Streamlining Telecommunications Center and Interfacility Patient Throughput to a Pediatric Emergency Department by Utilizing an Electronic Handoff: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Objective: Effective handoffs are critical for patient safety and high-quality care. The pediatric emergency department serves as the initial reception for patients where optimal communication is crucial. The complexities of interfacility handoffs can result in information loss due to lack of standardization.

Redirecting Nonurgent Patients From the Pediatric Emergency Department to Their Pediatrician Office for a Same-Day Visit-A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Objectives: Providing high-quality care in the appropriate setting to optimize value is a worthy goal of an efficient health system. Consequences of managing nonurgent complaints in the emergency department (ED) have been described including inefficiency, loss of the primary care-patient relationship, and delayed care for other ED patients. The purpose of this initiative was to redirect nonurgent patients arriving in the ED to their primary care office for a same-day visit, and the SMART AIM was to increase redirected patients from 0% of those eligible to 30% in a 12-month period.

Malformation of the superior olivary complex in an animal model of autism.

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by social difficulties, impaired communication skills and repetitive behavioral patterns. Additionally, there is evidence that auditory deficits are a common feature of the autism spectrum disorders. Despite the prevalence of autism, the neurobiology of this disorder is poorly understood.

Distribution of perineuronal nets in the human superior olivary complex.

Perineuronal nets (PNNs) are specialized assemblies of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) in the central nervous system that form a lattice-like covering over the cell body, primary dendrites and initial axon segment of select neuronal populations. PNNs appear to play significant roles in development of the central nervous system, neuronal protection, synaptic plasticity and local ion homeostasis. In seven human brainstems (average age=81 years), we have utilized Wisteria floribunda (WFA) histochemistry and immunocytochemistry for CSPG to map the distribution of PNNs within the nuclei of the human superior olivary complex (SOC).