Types of Tobacco Products Used by Caregivers of Newborns in the Primary Care Setting.

This study determined the types of tobacco products used by caregivers who presented to infant well-child visits (WCVs), tobacco product use by other household members, and caregivers' readiness to quit. The Ohio Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics conducted a 10-month quality improvement collaborative to improve providers' tobacco screening and cessation counseling practices. A sub-analysis of the initial screenings was performed to determine types of tobacco products used and caregivers' readiness to quit. Fourteen practices (60 providers) participated, and 3972 initial screens were analyzed; 320 (8.1%) caregivers and 490 (12.4%) household members used tobacco products. Most smoking caregivers and household members exclusively used cigarettes (79% and 72%, respectively). There was no difference in caregiver intention to quit by tobacco type, yet 53% of smoking caregivers were ready to quit. Providers should provide screening and cessation counseling to caregivers of infants at WCVs since many are ready to quit.

A pilot QI primary care practice program to help reduce infant mortality risks.

BACKGROUND: Tobacco smoke exposure (TSE) and inappropriate sleep position/environments contribute to preventable infant deaths. The objective of our quality improvement (QI) program was to increase primary care provider (PCP) screening and counseling for TSE and safe sleep risks at well-child visits (WCVs) and to assess caregiver behavior changes at subsequent visits. METHODS: Pediatric practices, recruited from the Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics' database, self-selected to participate in this TSE and safe sleep PCP QI program. At every WCV over a 10-month period, caregivers with children < 1 year old were to be screened and counseled by providers. Caregiver demographics, TSE, and safe sleep practices were assessed. Individual PCP results were paired with subsequent family screening tools at follow up visits to determine changes in TSE and safe sleep practices. Differences in frequencies were determined and paired t-tests were used to compare means. RESULTS: Fourteen practices (60 providers) participated; 7289 screens were completed: 3972 (54.5%) initial screens and 1769 (24.3%) subsequent WCV screens. Caregivers on the initial screen were primarily white (61.7%), mothers (86.0%) with public insurance (41.7%). Within the first month after QI program initiation, PCPs TSE screening was during 80% of WCVs, which increased to > 90% by end of the QI program. A total of 637 /3953 (16.1%) screened positive for home TSE on the initial visit: 320/3953 (8.1%) exposed by at least the primary caregivers, and 317/3953 (8.0%) exposed by a home adult smoker (not the identified caregiver). Of caregivers receiving smoking counseling with subsequent follow-up WCV (n = 100), the mean number of cigarettes smoked daily decreased significantly from 10.6 to 4.6 (p = 0.03). Thirty-four percent of caregivers (34/100) reported they quit smoking at their second visit. A total of 1072 (27%) infants screened at risk for inappropriate sleep position or environment at their initial visit. Of these at-risk infants whose caregivers received safe sleep counseling, 49.1% practiced safer sleep behaviors at follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: PCPs participating in a QI program increased screening at WCVs for infant mortality risks. After counseling and providing resources about TSE and safe sleep, many caregivers reported practicing safer behaviors at their next WCV.

Pilot of primary care physician discussion and resource allocation after screening for unintentional injuries and social determinants of health.

