Hospital pediatrics
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Hospital pediatrics · Aug 2015
Association of Respiratory Picornaviruses With High Acuity and Severe Illness in a Pediatric Health Care System.
We aimed to determine the illness severity associated with respiratory picornaviruses (rhinovirus/enterovirus). ⋯ Picornaviruses can be associated with severe disease in children, especially those with underlying medical conditions. During times of high picornavirus activity, hospitals should target infection control measures to limit the spread of picornaviruses and protect the vulnerable patients. Future research into targeted therapies for picornaviruses and vaccines is needed.
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Hospital pediatrics · Aug 2015
Clinical and Geographic Characterization of 30-Day Readmissions in Pediatric Sickle Cell Crisis Patients.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a blood disorder affecting many US children that is often associated with hospital readmission. Although previous studies have reported on the clinical factors that influence readmission risk, potential geographic factors have not been fully investigated. The goal of this study was to investigate the importance of geographic risk factors and to confirm previously derived clinical risk factors that influence readmissions for SCD pain crises. ⋯ Increased age, high admission and discharge pain scores, decreased length of stay, and increased hospital utilizations were found to be associated with an increased risk of readmission for sickle cell crisis. Patient's residence was also found to be a significant risk indicator, supporting the utility of geospatial analysis in assessing readmission risk.
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Hospital pediatrics · Aug 2015
Multicenter StudyHospitalization for Community-Acquired Pneumonia in Children: Effect of an Asthma Codiagnosis.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is a common and expensive cause of hospitalization among US children, many of whom receive a codiagnosis of acute asthma. The objective of this study was to describe demographic characteristics, cost, length of stay (LOS), and adherence to clinical guidelines among these groups and to compare health care utilization and guideline adherence between them. ⋯ A codiagnosis of acute asthma is common for children with CAP. This could be from misdiagnosis or co-occurrence. Diagnostic and/or management variability appears to be greater in patients with CAP+asthma, which may increase resource utilization and LOS for these patients.
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The pediatric hospital discharge process presents significant challenges, and medication discrepancies remain an unsolved problem. The purpose of this study was to determine the discrepancy rates at the time of discharge when multiple sources of medication documentation exist, and to characterize the medication discrepancies into error type, medication category, and discharge summary authorship. ⋯ Medication discrepancies exist in inpatient documentation at the time of pediatric hospital discharge when multiple sources of documentation exist.