An innovative approach for coordinating multiple sedated procedures in medically complex pediatric patients.

Children and youth with special health care needs often undergo a higher frequency of sedated procedures, increasing their risk for complications, prolonged hospitalizations, as well as increased time and cost burdens. By consolidating multiple procedures requiring anesthetic sedation, the risk and cost can be reduced for both families and health care systems. In this paper, we discuss an innovative model to coordinate procedures across internal and external providers to improve quality of care for this vulnerable patient population.

Implementing a social work care coordination model for children and youth with special health care needs in a rural-urban health system.

This retrospective chart review examined care coordination among pediatric patients with varying levels of medical complexity who received care in a rural-urban health system. Care coordination utilization across patient acuity levels was examined for meaningful differences in frequency and duration of care coordination services. Results indicated that patients with more severe medical complexity had increased frequency and duration of care coordination services, as well as different patterns of care coordination activity utilization.

Masked pregnancy-associated hypertension as a predictor of adverse outcomes.

Background: Masked hypertension has been described in nonpregnant populations as elevated blood pressure in the home setting that is not reproduced on clinical assessment. Patients with masked hypertension have a greater risk of cardiovascular morbidity than patients who have blood pressures within normal range or those with white coat hypertension.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether masked pregnancy-associated hypertension detected on Connected Maternity Online Monitoring, a remote home blood pressure monitoring system, is associated with higher rates of hypertensive disorders of pregnancy during delivery admission and maternal and neonatal morbidities.

Health-care utilization for sinusitis after pneumococcal vaccination in patients with low antibody titers.

Background: Pneumococcal antibody deficiency has been the subject of limited study in chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) and has not been studied in recurrent acute rhinosinusitis (RARS). The 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) is considered for patients with nonprotective Streptococcus pneumoniae titers. We hypothesized that both RARS and CRS patients with deficient S pneumoniae titers and subsequent PPSV23 vaccination would have reduced health-care encounters for sinusitis and fewer prescriptions for antibiotics or steroids.

Interprofessional grant writing seminar for early career faculty in a small, isolated teaching center.

Small, isolated teaching centers have difficulty mentoring interprofessional junior faculty in research methods and grant writing. Peer mentoring programs for grant writing at larger institutions have been successful. In this short report, we describe our program that leveraged mentor experience using four framing seminars followed by project refinement in three-person peer groups and monthly mentored works in progress meetings.