Team Communication and Expectations Following Pediatric Cardiac Surgery: A Multi-Disciplinary Survey.

Patients and families desire an accurate understanding of the expected recovery following congenital cardiac surgery. Variation in knowledge and expectations within the care team may be under-recognized and impact communication and care delivery. Our objective was to assess knowledge of common postoperative milestones and perceived efficacy of communication with patients and families and within the care team. An 18-question survey measuring knowledge of expected milestones for recovery after four index operations and team communication in the postoperative period was distributed electronically to multidisciplinary care team members at 16 academic pediatric heart centers. Answers were compared to local median data for each respondent's heart center to assess accuracy and stratified by heart center role and years of experience. We obtained 874 responses with broad representation of disciplines. More than half of all respondent predictions (55.3%) did not match their local median data. Percent matching did not vary by care team role but improved with increasing experience (35.8% < 2 years vs. 46.4% > 10 years, p = 0.2133). Of all respondents, 62.7% expressed confidence discussing the anticipated postoperative course, 78.6% denoted confidence discussing postoperative complications, and 55.3% conveyed that not all members of their care team share a common expectation for typical postoperative recovery. Most respondents (94.6%) stated that increased knowledge of local data would positively impact communication. Confidence in communication exceeded accuracy in predicting the timing of postoperative milestones. Important variation in knowledge and expectations for postoperative recovery in pediatric cardiac surgery exists and may impact communication and clinical effectiveness.

Assessing data accuracy in a large multi-institutional quality improvement registry: an update from the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4).

BACKGROUND: The Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4) is a multi-institutional quality improvement registry focused on the care delivered in the cardiac ICU for patients with CHD and acquired heart disease. To assess data quality, a rigorous procedure of data auditing has been in place since the inception of the consortium. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This report describes the data auditing process and quantifies the audit results for the initial 39 audits that took place after the transition from version one to version two of the registry's database. RESULTS: In total, 2219 total encounters were audited for an average of 57 encounters per site. The overall data accuracy rate across all sites was 99.4%, with a major discrepancy rate of 0.52%. A passing score is based on an overall accuracy of >97% (achieved by all sites) and a major discrepancy rate of <1.5% (achieved by 38 of 39 sites, with 35 of 39 sites having a major discrepancy rate of <1%). Fields with the highest discrepancy rates included arrhythmia type, cardiac arrest count, and current surgical status. CONCLUSIONS: The extensive PC4 auditing process, including initial and routinely scheduled follow-up audits of every participating site, demonstrates an extremely high level of accuracy across a broad array of audited fields and supports the continued use of consortium data to identify best practices in paediatric cardiac critical care.

Home monitoring program reduces interstage mortality after the modified Norwood procedure.

BACKGROUND: From 2002 to 2005, the interstage mortality after a modified Norwood procedure was 7% in our program. An interstage home monitoring program (HMP) was established to identify Norwood procedure patients at increased risk of decompensation and to reduce interstage mortality. METHODS: Results of the first 5 years of the Norwood HMP were reviewed retrospectively. Interstage was defined as the time between Norwood hospital discharge and admission for second stage surgical palliation. In the HMP, families documented oxygen saturation, heart rate, weight, and feedings daily. Nurse practitioners called each family at least weekly, and when issues arose, action plans were determined based on symptom severity. RESULTS: Between October 2005 and October 2010 there were 46 Norwood procedure patients who survived to hospital discharge. All were enrolled in the HMP. Forty-five patients had a Norwood procedure with right ventricle to pulmonary artery conduit, and 1 patient had a modified Blalock-Taussig shunt. Interstage survival was 100%. Nineteen patients (41%) were admitted interstage; 5 patients were admitted twice, 1 patient was admitted 4 times. Seventeen patients (37%) required interstage interventions. Eight patients (17%) required major interventions: conduit stenting, aortic arch balloon angioplasty, emergent shunt, or early Glenn surgery. Minor interventions included supplemental oxygen, blood transfusion, intravenous hydration, diuresis, anti-arrhythmic therapy, or feeding adjustments. CONCLUSIONS: In the first 5 years of the HMP, all infants discharged after a modified Norwood procedure survived the interstage period. The HMP altered clinical management in 37% of patients. Home monitoring of oxygen saturation, heart rate, weight, and feedings, along with comprehensive care coordination, allowed timely interventions and reduced interstage mortality from 7% to 0%.