Unscheduled revisits to a pediatric emergency department: risk factors for children with fever or infection-related complaints.

OBJECTIVE: Unscheduled revisits (URVs) may serve as markers of quality of care and may be costly both in financial terms as well as in limitations they place on primary care. We performed this study to examine the association between characteristics easily obtainable during an emergency department (ED) visit and URV to identify a subpopulation of children who may warrant interventions to decrease URV. METHODS: This is a case-control study of patients visiting an urban tertiary care pediatric ED for a fever or infectious disease-related complaint. Cases were defined as patients who had URVs that occurred within 72 hours of an initial ED visit. Control patients were selected by simple random sampling of an enumerated computerized list of all ED visits. Data on independent variables of interest were collected from a chart review and telephone interview with the patient's caregiver. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to determine factors associated with URV. RESULTS: Seventy-five percent of cases and controls participated in the study. Logistic regression analysis revealed 3 factors independently associated with URV for fever or infectious disease-related complaints in children. These included presence of chronic disease (adjusted odds ratio 1.75, 95% confidence interval 1.01-3.03), Medicaid insurance (adjusted odds ratio 1.86, 95% confidence interval 1.04-3.32) and acute triage category (adjusted odds ratio 1.83, 95% confidence interval 1.08-3.10). CONCLUSIONS: These factors may be used to identify children in the ED at greater risk for URV and may point to a need for improved discharge instructions and enhanced communication with primary care and systems to arrange follow-up. Results of this work may also identify at-risk populations for future qualitative research or intervention studies on URV to EDs.

Return visits to a pediatric emergency department.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of return visits (RVs), types of RVs, and factors associated with RVs to a pediatric emergency department (ED). METHODS: : Retrospective cohort study of patients seen in an urban, tertiary care pediatric ED. MAIN OUTCOME: RV within 48 hours, identified from a computerized log. RESULTS: The total RV rate was 3.5% (95% confidence interval, 3.3-3.6), similar to rates (2.4% to 3.4%) reported in general EDs. Most (78.5%) RVs were unscheduled, 17% were scheduled, and 4% were called back to the ED. Infectious disease (45%), respiratory (16%), and trauma (16%) accounted for most RV diagnoses. When compared with the overall ED population, RV patients were more likely to be younger than 2 years [relative risk, 1.3 (1.2-1.4)], to be admitted to the hospital [relative risk, 1.3 (1.2-1.5)], and to be triaged as acute [relative risk, 1.1 (1.0-1.2)]. Patients called back to the ED were younger, more likely to be triaged as acute, and more likely to be admitted than other RV patients. Significant diagnoses were made at RV in 7 (0.4%; 95% confidence interval, 0.1-0.7) patients, half of whom were called back to the ED or had a scheduled RV. CONCLUSION: Similarities between our pediatric ED RV rate and other published research implies that benchmarking and quality improvement tools for RV can be used and compared in both pediatric and general EDs. Focusing on systems to call patients back to the ED when necessary may be an efficient way to reduce medical error and adverse patient outcomes.