Academic pediatrics
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Academic pediatrics · Aug 2016
How Avoidable are Hospitalizations for Children With Medical Complexity? Understanding Parent Perspectives.
Children with medical complexity (CMC) are a small group that utilizes large amounts of health care resources. Although parents are the primary healthcare decision-makers for their children, little is known from their perspective about why CMC are hospitalized. We sought to understand what parents think about factors leading to hospitalization and whether any recent hospitalizations might have been avoidable. ⋯ Parents of CMC believe that hospitalizations are largely unavoidable because of higher susceptibility and higher risk. Increasing parents' self-efficacy in caring for children at home might influence their decisions to seek emergent care.
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Academic pediatrics · Aug 2016
Physician Transition of Care: Benefits of I-PASS and an Electronic Handoff System in a Community Pediatric Residency Program.
Miscommunication is a leading cause of adverse events in hospitals. Optimizing the handoff process improves communication and patient safety. We sought to assess how the components of I-PASS (a mnemonic for illness severity, patient summary, action list, situational awareness with contingency planning, and synthesis by the receiver), a standardized handoff bundle, improved the quality of handoffs in a pediatric residency program based in a community hospital. ⋯ Specific components of a standardized handoff system, including a mnemonic, an educational intervention, and an EPH, improved the clarity and organization of key information in handoff.