Discharge Medical Complexity, Change in Medical Complexity and Pediatric 30-day Readmission.

Background: While medical complexity is associated with pediatric readmission risk, less is known about how increases in medical complexity during hospitalization affect readmission risk.

Methods: We conducted a five-year retrospective, case-control study of pediatric hospitalizations at a tertiary care children's hospital. Cases with a 30-day unplanned readmission were matched to controls based on admission seasonality and distance from the hospital.

A Validated Method for Identifying Unplanned Pediatric Readmission.

Objective: To validate the accuracy of pre-encounter hospital designation as a novel way to identify unplanned pediatric readmissions and describe the most common diagnoses for unplanned readmissions among children.

Study Design: We examined all hospital discharges from 2 tertiary care children's hospitals excluding deaths, normal newborn discharges, transfers to other institutions, and discharges to hospice. We performed blinded medical record review on 641 randomly selected readmissions to validate the pre-encounter planned/unplanned hospital designation.

A Medical Student-Driven "Vaccine Blitz" at a School-Based Health Center as an Effective Way to Improve Adolescent Vaccination Rates.

Background And Objectives: Adolescent vaccine rates are below goal in the United States. We sought to assess a medical student driven "vaccine blitz" at a middle school with a school-based health center (SBHC) as a means to increase vaccination.

Methods: Written and/or verbal consent was obtained for specific vaccines needed.

Size of clinical trials and Introductory prices of prophylactic vaccine series.

Costs of completing the recommended immunization schedule have increased over the last decade. Access to prophylactic vaccines may become limited due to financing obstacles within current delivery systems. Vaccine prices reflect research and development expenses incurred by vaccine manufacturers, including costs associated with evaluating candidate vaccines in human subjects.