Adult Inpatient Services in Pediatric Hospitals: A National Mixed Methods Study.

OBJECTIVES: Some pediatric institutions have developed adult inpatient services to enable quality care of hospitalized adults. Our objectives were to understand the characteristics of these adult inpatient services in pediatric hospitals, barriers and facilitators to their creation and sustainability, and patient and system needs they addressed. METHODS: An explanatory mixed methods study was conducted using a distribution of an electronic survey followed by targeted semi-structured interviews of directors (or designates) of adult inpatient services in US pediatric hospitals. The survey identified institutional demographics, service line characteristics, and patient populations. An interview guide was created to explore survey findings and facilitators and barriers in the creation of adult inpatient services. Interviews were conducted after survey completion. A codebook was created using an inductive thematic approach and iteratively refined. Final themes were condensed, and illustrative quotes selected. RESULTS: Ten institutions identified as having an adult inpatient service. Service staffing models varied, but all had dually trained internal medicine and pediatrics physicians. All participants voiced their respective pediatric institutions valued that these services filled a clinical care gap for hospitalized adults adding to whole-person care, patient safety, and health system navigation. CONCLUSIONS: Adult inpatient services in pediatric institutions have been present for >15 years. These services address clinical care gaps for adults hospitalized in pediatric institutions and use specialized internal medicine and pediatrics knowledge. Demonstrating return on investment of these services using a traditional fee for service model is a barrier to creation and sustainability.

A Unique Use of Regional Information Exchange by a Statewide Health System Serving Refugees: "Operation Allies Welcome".

BACKGROUND: In September 2021, a military camp in the United States was identified for an initial relocation of over 6,600 Afghanistan refugees. This case report describes a novel use of existing health information exchange to expedite and provide health care for a large refugee population throughout the state during the duration of their entry into the United States. METHODS: Medical teams of the health systems and military camp partnered to provide a scalable, reliable mechanism for clinical data exchange leveraging an existing regional health information exchange. Exchanges were evaluated for clinical type, originating source, and closed loop communication with the refugee camp and personnel military camp. RESULTS: Approximately 50% of the camp residents were under the age of 18 years. Over 20 weeks, approximately 4.51% of the refugee camp residents were cared for in participating health systems. A total of 2,699 clinical data messages were exchanged, 62% of which were clinical documents. CONCLUSION: All health systems participating in care were offered support to utilize the tool and process set up using the regional health information exchange. The process and guiding principles may be applied to other refugee health care efforts to provide efficient, scalable, and reliable means of clinical data exchange to health care providers in similar situations.

Improving Outcomes for Bronchiolitis Patients After Implementing a High-Flow Nasal Cannula Holiday and Standardizing Discharge Criteria in a PICU.

OBJECTIVES: To decrease length of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC), PICU, and hospital length of stay (LOS). DESIGN: Quality improvement project. SETTING: A quaternary academic PICU. PATIENTS: Patients with bronchiolitis less than 24 months old. INTERVENTIONS: After initial implementation of a respiratory therapist (RT)-driven HFNC protocol (Plan-Do-Study-Act [PDSA] 1) in October 2017, additional interventions included adjusting HFNC wean rate (PDSA 2) in July 2020, a HFNC holiday (PDSA 3), and standardized discharge criteria (PDSA 4) in October 2021. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Duration of HFNC was used as the primary outcome measure. PICU LOS and hospital LOS were used as secondary outcome measures. Noninvasive ventilation use, invasive mechanical ventilation use, and 7-day PICU and hospital readmission rates were used as balancing measures. A total of 1,310 patients were included in this study. Patients in PDSA 2, PDSA 3 and 4 groups were older compared with pre-intervention and PDSA 1 (median of 9 and 10 mo compared with 8 mo; p = 0.01). HFNC duration decreased from 2.5 to 1.8 days after PDSA 1, then to 1.3 days after PDSA 2. PICU LOS decreased from 2.6 to 2.1 days after PDSA 1, 1.8 days after PDSA 2, and 1.5 days after PDSA 3 and 4. Hospital LOS decreased from 5.7 to 4.5 days after PDSA 1, 3.1 days after PDSA 2, and 2.7 days after PDSA 3 and 4. The use of noninvasive ventilation and invasive mechanical ventilation decreased throughout the study from 23.2% in the pre-intervention group, to 6.9% at the end of the project. The 7-day PICU and hospital readmission rates did not increase after implementation. The percentage of patients discharged from the PICU increased from 6.2% to 21.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Modifications to an existing RT-driven HFNC protocol and standardization of discharge criteria led to an improvement in outcomes for patients admitted to the PICU with bronchiolitis without an increase in adverse events.

