Pediatric primary care providers' perspectives regarding hospital discharge communication: a mixed methods analysis.

Objective: Effective communication between inpatient and outpatient providers may mitigate risks of adverse events associated with hospital discharge. However, there is an absence of pediatric literature defining effective discharge communication strategies at both freestanding children's hospitals and general hospitals. The objectives of this study were to assess associations between pediatric primary care providers' (PCPs) reported receipt of discharge communication and referral hospital type, and to describe PCPs' perspectives regarding effective discharge communication and areas for improvement.

Linking patient-centered medical home and asthma measures reduces hospital readmission rates.

Objective: We sought to achieve 100% compliance with all 3 Children's Asthma Care (CAC; CAC-1, CAC-2, CAC-3) measures and track attendance at follow-up appointments with the patient-centered medical home. The impact of these measures on readmission and emergency department utilization rates was evaluated.

Methods: This quality improvement study evaluated compliance with CAC measures in pediatric patients aged 2 to 18 years old hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of asthma from January 1, 2008, through June 30, 2012.

Pediatric discharge content: a multisite assessment of physician preferences and experiences.

Background And Objectives: Professional medical societies endorse prompt, consistent discharge communication to primary care providers (PCPs) on discharge. However, evidence is limited about what clinical elements to communicate. Our main goal was to identify and compare the clinical elements considered by PCPs and pediatric hospitalists to be essential to communicate to PCPs within 2 days of pediatric hospital discharge.

Pediatric hospitalists collaborate to improve timeliness of discharge communication.

Objectives: The transition of care from hospital to primary care provider (PCP) at discharge carries the potential for significant information loss. There is evidence that the timeliness and content of discharge communication are often unreliable during this handoff. Suboptimal transitions of care at discharge have been associated with adverse outcomes, and efficient solutions are required to transform the current state.

Community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia among hospitalized children in Hawaii.

Summary Background: Invasive community acquired (CA) Staphylococcus aureus (SA) disease has been endemically observed in Hawaiian children. We wanted to evaluate the clinical, laboratory findings, and outcomes of methicillin-resistant SA (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible SA (MSSA) associated pneumonia admissions.

Methods: We performed retrospective chart reviews of 38 culture proven SA pneumonia patients admitted to a pediatric tertiary medical center in Hawaii between January 1996 to December 2007.

Radiological findings of community-acquired methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus pediatric pneumonia in Hawaii.

Background: Community-acquired Staphylococcus aureus (CA-SA) infections are common among pediatric patients in Hawaii.

Objective: We wanted to characterize the radiological features of methicillin-susceptible (CA-MSSA) and methicillin-resistant (CA-MRSA) staphylococcal pneumonia in Hawaiian children.

Materials And Methods: We retrospectively reviewed medical records and imaging studies of children with SA pneumonia identified from 1996 through 2007.

Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis in Hawaii.

Background: The clinical and laboratory findings and outcomes of methicillin-resistant (MRSA) and methicillin-susceptible (MSSA) Staphylococcus aureus osteomyelitis have not been studied in Hawaii.

Methods: Retrospective inpatient chart reviews of 62 culture-proven osteomyelitis patients between 1996 and 2007 were performed.

Results: Fifteen patients (24%) had MRSA infection, and 47 patients (76%) had MSSA infection.

The influence of intravenous hydration on hospital length of stay in infants with hyperbilirubinemia.

A retrospective chart review compared data on neonates with physiologic jaundice admitted for phototherapy at a children's hospital. Those infants who received intravenous fluids (IVF) had significantly longer lengths of stay, higher initial bilirubin levels, and were more dehydrated than those babies who did not receive IVF.