Implementing a Post-Discharge Telemedicine Service Pilot to Enhance the Hospital to Home Transition.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study are to (1) describe our postdischarge telemedicine program and (2) evaluate program implementation. METHODS: At our single-center tertiary care children's hospital, we launched our postdischarge telemedicine program in April 2020. We used the Template for Intervention Description and Replication framework to describe our pilot program and Proctor's conceptual framework to evaluate implementation over a 9-month period. Retrospective chart review was conducted. Descriptive analyses were used to compare demographics and health care reutilization rates across patients. Implementation outcomes included adoption (rate of scheduled visits) and feasibility (rate of completed visits). Effectiveness outcomes included the rate of postdischarge issues and unscheduled healthcare utilization. RESULTS: We established a postdischarge telemedicine program for a general pediatric population that ensured follow-up at a time when in-person evaluation was limited because of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. For implementation evaluation, we included all 107 patients in the pilot program. Adoption was 100% and feasibility was 58%. Eighty-two percent of patients completing a visit reported one or more postdischarge issues. There was no difference in health system reutilization between those who completed a visit and those who did not. CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of a postdischarge telemedicine service is achievable and promotes early detection of failures in the hospital to home transition. Directions for future study will include rigorous program evaluation via telemedicine program assessment tools and sustainability efforts that build upon known implementation and health service outcomes.

Promoting Judicious Primary Care Referral of Patients with Chest Pain to Cardiology: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

OBJECTIVE: To decrease referrals to cardiology of patients ages 7 to 21 years with low-probability cardiac pathology who presented to primary care with chest pain by 50% within 24 months. STUDY DESIGN: A multidisciplinary team designed and implemented an initiative consisting of 1) a decision support tool (DST), 2) educational sessions, 3) routine feedback to improve use of referral criteria, and 4) patient family education. Four pediatric practices, comprising 34 pediatricians and 7 nurse practitioners, were included in this study. We tracked progress via statistical process control charts. RESULTS: A total of 421 patients ages 7 to 21 years presented with chest pain to their pediatrician. The utilization of the DST increased from baseline of 16% to 68%. Concurrently, the percentage of low-probability cardiology referrals in pediatric patients ages 7 to 21 years who presented with chest pain decreased from 17% to 5% after our interventions. At a median follow-up time of 0.9 years (interquartile range, 0.3-1.6 years), no patient had a life-threatening cardiac event. CONCLUSION: Our health care improvement initiative to reduce low-probability cardiology referrals for children presenting to primary care practices with chest pain was feasible, effective, and safe.