Improving surveillance for hyperammonemia in the newborn.

Objective: Prompt ascertainment is crucial for the management of hyperammonemic infants. Because these patients are rare and recognition of hyperammonemia is often delayed, we designed and implemented an electronic medical record (EMR)-based tool to assist physicians in the detection of hyperammonemia.

Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the hospitalizations of prior hyperammonemic infants to identify codable elements that could trigger an EMR-based warning.