RESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the impact of layering routine child abuse screening on top of a preexisting electronic health record-embedded Child Abuse Clinical Decision Support System (CA-CDSS) in a pediatric emergency department. STUDY DESIGN: The Pittsburgh Child Abuse Screening Tool (P-CAST) was performed in all children aged <13 years and in nonverbal children aged ≥13 years who presented to a pediatric tertiary care center over a 6-month period. The P-CAST was layered on top of a preexisting CA-CDSS that included passive triggers, alerts, and abuse-specific order sets. RESULTS: Of the 28 797 screens performed, 1.8% were positive in children aged <13 years and 1.6% were positive in nonverbal children aged ≥13 years. One-half of the children with a positive P-CAST also triggered the CA-CDSS; the other one-half triggered only because of the P-CAST. Nineteen percent of the patients with a positive P-CAST were reported to Child Protective Services (CPS). There was no relationship between race and the odds of a positive P-CAST or between race and the likelihood of a report being made to CPS. CONCLUSIONS: Active routine child abuse screening improves identification of suspected child maltreatment in a children's hospital above and beyond what is identified with a CA-CDSS, which depends on passive triggers. The lack of a relationship between race and a positive P-CAST or a report to CPS suggest that systematic child abuse screening may mitigate well-recognized racial disparities in identifying and reporting suspected child maltreatment.
Assuntos
Maus-Tratos Infantis , Hospitais Pediátricos , Criança , Maus-Tratos Infantis/diagnóstico , Maus-Tratos Infantis/prevenção & controle , Serviços de Proteção Infantil , Humanos , Notificação de Abuso , Atenção Terciária à SaúdeRESUMO
ABSTRACT: Classic appendicitis is a common condition easily diagnosed by emergency care providers. However, atypical cases represent a diagnostic challenge and can contribute to increased morbidity from a delay in definitive care. It is important to recognize that atypical presentations have an increased risk for underlying anatomic variants, which may require additional imaging as part of management. We present a case of a 13-year-old previously healthy adolescent boy with acute onset of left-sided abdominal pain who was found to have appendicitis in the setting of underlying malrotation.
Assuntos
Apendicite , Serviços Médicos de Emergência , Dor Abdominal/etiologia , Adolescente , Apendicite/diagnóstico , Apendicite/cirurgia , Testes Diagnósticos de Rotina , Humanos , Masculino , Tomografia Computadorizada por Raios XRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: Higher resource utilization in the management of pediatric patients with undifferentiated vomiting and/or diarrhea does not correlate consistently with improved outcomes or quality of care. Performance feedback has been shown to change physician practice behavior and may be a mechanism to minimize practice variation. We aimed to evaluate the effects of e-mail-only, provider-level performance feedback on the ordering and admission practice variation of pediatric emergency physicians for patients presenting with undifferentiated vomiting and/or diarrhea. METHODS: We conducted a prospective, quality improvement intervention and collected data over 3 consecutive fiscal years. The setting was a single, tertiary care pediatric emergency department. We collected admission and ordering practices data on 19 physicians during baseline, intervention, and postintervention periods. We provided physicians with quarterly e-mail-based performance reports during the intervention phase. We measured admission rate and created four categories for ordering practices: no orders, laboratory orders, pharmacy orders, and radiology orders. RESULTS: There was wide (two- to threefold) practice variation among physicians. Admission rates ranged from 15% to 30%, laboratory orders from 19% to 43%, pharmacy orders from 29% to 57%, and radiology orders from 11% to 30%. There was no statistically significant difference in the proportion of patients admitted or with radiology or pharmacy orders placed between preintervention, intervention, or postintervention periods (p = 0.58, p = 0.19, and p = 0.75, respectively). There was a significant but very small decrease in laboratory orders between the preintervention and postintervention periods. CONCLUSIONS: Performance feedback provided only via e-mail to pediatric emergency physicians on a quarterly basis does not seem to significantly impact management practices for patients with undifferentiated vomiting and/or diarrhea.