The Rounds Efficiency Index: A Novel Physics-Based Construct for Patient- and Family-Centered Rounds.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Efficiently conducting patient- and family-centered rounds (PFCR) is challenging, particularly without a measure of efficiency. In physics, efficiency is the ratio of work output to work input. We sought to evaluate PFCR efficiency via a novel construct rooted in physics. Our objectives were to (1) Establish baseline work output for clinical work (CW), educational effectiveness (EE), and family experience (FE); (2) establish baseline work input for rounds length (RL); and (3) begin preliminary construction of a rounds efficiency index (REI) as a measure of PFCR efficiency. METHODS: Four components of rounds efficiency were collected on 5 inpatient acute care teams during a baseline period. CW consisted of the percentage of daily orders placed on rounds. EE was assessed via survey for trainees and FE by families. RL was recorded in minutes per patient. During an 8-week intensive period, the REI (reported as %) was calculated as a ratio of work output/work input using aggregate mean/median ratings for CW, EE, FE, and RL. RESULTS: Baseline data included 809 orders, 28 EE ratings, 21 FE ratings, and RL mean of 11.4 minutes per patient. During the intensive period, the median team-specific weekly REI for the end versus beginning of the academic year was 58% and 52.5% (P = .17), respectively. The median REI during the start and end of the block was 49% and 57% (P = .15), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The study assessed 4 components of efficiency (CW, EE, FE, RL) and calculated REI allowing for a preliminary tool to measure rounding efficiency. With this, targeted interventions can improve PFCR efficiency.

The role of competency based medical education in addressing health inequities and cultivating inclusive learning environments.

Pediatric health inequities are pervasive and reflect the confluence of social and structural determinants of health including racism in all its forms. Current approaches in graduate medical education that prepare trainees to address health inequities and improve population health are inadequate. Competency based medical education (CBME) can advance equity-oriented efforts to improve patient outcomes, optimize the learning environment and encourage lifelong learning. We briefly describe the impact of racism and discrimination on the clinical learning environment. We then highlight how to apply the 5 core principles of CBME to equip learners across the continuum to address health inequities. We provide specific examples including 1) how CBME can inform teaching, assessment and professional development activities to promote equitable pediatric health outcomes via enturstable professional activities, 2) competency-focused instruction that address racism and inequities, 3) multimodal learning approaches to facilitate the acquisition of the desired competencies to address health inequities, 4) sequenced learning approaches across the continuum of practicing pediatricians, and 5) tools and resources for programmatic assessment of trainee and program performance in addressing pediatric health inequities.

The Autonomy Toolbox: A Multicenter Collaborative to Promote Resident Autonomy.

OBJECTIVES: Autonomy is necessary for resident professional development and well-being. A recent focus on patient safety has increased supervision and decreased trainee autonomy. Few validated interventions exist to improve resident autonomy. We aimed to use quality improvement methods to increase our autonomy metric, the Resident Autonomy Score (RAS), by 25% within 1 year and sustain for 6 months. METHODS: We developed a bundled-intervention approach to improve senior resident (SR) perception of autonomy on Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) services at 5 academic children's hospitals. We surveyed SR and PHM faculty perceptions of autonomy and targeted interventions toward areas with the highest discordance. Interventions included SR and faculty development, expectation-setting huddles, and SR independent rounding. We developed a Resident Autonomy Score (RAS) index to track SR perceptions over time. RESULTS: Forty-six percent of SRs and 59% of PHM faculty completed the needs assessment survey querying how often SRs were afforded opportunities to provide autonomous medical care. Faculty and SR ratings were discordant in these domains: SR input in medical decisions, SR autonomous decision-making in straightforward cases, follow-through on SR plans, faculty feedback, SR as team leader, and level of attending oversight. The RAS increased by 19% (3.67 to 4.36) 1 month after SR and faculty professional development and before expectation-setting and independent rounding. This increase was sustained throughout the 18-month study period. CONCLUSIONS: SRs and faculty perceive discordant levels of SR autonomy. We created an adaptable autonomy toolbox that led to sustained improvement in perception of SR autonomy.

