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IMPORTANCE: The rate of postoperative death in children undergoing tonsillectomy is uncertain. Mortality rates are not separately available for children at increased risk of complications, including young children (aged

Objective This study examined family-reported ambulatory care quality and its association with emergency department and hospital utilization, and how these relationships differed across levels of medical complexity. Data sources The 2006-2013 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). Study design Secondary analysis of MEPS data. Variables fitting the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse clinical quality measures domain framework were selected. Exploratory factor analysis grouped ambulatory quality into 12 access, experience, or process measures. Weighted negative binomial regression stratified by health status identified associations between ambulatory quality and ED visits or hospitalizations. Data collection 41,497 children ≤18 years were included. The 5-item special health care needs (SHCN) screener categorized health status as complex, less complex, or no SHCN. Principal findings Weighted SHCN proportions were 1.6 Percent complex, 18.2 Percent less complex, and 80.0 Percent no SHCN. Mean ED visits were 130 and 335 visits/1000 children/year for no/ complex SHCN, respectively. Mean hospitalizations were 20 and 175 hospitalizations/1000 children/year for no/complex SHCN, respectively. ED visits were associated with 8 of 12 quality measures for no/less complex SHCN. For example, usually/always receiving needed care right away was associated with 22 Percent lower ED visit rate (95% CI 0.64-0.96). Hospitalizations were associated with 4 of 12 quality measures for less complex SHCN. In complex SHCN, associations between ambulatory quality and ED/hospital use were weak and inconsistent. Conclusions Ambulatory quality may best predict ED and hospital use for children with no or less complex SHCN. Whether and how ambulatory care predicts emergency and hospital care in complex SHCN remains an important question.

OBJECTIVE: Although individual-level social determinants of health (SDH) are known to influence 30-day readmission risk, contextual-level associations with readmission are poorly understood among children. This study explores associations between neighborhood disadvantage measured by Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and pediatric 30-day readmissions. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included discharges of patients aged

Introduction Medical device-related complications often lead to emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations for children with medical complexity (CMC), and pediatric complex care programs may be one way to decrease unnecessary encounters. Methods A retrospective cohort study comparing ED and inpatient encounters due to device complications of 2 cohorts of CMC at a single children's hospital during 2014-2016; 99 enrolled in a complex care program and 244 in a propensity-matched comparison group. Structured chart reviews identified ED and inpatient encounters due to device complications. The outcome was a change in the frequency of these encounters from the year before to the year after enrollment in the hospital's complex care program. Program effects were estimated with weighted difference-in-differences (DiDs), comparing the change in mean encounter frequency for CMC enrolled in the program with change for propensity-matched children not enrolled in the program. Results Mean encounters related to device complications decreased for both groups. Complication-related ED encounters per year decreased from a weighted mean (SD) of 0.74 (0.85) to 0.30 (0.44) in enrolled children and 0.26 (0.89) to 0.12 (0.56) in comparison children, a DiD of 0.30 fewer [95% confidence interval (CI) -0.01 to 0.60]. The largest reductions in device complication ED visits were among those with enteral tubes [0.36 fewer (95% CI 0.04-0.68)]. Hospitalizations decreased over time, but DiDs were not significantly different between groups. Conclusions Acute care use from device complications decreased with time. Complex care program enrollment may be associated with more substantial reductions in device complication ED visits, and effects may be most pronounced for CMC with enteral tubes.

Background High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is increasingly used to treat children hospitalized with bronchiolitis; however, the best practices for feeding during HFNC and the impact of feeding on time to discharge and adverse events are unknown. The study objective was to assess whether feeding exposure during HFNC was associated with time to discharge or feeding-related adverse events. Methods This retrospective cohort study included inpatients aged 1-24 months receiving HFNC for bronchiolitis at an academic children's hospital from January 1, 2015 to March 1, 2017. Feeding exposures during HFNC were categorized as fed or not fed. Among fed children, we further evaluated mixed (oral and tube) or exclusive oral feeding. The primary outcome was time to discharge after HFNC cessation. Secondary outcomes were aspiration, intubation after HFNC, and seven-day readmission. Results Of 123 children treated with HFNC, 45 (37 %) were never fed. A total of 78 children (63%) were fed; 50 (41%) were exclusively orally fed and 28 (23 %) had mixed feeding. Median (interquartile range) time to discharge after HFNC was 29.5 hours (23.5-47.9) and 39.8 hours (26.4-61.5) hours in the fed and not fed groups, respectively. In adjusted models, time to discharge was shorter with any feeding (hazard ratio [HR] 2.17; 95% CI: 1.34-3.50) and with exclusive oral feeding (HR 2.13; 95% CI: 1.31-3.45) compared with no feeding. Time to discharge from HFNC initiation was shorter for exclusive oral feeding versus not feeding (propensity weighted HR 1.97 [95% CI: 1.13-3.43]). Adverse events (one intubation, one aspiration pneumonia, one readmission) occurred in both groups. Limitations Assessment of feeding exposure did not account for quantity and duration. Discussion Children fed while receiving HFNC for bronchiolitis may have shorter time to discharge than those not fed. Feeding-related adverse events were rare regardless of the feeding method. Controlled prospective studies addressing residual confounding are needed to justify a change in the current practice.

