminate the need for each vendor to develop these functionalities. Successful implementation of Web services and related technologies requires responsible attention from both EHR vendors and developers of Web services, Web applications, and application programming interfaces to the use of data terminology standards, adherence to privacy and security requirements, rigorous testing, change management processes, and robust system support and maintenance. Education of health care providers about opportunities to improve pediatric functionalities in EHRs by using these services can facilitate discussions in EHR user groups in which vendors can be lobbied to implement them. This policy statement emphasizes the need to address pediatric-specific functionalities in EHRs by providing insight and recommendations into the development, maintenance, integration, and support of these novel solutions.

Web Services and Cloud Computing in Pediatric Care.

Electronic health record (EHR) systems do not uniformly implement pediatric-supportive functionalities. One method of adding these capabilities across EHR platforms is to integrate Web services and Web applications that may perform decision support and store data in the cloud when the EHR platform is able to integrate Web services. Specific examples of these services are described, such as immunization clinical decision support services, consumer health resources, and bilirubin nomograms. Health care providers, EHR vendors, and developers share responsibilities in the appropriate development, integration, and use of Web services and Web applications as they relate to best practices in the areas of data security and confidentiality, technical availability, audit trails, terminology and messaging standards, compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, testing, usability, and other considerations. It is desirable for health care providers to have knowledge of Web services and Web applications that can improve pediatric capabilities in their own EHRs because this will naturally inform discussions concerning EHR features and facilitate implementation and subsequent use of these capabilities by clinicians caring for children.

A Clinical Informatics Program Directors' Proposal to the American Board of Preventive Medicine.

In 2013, the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) and the American Board of Pathology (ABPath) offered the first board certification examination in Clinical Informatics to eligible physicians in the United States. In 2022, the Practice Pathway will expire and in 2023 only candidates eligible through the Fellowship Pathway will be eligible for the board certification. To date, Clinical Informatics as a specialty has not had a regular match process and used a controlled offer-acceptance process that does not meet candidates' or programs' needs. Fellows may not be offered a position with their top choice program initially, and they may accept offers from other programs to avoid risk by ensuring that they have a fellowship position. Programs have to consider losing an applicant in the first round in the ranking of applicants. The process is open to manipulation including early agreements between program directors and candidates. In this open letter to the ABPM, program directors make the case for a third-party match and are calling on the ABPM to leverage its status as the Clinical Informatics certifying body and its existing infrastructure to implement a Clinical Informatics match.

Impact of a Standardized Clinical Pathway for Suspected and Confirmed Ileocolic Intussusception.

INTRODUCTION: Clinical pathways for specific diagnoses may improve patient outcomes, decrease resource utilization, and diminish costs. This study examines the impact of a clinical pathway for emergency department (ED) care of suspected and confirmed pediatric ileocolic intussusception. METHODS: Our multidisciplinary team designed an intussusception clinical pathway and implemented it in a tertiary children's hospital ED in October 2016. Process measures included the proportion of patients who underwent abdominal radiography, had laboratory studies, received antibiotics, or required admission following reduction of intussusception. The primary outcome measure was the cost per encounter. Balancing measures included unplanned ED visits within 72 hours of discharge. Data analyzed compared 24 months before and 21 months following pathway implementation. RESULTS: After pathway implementation, the use of abdominal radiography in patients with suspected intussusception decreased from 50% to 12%. In patients with confirmed intussusception, laboratory studies decreased from 58% to 25%, antibiotic use decreased from 100% to 2%, and hospital admissions decreased from 100% to 12%. The average cost per encounter for confirmed intussusception decreased from $6,724 to $2,975. There was a small increase in unplanned returns to the ED within 72 hours but no increase in readmissions after pathway implementation. CONCLUSION: Implementation of a standardized ED pathway for the management of suspected and confirmed pediatric ileocolic intussusception is associated with a reduction in abdominal radiographs, improved antibiotic stewardship, reduction in laboratory studies, fewer inpatient admissions, and decreased cost, with no compromise in patient safety.

Responding to COVID-19: The UW Medicine Information Technology Services Experience.

