Washington: According to the findings of a study readily available Electronic Health Record (EHR) data can be used to reliably identify readmission risk for children of all ages while they are still in the hospital.
Ann & Robert H. of Chicago. The Lurie Children’s Hospital study was published in the JAMA Network Open Journal. This newly developed and validated tool will be key in mitigation efforts admitted to hospital within 30 days of discharge, which will also help free up scarce children’s hospital beds.
“Although hospital readmission is a quality measure, we do not yet have a comprehensive and easily applicable tool to predict pediatric readmission risk prior to discharge,” lead author Dennis M. Goodman, MD, MS, a Lurie Children’s and critical care physician, said. Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “Knowing which children are likely to require another hospital admission soon after their initial stay allows us to be proactive and better focus discharge planning to reduce the high risk of readmission.”
Dr. Goodman and colleagues used three years of discharge data at Lurie Children’s to derive and validate a suite of three readmission prediction models for children of all ages, including children as young as 28 days. To calculate readmission risk, these models incorporate demographic and socioeconomic data from the EHR, as well as clinical variables such as length of stay, use of specific therapies, and previous hospitalizations.
Dr. “A significant strength of our predictive models is that they were designed to be implemented in the EHR during the hospital stay and to change with clinical circumstances,” said Goodman. “The risk of readmission can be recalculated daily, allowing us to tailor discharge planning in real time.”
Reducing the risk of readmissions also helps hospitals make pediatric beds available, which are becoming increasingly scarce in Chicago, across Illinois and nationally.
“Given the growing shortage of pediatric beds, it is critical to reduce the chance that a child will need to return to the hospital within 30 days,” said senior author Matthew M. Adds Davis, MD, MAPP, chair of the Department of Pediatrics. at Lurie Children’s and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. “We believe our readmission prediction tool is the most comprehensive available for hospitals to meet the anticipated needs of children and their families before discharge, thereby reducing the risk of rehospitalization.”