Introduction Physicians enter residency with varied knowledge regarding the purpose of progress notes and proficiency writing them. The objective of this study was to test whether resident knowledge, beliefs, and confidence writing inpatient progress notes improved after a 2.5-hour workshop intervention. Methods An educational workshop and note assessment tool was constructed by resident and faculty stakeholders based on a review of literature and institutional best practices. The Progress Note Assessment and Plan Evaluation (PNAPE) tool was designed to assess adherence to best practices in the assessment and plan section of progress notes. Thirty-four residents from a midsized pediatric residency program attended the workshop, which consisted of didactics and small-group work evaluating sample notes using the PNAPE tool. Participants completed a four-question online pre- and postworkshop survey to evaluate their knowledge of progress note components and attitudes regarding note importance. Pre-post analysis was performed with Chi-square testing for true/false questions, and Mann-Whitney testing for Likert scale questions and summative scores. Results A majority of pediatric residents completed the preintervention (n = 26, 76% response rate) and postintervention (n = 23, 68% response rate) surveys. Accurate response rate improved in 15 of 20 of the true/false items, with a statistically significant improvement in five items. Resident perceptions of note importance and confidence in note writing also increased. Discussion A workshop intervention may effectively educate pediatric residents about progress note best practices. Further studies should assess the impact of the intervention on sustained knowledge and beliefs about progress notes and subsequent note quality.

OBJECTIVES:Adults with chronic conditions originating in childhood experience ongoing hospitalizations; however, efforts to guide youth-adult transitions rarely address transitioning to adult-oriented inpatient care. Our objectives were to identify perceptions of clinical leaders on important and feasible inpatient transition activities and outcomes, including when, how, and for whom inpatient transition processes are needed.METHODS:Clinical leaders at US children’s hospitals were surveyed between January and July 2016. Questionnaires were used to assess 21 inpatient transition activities and 13 outcomes. Perceptions about feasible and important outcome measures and appropriate patients and settings for activities were summarized. Each transition activity was categorized into one of the Six Core Elements (policy, tracking, readiness, planning, transfer, or completion). Associations between perceived transition activity importance or feasibility, hospital characteristics, and transition activity performance were evaluated.RESULTS:In total, 96 of 195 (49.2%) children’s hospital leaders responded. The most important and feasible activities were identifying patients needing or overdue for transition, discussing transition timing with youth and/or families, and informing youth and/or families that future stays would be at an adult facility. Feasibility, but not importance, ratings were associated with current performance of transition activities. Inpatient transition activities were perceived to be important for children with medical and/or social complexity or high hospital use. Emergency department visits and patient experience during transition were top outcome measurement priorities.CONCLUSIONS:Children’s hospital clinical leaders rated inpatient youth-adult transition activities and outcome measures as important and feasible; however, feasibility may ultimately drive implementation. This work should be used to inform initial research and quality improvement priorities, although additional stakeholder perspectives are needed.