BACKGROUND: UW Medicine was one of the first health systems to encounter and treat COVID-19 patients in the United States, starting in late February 2020. OBJECTIVE: Here we describe the rapid rollout of capabilities by UW Medicine Information Technology Services (ITS) to support our clinical response to the COVID-19 pandemic and provide recommendations for health systems to urgently consider, as they plan their own response to this and potentially other future pandemics. METHODS: Our recommendations include establishing a hospital incident command structure that includes tight integration with IT, creating automated dashboards for incident command, optimizing emergency communication to staff and patients, and preparing human resources, security, other policies, and equipment to support the transition of all nonessential staff to telework.We describe how UW Medicine quickly expanded telemedicine capabilities to include most primary care providers and increasing numbers of specialty providers. We look at how we managed expedited change control processes to quickly update electronic health records (EHR) with new COVID-19 laboratory and clinical workflows. We also examine the integration of new technology such as tele-intensive care (ICU) equipment and improved integration with teleconferencing software into our EHR. To support the rapid preparation for COVID-19 at other health systems, we include samples of the UW Medicine's COVID-19 order set, COVID-19 documentation template, dashboard metric categories, and a list of the top 10 things your health care IT organization can do now to prepare. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 response requires new and expedited ways of approaching ITS support to clinical needs. UW Medicine ITS leadership hope that by quickly sharing our nimble response to clinical and operational requests, we can help other systems prepare to respond to this public health emergency.

Evaluation of Secure Messaging Applications for a Health Care System: A Case Study.

OBJECTIVE: The use of text messaging in clinical care has become ubiquitous. Due to security and privacy concerns, many hospital systems are evaluating secure text messaging applications. This paper highlights our evaluation process, and offers an overview of secure messaging functionalities, as well as a framework for how to evaluate such applications. METHODS: Application functionalities were gathered through literature review, Web sites, speaking with representatives, demonstrations, and use cases. Based on similar levels of functionalities, vendors were grouped into three tiers. Essential and secondary functionalities for our health system were defined to help narrow our vendor choices. RESULTS: We stratified 19 secure messaging vendors into three tiers: basic secure communication, secure communication within an existing clinical application, and dedicated communication and collaboration systems. Our essential requirements revolved around functionalities to enhance security and communication, while advanced functionalities were mostly considered secondary. We then narrowed our list of 19 vendors to four, then created clinical use cases to rank the final vendors. DISCUSSION: When evaluating a secure messaging application, numerous factors must be considered in parallel. These include: what clinical processes to improve, archiving text messages, mobile device management, bring your own device policy, and Wi-Fi architecture. CONCLUSION: Secure messaging applications provide a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliant communication platform, and also include functionality to improve clinical collaboration and workflow. We hope that our evaluation framework can be used by other health systems to find a secure messaging application that meets their needs.

Centers speak up: the clinical context for health information technology in the ambulatory care setting.

BACKGROUND: Clinicians in ambulatory care settings are increasingly called upon to use health information technology (health IT) to improve practice efficiency and performance. Successful adoption of health IT requires an understanding of how clinical tasks and workflows will be affected; yet this has not been well described. OBJECTIVE: To describe how health IT functions within a clinical context. DESIGN: Qualitative study, using in-depth, semi-structured interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Executives and staff at 4 community health centers, 3 health center networks, and 1 large primary care organization. APPROACH: Transcribed audio-recorded interviews, analyzed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Systematic characterization of clinical context identified 6 primary clinical domains. These included results management, intra-clinic communication, patient education and outreach, inter-clinic coordination, medication management, and provider education and feedback. We generated clinical process diagrams to characterize these domains. Participants suggested that underlying workflows for these domains must be fully operational to ensure successful deployment of health IT. CONCLUSIONS: Understanding the clinical context is a necessary precursor to successful deployment of health IT. Process diagrams can serve as the basis for EHR certification, to identify challenges, to measure health IT adoption, or to develop curricular content regarding the role of health IT in clinical practice.

Neonatal Jaundice: Improved Quality and Cost Savings After Implementation of a Standard Pathway.

OBJECTIVES: Seattle Children's Hospital sought to optimize the value equation for neonatal jaundice patients by creating a standard care pathway. METHODS: An evidence-based pathway for management of neonatal jaundice was created. This included multidisciplinary team assembly, comprehensive literature review, creation of a treatment algorithm and computer order sets, formulation of goals and metrics, roll-out of an education program for end users, and ongoing pathway improvement. The pathway was implemented on May 31, 2012. Quality metrics before and after implementation were compared. External data were used to analyze cost impacts. RESULTS: Significant improvements were achieved across multiple quality dimensions. Time to recovery decreased: mean length of stay was 1.30 days for 117 prepathway patients compared with 0.87 days for 69 postpathway patients (P < .001). Efficiency was enhanced: mean time to phototherapy initiation was 101.26 minutes for 14 prepathway patients compared with 54.67 minutes for 67 postpathway patients (P = .03). Care was less invasive: intravenous fluid orders were reduced from 80% to 44% (P < .001). Inpatient use was reduced: 66% of prepathway patients were admitted from the emergency department to inpatient care, compared with 50% of postpathway patients (P = .01). There was no increase in the readmission rate. These achievements translated to statistically significant cost reductions in total charges, as well as in the following categories: intravenous fluids, laboratory, room cost, and emergency department charges. CONCLUSIONS: An evidence-based standard care pathway for neonatal jaundice can significantly improve multiple dimensions of value, including reductions in cost and length of stay.