Meet the Team: A Quality Improvement Initiative to Improve Family Knowledge of Their Care Team.

OBJECTIVES: Hospitalized families often have poor knowledge of care team members, which can negatively impact communication. Local baseline data revealed that few families had knowledge of team members. Our primary aim was to increase the percentage of families able to identify a member of their team to 75% over 1 year and sustain use of our improvement tools over 6 months. METHODS: We conducted a quality improvement initiative at a tertiary pediatric academic center. Plan-do-study-act cycles were used to implement and test 3 main interventions: (1) a "Meet the Team" form (MTTF), a visual handout outlining care team members; (2) verbal introductions at the start of patient- and family-centered rounds (PFCR); and (3) data sharing regarding family feedback about tool use. The outcome measure was the percentage of families successfully identifying team members. Process measures were the percentage of families who received the MTTF and the percentage of PFCR that included verbal introductions. Balancing measures included rounds length. RESULTS: We conducted structured interviews of 141 families and observed 11 597 PFCR events. There was an increase in the percentage of families who could identify a team member from 10% to 84%. The percentage of PFCR events that included verbal introductions revealed special cause variation, increasing from 40% to 80%. Rounds length held steady at ∼11 minutes per patient. CONCLUSIONS: Implementing paired interventions of MTTF distribution and verbal team introductions was associated with increased family knowledge of team members and no change in rounds length.

Letting Residents Lead: Implementing Resident Admission Triage Call Curriculum and Practice.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Graduating residents are expected to be competent in triaging patients to appropriate resources. Before 2017, pediatric residents were not involved in admission triage decisions. In 2017, after implementing an admission triage curriculum (ATC), residents had opportunities to be involved in overnight admission calls with the emergency department (ED), which were initially supervised (joint calls), and as skills progressed, residents conducted calls and admitted patients independently. We implemented and evaluated the impact of a graduated ATC intervention bundle on pediatric resident opportunities to participate in admission triage, while monitoring resident confidence, the ED experience, and patient safety. METHODS: We evaluated the impact of our ATC using quality improvement methodology. The primary outcome was the frequency of resident participation in joint and independent triage calls. Other measures included resident confidence, the ED clinician experience, and patient safety. Resident confidence and the ED clinician experience were rated via surveys. Safety was monitored with daytime hospitalist morning assessments and postadmission complications documented in the medical record. RESULTS: The percent of joint calls with the hospitalist increased from 7% to 88%, and 125 patients were admitted independently. Residents reported significant increases in adequacy of triage training and confidence in 3 triage skills (P < .001) after ATC. There were no complications or safety concerns on patients admitted by residents. ED clinicians reported increased admitting process efficiency and satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS: Our ATC intervention bundle increased the number of admission decision opportunities for pediatric residents, while increasing resident triage confidence, maintaining safety, and improving ED clinician experience.

Developing Validity Evidence for a Patient- and Family-Centered Rounds Presenter Empowerment Action Rating Tool.

BACKGROUND: Training in patient- and family-centered care is endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for learners. The AAP recommends patient- and family-centered rounds (PFCR) during inpatient care. The PEA-21 (21-item Presenter Empowerment Action checklist) was developed to evaluate presenter behavior during PFCR. OBJECTIVE: To gather validity evidence for the PEA-21 in evaluating third year medical student and intern presentations during PFCR in the domains of Data Accuracy, Communication Skills, Assessment and Plan Formation, and Family Interaction. METHODS: A 24-month prospective cohort study of students and interns presenting on PFCR. Content, response process, internal structure, and relationship with other variables were assessed. RESULTS: Data were collected from 101 rounds (758 individual patient encounters), both on pediatric subspecialty and hospital medicine teams. Presenters included third- and fourth-year medical students and interns in pediatrics, internal medicine-pediatrics, and family-medicine. Intraclass correlations between observers ranged from 0.5 to 0.72. Internal consistency showed α >0.7 for 3 of 4 domains. Interns scored higher than students across domains (P< .01), but students' scores improved throughout their rotations (d = 0.2-0.8). Both groups performed lowest in the Family Interaction Domain. CONCLUSIONS: The PEA-21 showed strong validity properties including content, response process, internal structure, and relationship with other variables and can be used by educators to assess learners' skill levels and provide formative feedback to both medical students and interns. Targeted efforts are needed to improve skills within the Family Interaction Domain for both medical students and interns.

