Physician clinical decision support system prompts and administration of subsequent doses of HPV vaccine: A randomized clinical trial.

BACKGROUND: HPV vaccine is effective in preventing several cancers and anogenital warts, yet rates of HPV vaccination series completion in the United States are low. A primary reason identified by parents for vaccinating children against HPV is a health care provider's recommendation. Although most clinicians embrace vaccine recommendations, they are not always carried out evenly and subsequent HPV vaccines are missed. METHODS: Using an electronic health records-based decision support system (CHICA) clinicians were randomized to either usual practice or to receive an automated reminder to recommend the 2nd or 3rd dose of HPV vaccine. The reminder was delivered to clinicians of all intervention group eligible adolescents who had already initiated the vaccine series. Logistic regression models with generalized estimating equations were used for data analysis. RESULTS: A total of 1285 clinical encounters were observed across 29 randomized pediatric providers over a 13-month time frame (50.7% control group, 49.3% intervention group). Overall, patients were 44.9% female, 59.4% Black, 22.1% Hispanic, and 48.8% were ages 11-12 yrs. Within the control group, 421 (64.7%) received a subsequent HPV vaccine, compared to 481 (75.9%) (OR: 1.72, (95% CI 1.35-2.19)). Adjusted analysis showed no difference between the groups (aOR 1.52 (95% CI 0.88-2.62)) or when examined by age (11-12yrs aOR 1.66, (95% CI 0.79-3.48)) and 13-17yrs (aOR 1.19, (95% CI 0.76-1.85)) or gender female (aOR 1.39 (95% CI 0.71-2.72)) and males (aOR 1.67 (95% CI 0.95-2.92)). When results were stratified by both age and gender, there was similarly no statistically significant effect between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Automated physician reminders for subsequent 2nd and 3rd doses of HPV vaccination were used. Despite increased rates of vaccination in the intervention group, the differences did not reach the level of statistical significance. Future studies with multifaceted approaches may be needed to examine the efficacy of computer-based reminders. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT02558803, "HPV Vaccination: Evaluation of Reminder Prompts for Doses 2 & 3".

Simple and Elaborated Clinician Reminder Prompts for Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effects of simple and elaborated health care provider (HCP) reminder prompts on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine initiation rates. METHODS: Twenty-nine pediatric HCPs serving 5 pediatric clinics were randomized to 1 of 3 arms: 1) usual practice control, 2) simple reminder prompt, and 3) elaborated reminder prompt, which included suggested language for recommending the early adolescent platform vaccines. Prompts were delivered via a computer-based clinical decision support system deployed in the 5 clinics. Eligible patients were ages 11 to 13 years, had not received HPV vaccine, and were due for meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) vaccine and/or the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis booster (Tdap). Receipt of HPV vaccine was determined via automated queries sent to the Indiana immunization registry. Data were analyzed via logistic regression models, with generalized estimating equations used to account for the clustering of patients within HCPs. RESULTS: Ten HCPs in the control group saw 301 patients, 8 HCPs in the simple prompt group saw 124, and 11 HCPs in the elaborated prompt group saw 223. The elaborated prompt arm had a higher rate of HPV vaccination (62%) than the control arm (45%): adjusted odds ratio, 2.76; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 7.14. The simple prompt arm did not differ significantly from the control arm with respect to HPV vaccine initiation, which might have been because of the small sample size for this arm. MenACWY and Tdap rates did not vary across the 3 arms. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that an elaborated HCP-targeted reminder prompt, with suggested recommendation language, might improve rates of HPV vaccine initiation.

Unexplained Practice Variation in Primary Care Providers' Concern for Pediatric Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

OBJECTIVE: To examine primary care provider (PCP) screening practice for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and predictive factors for screening habits. A secondary objective was to describe the polysomnography completion proportion and outcome. We hypothesized that both provider and child health factors would predict PCP suspicion of OSA. METHODS: A computer decision support system that automated screening for snoring was implemented in 5 urban primary care clinics in Indianapolis, Indiana. We studied 1086 snoring children aged 1 to 11 years seen by 26 PCPs. We used logistic regression to examine the association between PCP suspicion of OSA and child demographics, child health characteristics, provider characteristics, and clinic site. RESULTS: PCPs suspected OSA in 20% of snoring children. Factors predicting PCP concern for OSA included clinic site (P < .01; odds ratio [OR] = 0.13), Spanish language (P < .01; OR = 0.53), provider training (P = .01; OR = 10.19), number of training years (P = .01; OR = 4.26) and child age (P < .01), with the youngest children least likely to elicit PCP concern for OSA (OR = 0.20). No patient health factors (eg, obesity) were significantly predictive. Proportions of OSA suspicion were variable between clinic sites (range, 6-28%) and between specific providers (range, 0-63%). Of children referred for polysomnography (n = 100), 61% completed the study. Of these, 67% had OSA. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest unexplained small area practice variation in PCP concern for OSA among snoring children. It is likely that many children at risk for OSA remain unidentified. An important next step is to evaluate interventions to support PCPs in evidence-based OSA identification.