Clinical Practice Guideline: Maintenance Intravenous Fluids in Children.

Maintenance intravenous fluids (IVFs) are used to provide critical supportive care for children who are acutely ill. IVFs are required if sufficient fluids cannot be provided by using enteral administration for reasons such as gastrointestinal illness, respiratory compromise, neurologic impairment, a perioperative state, or being moribund from an acute or chronic illness. Despite the common use of maintenance IVFs, there is high variability in fluid prescribing practices and a lack of guidelines for fluid composition administration and electrolyte monitoring. The administration of hypotonic IVFs has been the standard in pediatrics. Concerns have been raised that this approach results in a high incidence of hyponatremia and that isotonic IVFs could prevent the development of hyponatremia. Our goal in this guideline is to provide an evidence-based approach for choosing the tonicity of maintenance IVFs in most patients from 28 days to 18 years of age who require maintenance IVFs. This guideline applies to children in surgical (postoperative) and medical acute-care settings, including critical care and the general inpatient ward. Patients with neurosurgical disorders, congenital or acquired cardiac disease, hepatic disease, cancer, renal dysfunction, diabetes insipidus, voluminous watery diarrhea, or severe burns; neonates who are younger than 28 days old or in the NICU; and adolescents older than 18 years old are excluded. We specifically address the tonicity of maintenance IVFs in children.The Key Action Statement of the subcommittee is as follows:1A: The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that patients 28 days to 18 years of age requiring maintenance IVFs should receive isotonic solutions with appropriate potassium chloride and dextrose because they significantly decrease the risk of developing hyponatremia (evidence quality: A; recommendation strength: strong).

Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents.

Systemic hypertension is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adulthood. High blood pressure (HBP) and repeated measures of HBP, hypertension (HTN), begin in youth. Knowledge of how best to diagnose, manage, and treat systemic HTN in children and adolescents is important for primary and subspecialty care providers. OBJECTIVES: To provide a technical summary of the methodology used to generate the 2017 "Clinical Practice Guideline for Screening and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents," an update to the 2004 "Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents." DATA SOURCES: Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Excerpta Medica Database references published between January 2003 and July 2015 followed by an additional search between August 2015 and July 2016. STUDY SELECTION: English-language observational studies and randomized trials. METHODS: Key action statements (KASs) and additional recommendations regarding the diagnosis, management, and treatment of HBP in youth were the product of a detailed systematic review of the literature. A content outline establishing the breadth and depth was followed by the generation of 4 patient, intervention, comparison, outcome, time questions. Key questions addressed: (1) diagnosis of systemic HTN, (2) recommended work-up of systemic HTN, (3) optimal blood pressure (BP) goals, and (4) impact of high BP on indirect markers of cardiovascular disease in youth. Once selected, references were subjected to a 2-person review of the abstract and title followed by a separate 2-person full-text review. Full citation information, population data, findings, benefits and harms of the findings, as well as other key reference information were archived. Selected primary references were then used for KAS generation. Level of evidence (LOE) scoring was assigned for each reference and then in aggregate. Appropriate language was used to generate each KAS based on the LOE and the balance of benefit versus harm of the findings. Topics that could not be researched via the stated approach were (1) definition of HTN in youth, and (2) definition of left ventricular hypertrophy. KASs related to these stated topics were generated via expert opinion. RESULTS: Nearly 15 000 references were identified during an initial literature search. After a deduplication process, 14 382 references were available for title and abstract review, and 1379 underwent full text review. One hundred twenty-four experimental and observational studies published between 2003 and 2016 were selected as primary references for KAS generation, followed by an additional 269 primary references selected between August 2015 and July 2016. The LOE for the majority of references was C. In total, 30 KASs and 27 additional recommendations were generated; 12 were related to the diagnosis of HTN, 13 were related to management and additional diagnostic testing, 3 to treatment goals, and 2 to treatment options. Finally, special additions to the clinical practice guideline included creation of new BP tables based on BP values obtained solely from children with normal weight, creation of a simplified table to enhance screening and recognition of abnormal BP, and a revision of the criteria for diagnosing left ventricular hypertrophy. CONCLUSIONS: An extensive and detailed systematic approach was used to generate evidence-based guidelines for the diagnosis, management, and treatment of youth with systemic HTN.

Characteristics of the National Applicant Pool for Clinical Informatics Fellowships (2016-2017).

