Decreasing Prescribing Errors in Antimicrobial Stewardship Program-Restricted Medications.

OBJECTIVES: Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) restrict prescribing practices to regulate antimicrobial use, increasing the risk of prescribing errors. This quality improvement project aimed to decrease the proportion of prescribing errors in ASP-restricted medications by standardizing workflow. METHODS: The study took place on all inpatient units at a tertiary care children's hospital between January 2020 and February 2022. Patients <22 years old with an order for an ASP-restricted medication course were included. An interprofessional team used the Model for Improvement to design interventions targeted at reducing ASP-restricted medication prescribing errors. Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles included standardizing communication and medication review, implementing protocols, and developing electronic health record safety nets. The primary outcome was the proportion of ASP-restricted medication orders with a prescribing error. The secondary outcome was time between prescribing errors. Outcomes were plotted on control charts and analyzed for special cause variation. Outcomes were monitored for a 3-month sustainability period. RESULTS: Nine-hundred ASP-restricted medication orders were included in the baseline period (January 2020-December 2020) and 1035 orders were included in the intervention period (January 2021-February 2022). The proportion of prescribing errors decreased from 10.9% to 4.6%, and special cause variation was observed in Feb 2021. Mean time between prescribing errors increased from 2.9 days to 8.5 days. These outcomes were sustained. CONCLUSIONS: Quality improvement methods can be used to achieve a sustained reduction in the proportion of ASP-restricted medication orders with a prescribing error throughout an entire children's hospital.

Applying High-Value Care Principles in a Pediatric Case: A Workshop for Health Professions Students.

Introduction: The cost of health care in the US is rapidly rising. Understanding the financial cost of medical care is an important competency for physicians and physicians-in-training. Medical students in their clinical clerkships are being exposed to health care decision-making often for the first time and are forming habits they will carry throughout their training and careers. Teaching high-value care (HVC) principles is crucial for students as they will be the future leaders in health care. Methods: This 1-hour workshop was interactive and aimed to prepare medical students to apply HVC when making medical decisions. The topic of HVC was initially introduced by eliciting tests that students want to order and highlighting the concept of whether or not a test changes the management of the patient. This exercise was followed by a PowerPoint presentation which discussed HVC, Choosing Wisely guidelines in pediatrics, and how to communicate with parents and patients about this topic. Results: Of third-year medical students, 125 participated in the workshop, with a survey response rate of 90% (n = 112). Ninety-nine percent reported that this workshop was helpful, and 97% reported that they will change their practice to reflect more cost-conscious care. Most students reported that their knowledge of HVC improved after the session, with 88% reporting scores of 3 (moderately improved) or 4 (significantly improved). Discussion: This ready-to-implement workshop offered students an understanding of how the cost of medical care impacts patients and families and how to practice cost-conscious care in pediatrics.

The current state of pediatric hospital medicine fellowships: A survey of program directors.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) fellowship programs have grown rapidly over the last 20 years and have varied in duration and content. In an effort to standardize training in the absence of a single accrediting body, PHM fellowship directors now meet annually to discuss strategies for standardizing and enhancing training. OBJECTIVES: To explore similarities and differences in curricular structure among PHM fellowship programs in an effort to inform future curriculum standardization efforts. METHODS: An electronic survey was distributed by e-mail to all PHM fellowship directors in April 2014. The survey consisted of 30 multiple-choice and short-answer questions focused on various curricular aspects of training developed by the authors. RESULTS: Twenty-seven of 31 fellowship programs (87%) responded to the survey. Duration of most programs was 2 years (63%), with 6, 1-year programs (22%) and 4 (15%) 3-year programs making up the remainder. The average amount of clinical time among programs was 50% (range approximately 20%-65%). In addition to general inpatient pediatric service time, most programs require other clinical rotations. The majority of programs allow fellows to bill independently for their services. Most programs offer certificate courses, courses for credit or noncredit courses, with 11 programs offering masters' degrees. Twenty-one (81%) programs provide a scholarship oversight committee for their fellows. Current fellows' primary areas of research are varied. CONCLUSION: Though variability exists regarding program length, clinical composition, and nonclinical offerings, several common themes emerged that may help inform the development of a standard curriculum for use across all programs. This information provides a useful starting point if pediatric hospital medicine obtains formal subspecialty status. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;11:324-328. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.

3% Hypertonic Saline Versus Normal Saline in Inpatient Bronchiolitis: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Bronchiolitis, the most common reason for hospitalization in children younger than 1 year in the United States, has no proven therapies effective beyond supportive care. We aimed to investigate the effect of nebulized 3% hypertonic saline (HS) compared with nebulized normal saline (NS) on length of stay (LOS) in infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial in an urban tertiary care children's hospital in 227 infants younger than 12 months old admitted with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis (190 completed the study); 113 infants were randomized to HS (93 completed the study), and 114 to NS (97 completed the study). Subjects received 4 mL nebulized 3% HS or 4 mL 0.9% NS every 4 hours from enrollment until hospital discharge. The primary outcome was median LOS. Secondary outcomes were total adverse events, subdivided as clinical worsening and readmissions. RESULTS: Patient characteristics were similar in groups. In intention-to-treat analysis, median LOS (interquartile range) of HS and NS groups was 2.1 (1.2-4.6) vs 2.1 days (1.2-3.8), respectively, P = .73. We confirmed findings with per-protocol analysis, HS and NS groups with 2.0 (1.3-3.3) and 2.0 days (1.2-3.0), respectively, P = .96. Seven-day readmission rate for HS and NS groups were 4.3% and 3.1%, respectively, P = .77. Clinical worsening events were similar between groups (9% vs 8%, P = .97). CONCLUSIONS: Among infants admitted to the hospital with bronchiolitis, treatment with nebulized 3% HS compared with NS had no difference in LOS or 7-day readmission rates.