Pediatric decision support using adapted Arden Syntax.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric guidelines based care is often overlooked because of the constraints of a typical office visit and the sheer number of guidelines that may exist for a patient's visit. In response to this problem, in 2004 we developed a pediatric computer based clinical decision support system using Arden Syntax medical logic modules (MLM). METHODS: The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation system (CHICA) screens patient families in the waiting room and alerts the physician in the exam room. Here we describe adaptation of Arden Syntax to support production and consumption of patient specific tailored documents for every clinical encounter in CHICA and describe the experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of this system. RESULTS: As of this writing CHICA has served over 44,000 patients at 7 pediatric clinics in our healthcare system in the last decade and its MLMs have been fired 6182,700 times in "produce" and 5334,021 times in "consume" mode. It has run continuously for over 10 years and has been used by 755 physicians, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, nurses and clinical staff. There are 429 MLMs implemented in CHICA, using the Arden Syntax standard. Studies of CHICA's effectiveness include several published randomized controlled trials. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the Arden Syntax standard provided us with an effective way to represent pediatric guidelines for use in routine care. We only required minor modifications to the standard to support our clinical workflow. Additionally, Arden Syntax implementation in CHICA facilitated the study of many pediatric guidelines in real clinical environments.

Effectiveness of Computer Automation for the Diagnosis and Management of Childhood Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is increasingly common in young individuals. Primary prevention and screening among children and adolescents who are at substantial risk for T2D are recommended, but implementation of T2D screening practices in the pediatric primary care setting is uncommon. Objective: To determine the feasibility and effectiveness of a computerized clinical decision support system to identify pediatric patients at high risk for T2D and to coordinate screening for and diagnosis of prediabetes and T2D. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cluster-randomized clinical trial included patients from 4 primary care pediatric clinics. Two clinics were randomized to the computerized clinical decision support intervention, aimed at physicians, and 2 were randomized to the control condition. Patients of interest included children, adolescents, and young adults 10 years or older. Data were collected from January 1, 2013, through December 1, 2016. Interventions: Comparison of physician screening and follow-up practices after adding a T2D module to an existing computer decision support system. Main Outcomes and Measures: Electronic medical record (EMR) data from patients 10 years or older were reviewed to determine the rates at which pediatric patients were identified as having a body mass index (BMI) at or above the 85th percentile and 2 or more risk factors for T2D and underwent screening for T2D. Results: Medical records were reviewed for 1369 eligible children (712 boys [52.0%] and 657 girls [48.0%]; median [interquartile range] age, 12.9 [11.2-15.3]), of whom 684 were randomized to the control group and 685 to the intervention group. Of these, 663 (48.4%) had a BMI at or above the 85th percentile. Five hundred sixty-five patients (41.3%) met T2D screening criteria, with no difference between control and intervention sites. The T2D module led to a significant increase in the percentage of patients undergoing screening for T2D (89 of 283 [31.4%] vs 26 of 282 [9.2%]; adjusted odds ratio, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.5-14.7) and a greater proportion attending a scheduled follow-up appointment (45 of 153 [29.4%] vs 38 of 201 [18.9%]; adjusted odds ratio, 1.8; 95% CI, 1.5-2.2). Conclusions and Relevance: Use of a computerized clinical decision support system to automate the identification and screening of pediatric patients at high risk for T2D can help overcome barriers to the screening process. The support system significantly increased screening among patients who met the American Diabetes Association criteria and adherence to follow-up appointments with primary care clinicians. Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01814787.

Use of a computerized decision aid for developmental surveillance and screening: a randomized clinical trial.

IMPORTANCE: Developmental delays and disabilities are common in children. Research has indicated that intervention during the early years of a child's life has a positive effect on cognitive development, social skills and behavior, and subsequent school performance. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether a computerized clinical decision support system is an effective approach to improve standardized developmental surveillance and screening (DSS) within primary care practices. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: In this cluster randomized clinical trial performed in 4 pediatric clinics from June 1, 2010, through December 31, 2012, children younger than 66 months seen for primary care were studied. INTERVENTIONS: We compared surveillance and screening practices after adding a DSS module to an existing computer decision support system. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The rates at which children were screened for developmental delay. RESULTS: Medical records were reviewed for 360 children (180 each in the intervention and control groups) to compare rates of developmental screening at the 9-, 18-, or 30-month well-child care visits. The DSS module led to a significant increase in the percentage of patients screened with a standardized screening tool (85.0% vs 24.4%, P < .001). An additional 120 records (60 each in the intervention and control groups) were reviewed to examine surveillance rates at visits outside the screening windows. The DSS module led to a significant increase in the percentage of patients whose parents were assessed for concerns about their child's development (71.7% vs 41.7%, P = .04). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Using a computerized clinical decision support system to automate the screening of children for developmental delay significantly increased the numbers of children screened at 9, 18, and 30 months of age. It also significantly improved surveillance at other visits. Moreover, it increased the number of children who ultimately were diagnosed as having developmental delay and who were referred for timely services at an earlier age. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01351077.