Background and objectives Adherence to American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) bronchiolitis clinical practice guideline recommendations improved significantly through the AAP's multiinstitutional collaborative, the Bronchiolitis Quality Improvement Project (BQIP). We assessed sustainability of improvements at participating institutions for 1 year following completion of the collaborative. Methods Twenty-one multidisciplinary hospital-based teams provided monthly data for key inpatient bronchiolitis measures during baseline and intervention bronchiolitis seasons. Nine sites provided data in the season following completion of the collaborative. Encounters included children younger than 24 months who were hospitalized for bronchiolitis without comorbid chronic illness, prematurity, or intensive care. Changes between baseline-, intervention-, and sustainability-season data were assessed using generalized linear mixed-effects models with site-specific random effects. Differences between hospital characteristics, baseline performance, and initial improvement between sites that did and did not participate in the sustainability season were compared. Results A total of 2275 discharges were reviewed, comprising 995 baseline, 877 intervention, and 403 sustainability- season encounters. Improvements in all key bronchiolitis quality measures achieved during the intervention season were maintained during the sustainability season, and orders for intermittent pulse oximetry increased from 40.6% (95% confidence interval [CI], 22.8-61.1) to 79.2% (95% CI, 58.0- 91.3). Sites that did and did not participate in the sustainability season had similar characteristics. Discussion BQIP participating sites maintained improvements in key bronchiolitis quality measures for 1 year following the project's completion. This approach, which provided an evidence-based best-practice toolkit while building the quality-improvement capacity of local interdisciplinary teams, may support performance gains that persist beyond the active phase of the collaborative.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Adoption of clinical respiratory scoring as a quality improvement (QI) tool in bronchiolitis has been temporally associated with decreased bronchodilator usage. We sought to determine whether documented use of a clinical respiratory score at the patient level was associated with a decrease in either the physician prescription of any dose of bronchodilator or the number of doses, if prescribed, in a multisite QI collaborative. METHODS: We performed a secondary analysis of data from a QI collaborative involving 22 hospitals. The project enrolled patients aged 1 month to 2 years with a primary diagnosis of acute viral bronchiolitis and excluded those with prematurity, other significant comorbid diseases, and those needing intensive care. We assessed for an association between documentation of any respiratory score use during an episode of care, as well as the method in which scores were used, and physician prescribing of any bronchodilator and number of doses. Covariates considered were phase of the collaborative, hospital length of stay, steroid use, and presence of household smokers. RESULTS: A total of 1876 subjects were included. There was no association between documentation of a respiratory score and the likelihood of physician prescribing of any bronchodilator. Score use was associated with fewer doses of bronchodilators if one was prescribed (P = .05), but this association disappeared with multivariable analysis (P = .73). CONCLUSIONS: We found no clear association between clinical respiratory score use and physician prescribing of bronchodilators in a multicenter QI collaborative.

Health care providers’ adherence to guidelines declines over time, and feasible strategies for sustaining adherence have not yet been identified. We assessed the long-term feasibility of various strategies for sustaining guideline adherence and described factors influencing their use. We conducted a cross-sectional survey (N = 104) of physician leaders who participated in a national collaborative to improve care of infants with suspected sepsis. Data were collected on long-term use of strategies to promote guideline adherence (use, perceived effectiveness, and barriers to use). Sixty (58%) participants from diverse hospital settings responded. There were significant declines in use of quality improvement and educational strategies, largely driven by lack of time or staff resources and competing priorities. Electronic strategies (eg, order sets) and hospital policies or guidelines were feasible to continue long-term after the collaborative ended and were perceived as effective. Clinicians and healthcare leaders should consider prioritizing these strategies in their efforts to improve care and outcomes for children in hospital settings.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hospital discharge requires multidisciplinary coordination. Insufficient coordination impacts patient flow, resource use, and postdischarge outcomes. Our objectives were to (1) implement a prospective, multidisciplinary discharge timing designation in the electronic health record (EHR) and (2) evaluate its association with discharge timing. METHODS: This quality-improvement study evaluated the implementation of confirmed discharge time (CDT), an EHR designation representing specific discharge timing developed jointly by a patient’s family and the health care team. CDT was intended to support task management and coordination of multidisciplinary discharge processes and could be entered and viewed by all team members. Four plan-do-study-act improvement phases were studied: (1) baseline, (2) provider education, (3) provider feedback, and (4) EHR modification. Statistical process control charts tracked CDT use and the proportion of discharges before noon. Length of stay was used as a balancing measure. RESULTS: During the study period from April 2013 through March 2017, 20 133 pediatric discharges occurred, with similar demographics observed throughout all phases. Mean CDT use increased from 0% to 62%, with special cause variations being detected after the provider education and EHR modification phases. Over the course of the study, the proportion of discharges before noon increased by 6.2 percentage points, from 19.9% to 26.1%, whereas length of stay decreased from 47 (interquartile range: 25–95) to 43 (interquartile range: 24–88) hours (both P CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a prospective, multidisciplinary EHR discharge time designation was associated with more before-noon discharges. Next steps include replicating results in other settings and determining populations that are most responsive to discharge coordination efforts.