BACKGROUND: Standardized screening tools used by pediatric providers can help determine a child's injury and social risks. This study determined if an office-based quality improvement program could increase targeted anticipatory guidance and community resource distribution to families. METHODS: Practices recruited from the Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics' database self-selected to participate in a quality improvement project. Two age-appropriate screening tools, corresponding talking points and local resources for birth-1 year and 1-5 year aged children were developed for unintentional injury and social health determinant topics. After a one-day learning session, practice teams implemented the tools into well-child care visits for children < 5 years of age. Two months of retrospective baseline data was collected for each participating clinician. During the 6-month collaborative, physicians randomly reviewed 5 screening tools monthly for each age category to identify injury and social risk discussions and to determine if resources were provided. Frequencies of counseling and resource distribution were calculated. Participating providers received Maintenance of Certification IV credit. RESULTS: Ten practices (18 providers) participated and 667 tools (n = 313, birth-1 year, n = 354, 1-5 year) were collected. For birth-1 year, the most common risky behaviors were related to unintentional injuries: no CPR training 164(52%), car seat not checked 149(48%) and home furniture not secured 117 (37%). For 1-5 year screens, unintentional injuries were also most common: no CPR training 222(63%), car seat not checked 203(57%) and access to choking hazards 198(56%). Families practiced riskier behaviors for unintentional injuries compared to social risks for both age groups (birth - 1 year, social 189/4801 (4%) vs. unintentional injury questions 999/6260 (16%) and 1-5 years, social 271/5451 (5%) vs unintentional injury questions 1140/6372 (18%). From baseline, discussions increased from 31% to 83% for birth - 1 year and 24% to 86% for 1-5 year families. Resource distribution increased by 63% for birth-1 year and 69% for 1-5 year families by pilot conclusion. CONCLUSIONS: Using standardized screening tools in an office setting shows that families often practice unintentional injury risks more than having social concerns. After screening, appropriate resources can be provided to families to encourage behavior change.

Preschool Vision Screening Collaborative: Successful Uptake of Guidelines in Primary Care.

Preschool vision screening rates in primary care are suboptimal and poorly standardized. The purpose of this project was to evaluate pediatric primary care adherence to and improvement in preschool vision screening guidelines through a learning collaborative environment. METHODS: Thirty-nine Ohio primary care providers interested in preschool vision screening self-selected to participate in an Institute for Healthcare Improvement Breakthrough Series learning collaborative that spanned 18 months. Charts of patients attending 3-, 4-, and 5-year well-child visits were randomly selected and reviewed for documentation of vision screening attempts, referrals, and need for rescreening. RESULTS: Practitioners improved evidenced-based screening attempts for distance visual acuity and stereopsis of 3-5-year-old patients from 18% at baseline to 87% (P < 0.001) at 6 months; improved screening rates were sustained through completion of the collaborative. Baseline referral rates (26%) of abnormal vision screens improved by 59% (P < 0.001) during the first 6 months and were maintained through month 18. Rates for children with incomplete screens that were scheduled for a repeated screening increased during the first 6 months. However, changes in this metric did not reach statistical significance (P = 0.265), nor did it change during the remainder of the collaborative. CONCLUSIONS: Rapid integration and maintenance of preschool vision screening guidelines are feasible across primary care settings utilizing a structured learning collaborative. Challenges with the rescreening processes for children with incomplete vision screens remain, with the 3-year age group having the greatest room for improvement.

A quality improvement program in pediatric practices to increase tailored injury prevention counseling and assess self-reported changes made by families.

BACKGROUND: Many pediatric providers struggle to screen families for the majority of age-appropriate injury risks and educate them when appropriate. Standardized tools have helped physicians provide effective, more purposeful counseling. In this study, pediatricians utilized a standardized, injury prevention screening tool to increase targeted discussions and families were re-screened at subsequent visits to determine changes in their behavior. METHODS: Pediatric practices, recruited from the Ohio Chapter, American Academy of Pediatrics database, self-selected to participate in a quality improvement program. Two screening tools, for children birth-4 month and 6-12 month, with corresponding talking points, were to be implemented into every well child visit. During the 7-month collaborative, screening results and pediatrician counseling for reported unsafe behaviors were calculated. Patients who completed a screening tool at subsequent visits were followed up at a later visit to determine self-reported behavior changes. We examined statistically significant differences in frequencies using the X2 test. Providers received maintenance of certification IV credit for participation. RESULTS: Seven practices (39 providers) participated. By the second month, participating providers discussed 75% of all inappropriate responses for birth-4 month screenings and 87% for 6-12 months. Of the 386 families who received specific counseling and had a follow-up visit, 65% (n = 94/144) of birth-4 month and 65% (n = 59/91) of 6-12 month families made at least one behavior change. The X2 test showed that families who received counseling versus those that did not were significantly more likely to change inappropriate behaviors (p < 0.05). Overall, of all the risks identified, 45% (136) of birth-4 month and 42% (91) of 6-12 month behaviors reportedly changed after a practitioner addressed the topic area. CONCLUSIONS: Participation in a quality improvement program within pediatric offices can increase screening for injury risks and encourage tailored injury prevention discussions during an office encounter. As a result, significantly more families reported to practice safer behaviors at later visits.