Use of a computerized decision aid for ADHD diagnosis: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if implementing attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) diagnosis and treatment guidelines in a clinical decision support system would result in better care, including higher rates of adherence to clinical care guidelines. METHODS: We conducted a cluster randomized controlled trial in which we compared diagnosis and management of ADHD in 6- to 12-year-olds after implementation of a computer decision support system in 4 practices. RESULTS: Eighty-four charts were reviewed. In the control group, the use of structured diagnostic assessments dropped from 50% in the baseline period to 38% in the intervention period. In the intervention group, however, it rose from 60% to 81%. This difference was statistically significant, even after controlling for age, gender, and race (odds ratio of structured diagnostic assessment in intervention group versus control group = 8.0, 95% confidence interval 1.6-40.6). Significant differences were also seen in the number of ADHD core symptoms noted at the time of diagnosis. Our study was not powered to detect changes in care and management, but the percent of patients who had documented medication adjustments, mental health referrals, and visits to mental health specialists were higher in the intervention group than the control. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of a clinical decision support module resulted in higher quality of care with respect to ADHD diagnosis including a prospect for higher quality of ADHD management in children. Future work will examine how to further develop the ADHD module and add support for other chronic conditions.

A randomized controlled trial of screening for maternal depression with a clinical decision support system.

OBJECTIVE: To determine if automated screening and just in time delivery of testing and referral materials at the point of care promotes universal screening referral rates for maternal depression. METHODS: The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system is a decision support and electronic medical record system used in our pediatric clinics. All families of patients up to 15 months of age seen between October 2007 and July 2009 were randomized to one of three groups: (1) screening questions printed on prescreener forms (PSF) completed by mothers in the waiting room with physician alerts for positive screens, (2) everything in (1) plus 'just in time' (JIT) printed materials to aid physicians, and (3) a control group where physicians were simply reminded to screen on printed physician worksheets. RESULTS: The main outcome of interest was whether physicians suspected a diagnosis of maternal depression and referred a mother for assistance. This occurred significantly more often in both the PSF (2.4%) and JIT groups (2.4%) than in the control group (1.2%) (OR 2.06, 95% CI 1.08 to 3.93). Compared to the control group, more mothers were noted to have depressed mood in the PSF (OR 7.93, 95% CI 4.51 to 13.96) and JIT groups (OR 8.10, 95% CI 4.61 to 14.25). Similarly, compared to the control group, more mothers had signs of anhedonia in the PSF (OR 12.58, 95% CI 5.03 to 31.46) and JIT groups (OR 13.03, 95% CI 5.21 to 32.54). CONCLUSIONS: Clinical decision support systems like CHICA can improve the screening of maternal depression.

Targeted screening for pediatric conditions with the CHICA system.

OBJECTIVE: The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system is a decision-support and electronic-medical-record system for pediatric health maintenance and disease management. The purpose of this study was to explore CHICA's ability to screen patients for disorders that have validated screening criteria--specifically tuberculosis (TB) and iron-deficiency anemia. DESIGN: Children between 0 and 11 years were randomized by the CHICA system. In the intervention group, parents were asked about TB and iron-deficiency risk, and physicians received a tailored prompt. In the control group, no screens were performed, and the physician received a generic prompt about these disorders. RESULTS: 1123 participants were randomized to the control group and 1116 participants to the intervention group. Significantly more people reported positive risk factors for iron-deficiency anemia in the intervention group (17.5% vs 3.1%, OR 6.6, 95% CI 4.5 to 9.5). In general, far fewer parents reported risk factors for TB than for iron-deficiency anemia. Again, there were significantly higher detection rates of positive risk factors in the intervention group (1.8% vs 0.8%, OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.0 to 5.0). LIMITATIONS: It is possible that there may be more positive screens without improving outcomes. However, the guidelines are based on studies that have evaluated the questions the authors used as sensitive and specific, and there is no reason to believe that parents misunderstood them. CONCLUSIONS: Many screening tests are risk-based, not universal, leaving physicians to determine who should have a further workup. This can be a time-consuming process. The authors demonstrated that the CHICA system performs well in assessing risk automatically for TB and iron-deficiency anemia.