A novel faculty development tool for writing a letter of recommendation.

OBJECTIVE: Based on a national survey of program directors we developed a letter of recommendation (LOR) scoring rubric (SR) to assess LORs submitted to a pediatric residency program. The objective was to use the SR to analyze: the consistency of LOR ratings across raters and LOR components that contributed to impression of the LOR and candidate. METHODS: We graded 30 LORs submitted to a pediatric residency program that were evenly distributed based on final rank by our program. The SR contained 3 sections (letter features, phrases, and applicant abilities) and 2 questions about the quality of the LOR (LORQ) and impression of the candidate (IC) after reading the LOR on a 5-point Likert scale. Inter-rater reliability was calculated with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC(2,1)). Pearson (r) correlations and stepwise multivariate linear regression modeling predicted LORQ and IC. Mean scores of phrases, features, and applicant abilities were analyzed with ANOVA and Bonferroni correction. RESULTS: Phrases (ICC(2,1) = 0.82, p<0.001)) and features (ICC(2,1) = 0.60, p<0.001)) were rated consistently, while applicant abilities were not (ICC(2,1) = 0.28, p<0.001)). For features, LORQ (R2 = 0.75, p<0.001) and IC (R2 = 0.58, p<0.001) were best predicated by: writing about candidates' abilities, strength of recommendation, and depth of interaction with the applicant. For abilities, LORQ (R2 = 0.47, p<0.001) and IC (R2 = 0.51, p<0.001) were best predicted by: clinical reasoning, leadership, and communication skills (0.2). There were significant differences for phrases and features (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The SR was consistent across raters and correlates with impression of LORQ and IC. This rubric has potential as a faculty development tool for writing LORS.

Not Throwing Away My Shot: Leveraging a Peer Vaccination Workshop to Increase Residents' Immunization Skills.

OBJECTIVE: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires that pediatric residents demonstrate competence administering immunizations. Despite mandatory simulation training, less than half our residents reported immunization competence. All residents need to receive their influenza vaccination, but schedule restrictions present logistical challenges. We implemented a peer influenza immunization workshop and assessed the impact on resident immunization competence compared to simulation-only training. METHODS: Prospective cohort study at a pediatric residency program in a tertiary academic center. We implemented an annual influenza immunization workshop including immunization education, simulated practice, and peer influenza immunization. We compared workshop participation to simulation-only training on resident confidence immunizing, number of immunizations logged, and ACGME survey results for immunization skills. RESULTS: In 2019, 80% (N = 59) of residents participated in the workshop. Participants were more likely to report confidence in immunization skills than nonparticipants (P = .001). Resident-administered immunizations increased from 1 in the 3 years preceding workshop implementation to 74 during the 2019 to 2020 academic year. Significantly, more ACGME survey respondents reported preparedness to immunize after workshop implementation (P = .02). CONCLUSIONS: Implementation of an influenza immunization workshop provides an innovative opportunity to increase resident preparedness performing an ACGME-required procedure while also helping ensure programs remain compliant with influenza requirements.

Pediatric, Surgery, and Internal Medicine Program Director Interpretations of Letters of Recommendation.