Adolescents with severe eating disorders require hospitalization for medical stabilization. Supervision best practices for these patients are not established. This study sought to evaluate the cost and feasibility of centralized video monitoring (CVM) supervision on a general pediatric unit of an academic quaternary care center. This was a retrospective cohort study of nursing assistant (NA) versus CVM supervision for girls 12-18 years old admitted for medical stabilization of an eating disorder between September 2013 and March 2017. There were 37 consecutive admissions (NA = 23 and CVM = 14). NA median supervision cost was more expensive than CVM ($4,104/admission vs $1,166/admission, P < .001). Length of stay and days to weight gain were not statistically different. There were no occurances of family refusal of CVM, conversion from CVM to NA, technological failure, or unplanned discontinuation. Video monitoring was feasible and associated with lower supervision costs than one-to-one NA supervision. Larger samples in multiple centers are needed to confirm the safety, acceptability, and efficacy of CVM.

Background Hospital charges and lengths of stay may be greater when adults with chronic conditions are admitted to children's hospitals. Despite multiple efforts to improve pediatric-adult healthcare transitions, little guidance exists for transitioning inpatient care. Objective This study sought to characterize pediatricadult inpatient care transitions across general pediatric services at US children's hospitals. Design, setting and participants National survey of inpatient general pediatric service leaders at US children's hospitals from January 2016 to July 2016. Measurements Questionnaires assessed institutional characteristics, presence of inpatient transition initiatives (having specific process and/or leader), and 22 inpatient transition activities. Scales of highly correlated activities were created using exploratory factor analysis. Logistic regression identified associations between institutional characteristics, transition activities, and presence of an inpatient transition initiative. Results Ninety-six of 195 children's hospitals responded (49.2% response rate). Transition initiatives were present at 38% of children's hospitals, more often when there were dual-trained internal medicine-pediatrics providers or outpatient transition processes. Specific activities were infrequent and varied widely from 2.1% (systems to track youth in transition) to 40.5% (addressing potential insurance problems). Institutions with initiatives more often consistently performed the majority of activities, including using checklists and creating patient-centered transition care plans. Of remaining activities, half involved transition planning, the essential step between readiness and transfer. Conclusions Relatively few inpatient general pediatric services at US children's hospitals have leaders or dedicated processes to shepherd transitions to adultoriented inpatient care. Across institutions, there is a wide variability in performance of activities to facilitate this transition. Feasible process and outcome measures are needed.

Introduction Physicians enter residency with variable proficiency in note writing and knowledge of note purpose. Best practice guidelines give learners some direction, but may not provide adequate explanation about the importance and purposes of progress notes. Objective Test the efficacy of a workshop intervention on changing resident knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about progress notes. Methods An educational workshop was constructed by residents and faculty stakeholders based on review of the literature, institutional best practices, and a previously designed note assessment tool. Residents from a mid-sized pediatric residency program attended a workshop consisting of best practice didactics and small group work using the tool to assess example progress notes. Participants completed a 22-question online survey (Qualtrics) before and after the workshop to evaluate knowledge of progress note components and attitudes regarding note importance. Pre-post analysis was performed with Chi square testing for true/false questions and Mann-Whitney testing for Likert scale questions. Results Pediatric residents (n=26, 79% response rate) completed the pre-intervention online survey, and 23 (70%) completed the post-intervention survey. Accurate response rate improved in 15/20 of the true/false content questions, with a statistically significant improvement in five of them (p Discussion/Conclusion This study suggests that a workshop intervention is an effective method of educating pediatric residents on progress note best practices. Further studies should assess the impact of the intervention on sustained resident knowledge and beliefs about progress notes and subsequent note quality.

