Development of an electronic trigger tool at a children's hospital within an academic medical center.

Purpose: To evaluate the validity and reliability of select recommended triggers, defined as flags found on review of the medical record that prompt further investigation to determine the presence or absence of an adverse drug event (ADE), selected from a list initially constructed based on severity, frequency, and detectability of triggers within a pediatric population.

Methods: This was a single-center, retrospective cohort analysis of pediatric patients admitted to University of North Carolina (UNC) Children's Hospital who received trigger-associated medications between January 2015 and December 2016. Patient-care areas of the emergency department, operating rooms, and post-anesthesia care units were excluded.

Persistent Gaps in Appropriate Use of Empiric Acyclovir in Neonates.

The use of empiric acyclovir for suspected neonatal herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection has been debated for years. To identify the gap in the decision to initiate empiric acyclovir, we performed a retrospective chart review and administered a survey to pediatricians to assess current practices regarding evaluation for possible HSV infection. Seventy infants received empiric acyclovir over a 1-year period; of these, 3 infants (4.