PURPOSE: Literature describing program director (PD) perceptions of letters of recommendation (LORs) and "code" used by letter writers is limited. In 2016, a survey instrument was distributed nationally to pediatric PDs asking them to rate their interpretations of components of LORs. The results confirmed that letter phrases convey code, but these results were not known to be generalizable outside of pediatrics. The purpose of this study was to expand the survey to surgery and internal medicine (IM) PDs looking for areas of agreement or variation between the 3 specialties. METHOD: The survey was sent nationally to surgery and IM PDs asking them to rate LORs in 3 areas on a 5-point Likert scale: 14 commonly used phrases, 13 letter features, and 10 applicant abilities. The LOR phrases were grouped using principal component analysis (PCA). Mean scores of components were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance. RESULTS: Response rates: pediatrics 43% (486 of 1079), surgery 55% (151 of 277), and IM 42% (170 of 408). PCA generated groups of positive, neutral, and negative phrases with moderate to strong correlation with each other for all 3 specialties. There were significant differences between the mean Likert scores of the positive, neutral, and negative groups of phrases for all 3 specialties (all P < .001). "Showed improvement" was rated the most negative phrase by all 3 specialties. CONCLUSIONS: Key elements of LORs include distinct phrases depicting different degrees of endorsement of candidates. Pediatric, surgery, and IM PDs interpret letter components differently.

Improving Standardization of Paging Communication Using Quality Improvement Methodology.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Paging is a primary mode of communication in hospitals, but message quality varies. With this project, we aimed to standardize paging, thus improving end user (EU) satisfaction, patient safety, and efficiency. Objectives were to increase the percent of pages containing 6 critical elements (CEs) (ie, the sender's first and last name, a 7-digit callback number, patient name, room number, and urgency indicator [information only, call, or come] to 90%); improve EU satisfaction to 80% rating paging communication as good or excellent; and decrease the frequency of safety events related to paging. METHODS: This multidisciplinary, system-wide quality improvement study was conducted at our stand-alone academic children's hospital. CEs were determined by EU consensus. Outcome measures were inclusion of all 6 CEs, provider satisfaction, and frequency of safety events. Process measures were inclusion of individual CEs and appropriateness and timeliness of response to pages. Balancing measures included number of work-arounds (WAs). Interventions included education, engineering a platform with required fields, and optimization enhancements. Statistical process control charts (p-charts; XmR) were used to track the impact of interventions. RESULTS: Special-cause improvement was noted in use of all 6 CEs (4.4%-79.7%) and individual CEs. EU satisfaction improved from 50% to 85% rating paging communication as good or excellent. Safety events related to paging remain infrequent. Specific WA use decreased by 60%. CONCLUSIONS: System-wide use of required fields produced significant improvement in inclusion of all 6 CEs and EU satisfaction. WAs were curbed by improving the ease of CE incorporation. Required fields should be considered at institutions seeking improved paging communication.

Dear Program Director: Deciphering Letters of Recommendation.

BACKGROUND: Letters of recommendation (LORs) are an important part of applications for residency and fellowship programs. Despite anecdotal use of a "code" in LORs, research on program director (PD) perceptions of the value of these documents is sparse. OBJECTIVE: We analyzed PD interpretations of LOR components and discriminated between perceived levels of applicant recommendations. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional, descriptive study of pediatrics residency and fellowship PDs. We developed a survey asking PDs to rate 3 aspects of LORs: 13 letter features, 10 applicant abilities, and 11 commonly used phrases, using a 5-point Likert scale. The 11 phrases were grouped using principal component analysis. Mean scores of components were analyzed with repeated-measures analysis of variance. Median Likert score differences between groups were analyzed with Mann-Whitney U tests. RESULTS: Our survey had a 43% response rate (468 of 1079). "I give my highest recommendation" was rated the most positive phrase, while "showed improvement" was rated the most negative. Principal component analysis generated 3 groups of phrases with moderate to strong correlation with each other. The mean Likert score for each group from the PD rating was calculated. Positive phrases had a mean (SD) of 4.4 (0.4), neutral phrases 3.4 (0.5), and negative phrases 2.6 (0.6). There was a significant difference among all 3 pairs of mean scores (all P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: Commonly used phrases in LORs were interpreted consistently by PDs and influenced their impressions of candidates. Key elements of LORs include distinct phrases depicting different degrees of endorsement.