We conducted a national study to assess the numbers and diversity of applicants for 2016 and 2017 clinical informatics fellowship positions. In each year, we collected data on the number of applications that programs received from candidates who were ultimately successful vs. unsuccessful. In 2017, we also conducted an anonymous applicant survey. Successful candidates applied to an average of 4.2 and 5.5 programs for 2016 and 2017, respectively. In the survey, unsuccessful candidates reported applying to fewer programs. Assuming unsuccessful candidates submitted between 2-5 applications each, the total applicant pool numbered 42-69 for 2016 (competing for 24 positions) and 52-85 for 2017 (competing for 30 positions). Among survey respondents (n=33), 24% were female, 1 was black and none were Hispanic. We conclude that greater efforts are needed to enhance interest in clinical informatics among medical students and residents, particularly among women and members of underrepresented minority groups.

Clinical Practice Guideline for Screening and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents.

These pediatric hypertension guidelines are an update to the 2004 "Fourth Report on the Diagnosis, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents." Significant changes in these guidelines include (1) the replacement of the term "prehypertension" with the term "elevated blood pressure," (2) new normative pediatric blood pressure (BP) tables based on normal-weight children, (3) a simplified screening table for identifying BPs needing further evaluation, (4) a simplified BP classification in adolescents ≥13 years of age that aligns with the forthcoming American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology adult BP guidelines, (5) a more limited recommendation to perform screening BP measurements only at preventive care visits, (6) streamlined recommendations on the initial evaluation and management of abnormal BPs, (7) an expanded role for ambulatory BP monitoring in the diagnosis and management of pediatric hypertension, and (8) revised recommendations on when to perform echocardiography in the evaluation of newly diagnosed hypertensive pediatric patients (generally only before medication initiation), along with a revised definition of left ventricular hypertrophy. These guidelines include 30 Key Action Statements and 27 additional recommendations derived from a comprehensive review of almost 15 000 published articles between January 2004 and July 2016. Each Key Action Statement includes level of evidence, benefit-harm relationship, and strength of recommendation. This clinical practice guideline, endorsed by the American Heart Association, is intended to foster a patient- and family-centered approach to care, reduce unnecessary and costly medical interventions, improve patient diagnoses and outcomes, support implementation, and provide direction for future research.

Modification of an Established Pediatric Asthma Pathway Improves Evidence-Based, Efficient Care.

OBJECTIVE: In September 2011, an established pediatric asthma pathway at a tertiary care children's hospital underwent significant revision. Modifications included simplification of the visual layout, addition of evidence-based recommendations regarding medication use, and implementation of standardized admission criteria. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of the modified asthma pathway on pathway adherence, percentage of patients receiving evidence-based care, length of stay, and cost. METHODS: Cases were identified by using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis codes. Data were analyzed for 24 months before and after pathway modification. Statistical process control was used to examine changes in processes of care, and interrupted time series was used to examine outcome measures, including length of stay and cost in the premodification and postmodification periods. RESULTS: A total of 5584 patients were included (2928 premodification; 2656 postmodification). Pathway adherence was high (79%-88%) throughout the study period. The percentage of patients receiving evidence-based care improved after pathway modification, and the results were sustained for 2 years. There was also improved efficiency, with a 30-minute (10%) decrease in emergency department length of stay for patients admitted with asthma (P = .006). There was a nominal (<10%) increase in costs of asthma care for patients in the emergency department (P = .04) and no change for those admitted to the hospital. CONCLUSIONS: Modification of an existing pediatric asthma pathway led to sustained improvement in provision of evidence-based care and patient flow without adversely affecting costs. Our results suggest that continuous re-evaluation of established clinical pathways can lead to changes in provider practices and improvements in patient care.

Resource utilization after implementing a hospital-wide standardized feeding tube placement pathway.

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Children requiring gastrostomy/gastrojejunostomy tubes (GT/GJ) are heterogeneous and medically complex patients with high resource utilization. We created and implemented a hospital-wide standardized pathway for feeding device placement. This study compares hospital resource utilization before and after pathway implementation. METHODS: We performed a retrospective cohort study comparing outcomes through one year of follow-up for consecutive groups of children undergoing GT/GJ placement prepathway (n=298, 1/1/2010-12/31/2011) and postpathway (n=140, 6/1/2013-7/31/2014) implementation. We determined the change in the rate of hospital resource utilization events and time to first event. RESULTS: Prior to implementation, 145 (48.7%) devices were placed surgically, 113 (37.9%) endoscopically and 40 (13.4%) using image guidance. After implementation, 102 (72.9%) were placed surgically, 23 (16.4%) endoscopically and 15 (10.7%) using image guidance. Prior to implementation, 174/298 (58.4%) patients required additional hospital resource utilization compared to 60/143 (42.0%) corresponding to a multivariate adjusted 38% reduced risk of a subsequent feeding tube related event. CONCLUSIONS: Care of tube-feeding dependent patients is spread among multiple specialists leading to variability in the preoperative workup, intraoperative technique and postoperative care. Our study shows an association between implementation of a standardized pathway and a decrease in hospital resource utilization.