Workforce Characteristics of Med-Peds Hospitalists.

Objective This article aims to describe the workplace characteristics of internal medicine and pediatrics (med-peds) hospitalists practicing hospital medicine (as internal medicine hospitalists, pediatric hospitalists, or both) in the United States. Methods The investigators conducted a cross-sectional survey of med-peds hospitalists via distribution through online platforms supported by the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and Twitter™. This sample was then reviewed and evaluated for similarities and differences in workplace characteristics. Results One hundred and sixteen respondents completed the survey and provided data on 63 unique institutions employing med-peds hospitalists. Of these institutions, 46% (n=29) employed six or more med-ped hospitalists within their hospital system. Furthermore, 44% (n = 28) of the institutions utilized the med-peds skillset to meet patient care needs in their hospitals. Forty hospitalists from 24 unique institutions saw both adults and children on the same day. Only 5.6% (n=6) of respondents were fellowship-trained. Interestingly, 34.9% of institutions (n=22) were required to provide adult-based care (age >21 years) within the pediatric hospital due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Of note, 35.5% (n=38) of participants from 24 unique institutions stated a high likelihood of hiring additional med-peds hospitalists in the next one to two years. Conclusions Med-peds hospitalists have a unique role within the hospitalist workforce given the variety of practice patterns and clinical needs they can fill within a hospital system. This survey provides the first sampling of workplace characteristics for actively practicing med-peds hospitalists in the United States.

Implementation of a High-Flow Nasal Cannula Management Protocol in the Pediatric ICU.

BACKGROUND: High-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) therapy is a respiratory modality that has been adopted to support pediatric patients with bronchiolitis. There is no standardized protocol for initiation, escalation, or weaning of HFNC in the pediatric ICU. The aim of this respiratory therapist (RT)-driven quality improvement management protocol was to decrease duration of HFNC. METHODS: An RT-driven HFNC management protocol based on an objective respiratory score was implemented in 2017 at a quaternary care children's hospital. Subjects included children less than 2 y old admitted to the pediatric ICU with bronchiolitis. All subjects needing HFNC were scored and placed within the protocol as appropriate for age, then weaned or escalated per the scoring tool. Comparison to a pre-intervention control group was performed. Average HFNC duration per subject was used as the primary outcome measure. Protocol compliance was used as a process measure. Noninvasive ventilation use, intubation rate, and 30-d pediatric ICU readmission rate were used as balancing measures. RT satisfaction with HFNC management before and after protocol implementation were measured. RESULTS: Protocol compliance was sustainable and above the goal of 80% after 4 months of protocol implementation. HFNC duration decreased from 2.5 d to 2 days for each subject during planning and then to 1.8 d after protocol implementation. Length of stay (LOS) in the pediatric ICU and hospital LOS decreased from 2.6 d to 2.1 d and from 5.7 d to 4.7 d after protocol implementation, respectively. The use of noninvasive ventilation and the rate of intubation did not change significantly. RTs reported increased involvement in HFNC management decisions and appropriateness on how quickly the team weaned HFNC. CONCLUSIONS: An RT-driven HFNC management protocol was safely implemented in a pediatric ICU and decreased HFNC duration, pediatric ICU LOS, and hospital LOS. It allows the RT to work independently to the highest extent of their scope of practice, leading to improvement in RT job satisfaction.