Teaching Inpatient Bedside Presenter Empowerment Actions During an Interactive Workshop.

Introduction: Medical students and interns are the principal communicators during inpatient bedside patient- and family-centered rounds. Excellent presenters are able to share information during rounds in a manner that is accurate, effective, and easy for all to understand. We previously identified the behaviors of excellent presenters and developed a term for them: presenter empowerment actions. Methods: To promote the use of presenter empowerment actions, an interactive workshop was created to teach them to medical students and interns. This educational summary contains information on how to facilitate a workshop to promote presenter empowerment actions, which includes both a didactic presentation and an interactive game. Results: Interns reported increases in confidence and knowledge of empowerment actions, as well as strong intent to incorporate presenter empowerment actions during inpatient rounds. Discussion: A workshop with an interactive game is an effective way to teach empowerment actions to learners. To reinforce presenter empowerment action use after the workshop, we recommend direct observation using the Suspected Observable Presenter Empowerment Action Checklist to provide formative feedback to the presenters.

Pediatric Opsoclonus-Myoclonus-Ataxia Syndrome Associated With Anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate Receptor Encephalitis.

BACKGROUND: The full clinical spectrum of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis is unknown in the pediatric population. PATIENT: We describe a previously healthy 4-year-old girl presenting with opsoclonus-myoclonus together with ataxia who had NR1-specific, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibodies in the cerebral spinal fluid. CONCLUSION: The presence of NR1-specific, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor antibodies in the setting of opsoclonus-myoclonus and ataxia syndrome may represent an expansion of the clinical presentations of anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis.

Clinical clerkship students' perceptions of (un)safe transitions for every patient.

PURPOSE: As calls for training and accreditation standards around improved patient care transitions have recently increased, more publications describing medical student education programs on care transitions have appeared. However, descriptions of students' experience with care transitions and the sender/receiver communication that supports or inhibits them are limited. To fill this gap, the authors developed this project to understand students' experiences with and perceptions of care transitions. METHOD: At the start of a patient safety intersession at the Medical College of Wisconsin (2010), 193 third-year medical students anonymously wrote descriptions of critical incidents related to care transitions they had witnessed that evoked a strong emotional reaction. Descriptions included the emotion evoked, clinical context, and types of information exchanged. The authors analyzed the incident descriptions using a constant comparative qualitative methodology. RESULTS: Analysis revealed that 111 of the 121 medical students (92%) who disclosed emotional responses had strong negative reactions to unsuccessful transitions, experiencing frustration, irritation, fear, and anger. All of these negative emotions were associated with lack of or poor communication between the sender and receiver: ambiguous roles and responsibilities, insufficient detailing of the patient's medical course, inadequate identification of the people involved in the transition, incomplete delineation of what the patient needed, and unclear reasons for the transition. CONCLUSIONS: Third-year medical students' descriptions of care-transition incidents reveal high rates of strong negative emotions and of communication gaps that may adversely affect patient care. Results support curricular innovations that align students' needs and experiences with safe patient care transitions.