A Learning Collaborative Approach to Improve Mental Health Service Delivery in Pediatric Primary Care.

BACKGROUND: Pediatric primary care practitioners (PPCPs) report inadequate training in the care of children with common mental health conditions. Although additional training is needed, system changes are also necessary to support improvements in care. METHODS: We developed the Building Mental Wellness Learning Collaborative to assist PPCPs in delivering better mental health services in primary care by targeting 5 focus areas: mental health promotion; early identification and screening; practitioner skills; collaboration and community linkages; and medication management. Aims were developed for each area. RESULTS: Twenty-one practices and 50 practitioners completed the collaborative in 2 seven-month waves. For mental health promotion, ≥85% of charts showed documentation in 3 of 4 preselected areas. For early identification/screening, screening increased, but the ≥85% goal was not met. For practitioner skills, a ≥20% increase in the proportion of children/youth ≥1 visits for anxiety or depression was achieved, from 0.70% of children/youth in the 12 months preintervention to 1.09% children/youth in the 12 months after. For collaboration/linkages, mental health referral completion was unchanged and below the 60% goal. For medication use, a ≥15% increase in selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor prescribing by Building Mental Wellness (BMW) practitioners was achieved from 0.72% children/youth with office visits pre-BMW to 0.92% post. Prescribing did not decrease for atypical antipsychotic medication use or for psychotropic medication use in children younger than 6 years, although there was a trend toward more appropriate prescribing. CONCLUSIONS: The BMW Learning Collaborative was effective in helping PPCPs implement certain aspects of a comprehensive approach to the delivery of mental health services in primary care.

A pilot quality improvement program to increase pediatrician injury anticipatory guidance.

BACKGROUND: Because of a lack of time and training, many pediatricians often address few, if any, injury topics during well-child visits. The project goal was to increase the injury anticipatory guidance topics covered by pediatricians during well-child visits by offering screening tools and focused talking points through a quality improvement learning collaborative. METHODS: Screening tools were developed and pretested. Pediatric practices, recruited through the Ohio American Academy of Pediatrics, were taught quality improvement theory and injury prevention strategies at a learning session. Pediatricians worked to implement screening tools and talking points into every well-child visit for children 1 year or younger. Monthly, providers reviewed five random charts for each of the six well-child visits for screening tool use and age-appropriate injury prevention discussion. Providers received maintenance of Certification IV credit. RESULTS: Sixteen pediatricians (six practices) participated. Screening tool use increased from 0% to 97.2% in just 3 months of the program. For each well-child care visit, injury prevention discussion increased by 89.5% for newborn visit, 88.1% for 2-month, 93.6% for 4-month, 94.0% for 6-month, 88.1% for 9-month, and 90.3% for 12-month-old babies. During the quality improvement program, discussion points for all children 1 year or younger increased for all age-appropriate topics. The greatest percent increase in discussions occurred with water safety (from 10.8% to 95.7%, n = 231), play safety (from 17.9% to 93.5%, n = 154), and supervision safety (from 20.8% to 94.4%, n = 251). More commonly addressed topics also had a significant increase in discussions: sleep safety (from 48% to 93.9%, n = 262), choking (from 44.7% to 95.4%, n = 172), and car safety (from 41.2% to 80.1%, n = 332). CONCLUSION: Participation in a maintenance of Certification IV quality improvement program within pediatric offices can increase screening and discussion of injury anticipatory guidance. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Therapeutic/care management study, level IV.