Background Daily progress notes are vital cross disciplinary communication tools. The electronic medical record has influenced progress note content and length. Previously developed note assessment tools, such as the Physician Documentation Quality Instrument (PDQI-9), have not focused on the assessment and plan of the note, which are often most informative. Objective Develop a reliable and valid tool to evaluate the assessment and plan of resident daily progress notes. Methods A committee of pediatric resident, hospitalist and critical care physicians generated a list of common pitfalls associated with daily progress notes. A standardized ideal progress note assessment and plan was developed using a cause and effect diagram, literature review, consultation with billing expert and institutional documentation best practice guidelines. From this ideal state, a progress note evaluation tool PNAPE was developed using Modified Delphi technique. Four faculty experts used PNAPE and PDQI-9 to independently review resident progress notes identified from a convenience sample from each intern on the hospitalist service in fall 2017. Inter-rater reliability of the PNAPE was assessed using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). External validity was assessed by correlation between mean PNAPE and PDQI-9 scores using Pearson's coefficient. Results PNAPE is shown in figure 1. In all, 13 Notes were assessed with an ICC of 0.85. Pearson's r is 0.63 between mean PNAPE and PDQI-9 scores. Conclusion These findings suggest that the PNAPE is a reliable and valid tool for evaluation of resident progress note assessment and plan by expert assessors. Next steps will include use of PNAPE to track note quality over time, provide feedback and to assess notes in other inpatient settings and specialties.

Introduction Many pediatricians report burnout and low professional fulfillment. While it is assumed that academic pediatricians garner professional fulfillment from teaching, little is known about the perceived intersection of teaching and pediatrician wellbeing. Methods In June 2018, pediatric faculty focus groups were conducted at a university-based pediatrics department, addressing work-related factors with greatest impact on wellbeing. Focus groups were audio recorded, transcribed, and de-identified. All excerpts about learners and teaching were manually coded using the constant comparative method. Results Participants included 47 faculty in 8 focus groups, of whom 55% were female. A small number of comments described positive impact of teaching on wellbeing. “It's a great privilege to be around young learners that are energized to extract as much as they possibly can...[teaching] helps sustain most of us.” A larger subset described negative impact of teaching. Four themes emerged: (1) Perceived institutional devaluation of teaching as an academic pursuit, “If teaching doesn't get you promoted, I don't know what should... I know that it really stresses me out just thinking about it and having to come up with things to do that count because what I'm already doing, I don't think counts enough.” (2) Perceived decline in trainee work ethos, “The patients have to be cared for. You're the one answering [pages], and [the residents are] gone. Then they don't have the ownership that you may have had during your training.” (3) Perceived disparity in work hour protection and wellness support for faculty as compared to trainees, “I would love to have work-hour restrictions and all those sorts of things... I'm not angry or bitter at [trainees], but... everyone just makes the assumption that you're in charge and you've already figured out how to cope with your 80-hour work weeks.” (4) Perceived burdens of teaching, “There's fewer and fewer faculty involved with teaching because of a lack of rewards and more administrative [workload] when you do teach, like the 20-page evaluations of a medical student you spend an hour with.” Conclusion Teaching may be both protective and detrimental to pediatrician wellbeing. Future studies should further explore teaching-related factors that contribute to a sense of fulfillment and burnout to ensure faculty remain engaged and fulfilled in their work.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: We sought to implement systematic tobacco dependence interventions for parents and/or caregivers as secondary aims within 2 multisite quality improvement (QI) collaboratives for bronchiolitis. We hypothesized that iterative improvements in tobacco dependence intervention strategies would result in improvement in outcomes between collaboratives. METHODS: This study involved 2 separate yearlong, multisite QI collaboratives that were focused on care provided to inpatients with a primary diagnosis of bronchiolitis. In each collaborative, we provided tools and training in tobacco dependence treatment and expert coaching on interventions for parents as a secondary aim. Data were collected by chart review and results analyzed by using analysis of means and statistical process control analysis. Outcomes between collaboratives were compared by using relative risks. RESULTS: Between both collaboratives, 56 hospitals participated and 6258 inpatient charts were reviewed. In the first collaborative, 22% of identified parents who smoke received tobacco dependence interventions at baseline. This rate increased to 51% during the postintervention period, with special cause revealed by analysis of means. In the second collaborative, 31% of parents who smoke received baseline interventions. This rate increased to 53% by the conclusion of the collaborative, with special cause revealed by statistical process control analysis. The relative risk for providing any cessation intervention in 1 collaborative versus the other was 0.9 (confidence interval 0.8–1.1). CONCLUSIONS: Tobacco dependence treatment of parents and/or caregivers can be integrated into bronchiolitis QI by using relatively low-resource strategies. Using a more intensive QI intervention did not alter the rates of screening or intervention for caregivers who smoke.