A quality improvement initiative to achieve high nursing presence during patient- and family-centered rounds.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of this study were to: (1) identify local barriers to nursing presence on patient- and family-centered rounds (PFCR); and (2) increase nursing attendance during PFCR. METHODS: An electronic survey needs assessment was administered to nursing staff on a single acute medical care unit to identify local barriers to nursing presence on PFCR. Daily tracking of nursing presence on rounds was then performed over a 7-month period. During this time period, 2 Plan-Do-Study Act cycles were conducted. The first intervention was a workshop for nurses about PFCR. The second intervention was the development of a strategy to contact nurses by using a hands-free communication device so that nurses were notified when rounds were starting on their patients. To evaluate the impact of our interventions, a p-chart was generated for the outcome of average daily nursing attendance (%) on PFCR per week over the 7-month period. RESULTS: Two barriers identified on the survey were: (1) nurses were uncertain if physicians valued their input during PFCR; and (2) nurses were unsure when the physician team would be conducting rounds on their patients. On the p-chart, the average percentage of nursing attendance before interventions was 47%. After the nursing workshop, no change in the mean nursing attendance on PFCR was noted. After initiation of the hands-free contact strategy, nursing attendance on PFCR rose to 80%. CONCLUSIONS: A nursing contact strategy using a hands-free device led to a sustained increase in nursing attendance during PFCR.

Relationship between caloric intake and length of hospital stay for infants with bronchiolitis.

OBJECTIVE: Poor oral intake is a common presenting symptom among infants hospitalized with bronchiolitis. The prevalence, degree, and duration of iminished caloric intake in these infants have not been studied. Our goal was to determine the daily caloric intake among infants admitted with bronchiolitis and to evaluate the relationship between early hospital caloric intake and length of stay (LOS). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective chart review of infants aged <1 year admitted to Children's Hospital of Wisconsin with bronchiolitis who were placed in the bronchiolitis treatment protocol during the 2004-2005 season. Patient-, disease-, respiratory-, and nutrition-specific data were abstracted. RESULTS: A total of 273 patients with bronchiolitis were admitted between November 1, 2004, and April 15, 2005; placed on the bronchiolitis protocol; and included in the study. Median caloric intake was diminished on day 1 (53 kcal/kg per day) and day 2 (64 kcal/kg per day). Caloric intake was slower to normalize in infants with progressively longer LOS, and a slower rate of increase from day 1 to day 2 was significantly correlated with longer LOS (r= -0.18; P= .002). Subgroup analysis revealed significant correlations between hospital day 2 caloric intake and LOS in formula-fed infants, breastfed infants, infants aged <183 days, and infants aged > or =183 days. CONCLUSIONS: Caloric intake was diminished in the early course of hospitalization for infants who had bronchiolitis and slowest to normalize in infants with the longest LOS. Interventions aimed at decreasing LOS among infants admitted with bronchiolitis should consider the potential significance of nutrition for severely affected infants with this condition.

Brief educational intervention improves content of intern handovers.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires residency programs to ensure safe patient handovers and to document resident competency in handover communication, yet there are few evidence-based curricula teaching resident handover skills. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the immediate and sustained impact of a brief educational intervention on pediatrics intern handover skills. METHODS: Interns at a freestanding children's hospital participated in an intervention that included a 1-hour educational workshop on components of high-quality handovers, as well as implementation of a standardized handover format. The format, SAFETIPS, includes patient information, current diagnosis and assessment, patient acuity, a focused plan, a baseline exam, a to-do list, anticipatory guidance, and potential pointers and pitfalls. Important communication behaviors, such as paraphrasing key information, were addressed. Quality of intern handovers was evaluated using a simulated encounter 2 weeks before, 2 weeks after, and 7 months after the workshop. Two trained, blinded, independent observers scored the videotaped encounters. RESULTS: All 27 interns rotating at the Children's Hospital consented to participate in the study, and 20 attended the workshop. We included all participant data in the analysis, regardless of workshop attendance. Following the intervention, intern reporting of patient acuity improved from 13% to 92% (P < .001), and gains were maintained 7 months later. Rates of key communication behaviors, such as paraphrasing critical information, did not improve. CONCLUSIONS: A brief educational workshop promoting standardized handovers improved the inclusion of essential information during intern handovers, and these improvements were sustained over time. The intervention did not improve key communication behaviors.