Background It is unclear whether the infectious etiology of severe bronchiolitis affects short-term outcomes, such as post-hospitalization relapse. We tested the hypothesis that children hospitalized with rhinovirus (RV) bronchiolitis, either as a sole pathogen or in combination with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), are at increased risk of relapse. Methods We performed a 16-center, prospective cohort study of hospitalized children age <2 years with bronchiolitis. During the winters of 2007 to 2010, researchers collected clinical data and nasopharyngeal aspirates from study participants; the aspirates were tested using real-time polymerase chain reaction. The primary outcome was bronchiolitis relapse (urgent bronchiolitis visit or scheduled visit at which additions to the bronchiolitis medications were made) during the 2 weeks after hospital discharge. Results Among 1836 enrolled children with 2-week follow-up data, the median age was 4 months and 60% were male. Overall, 48% had sole RSV infection, 8% had sole RV infection, and 13% had RSV/RV co-infection. Compared with children with sole RSV infection, and adjusting for 10 demographic and clinical characteristics and clustering of patients within hospitals, children with sole RV infection did not differ in their likelihood of relapse (OR, 0.99; 95%CI, 0.52–1.90; P=0.98), whereas those with RSV/RV co-infection were more likely to have relapse (OR, 1.54; 95%CI, 1.03–2.30; P=0.03). Conclusions In this prospective, multicenter, multiyear study of children hospitalized with bronchiolitis, we found that RSV/RV co-infection was independently associated with a higher likelihood of bronchiolitis relapse. Present data support the concept that the infectious etiology of severe bronchiolitis affects short-term outcomes.
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. A secondary goal was to describe experiences of the PCPs and pediatric hospitalists regarding sending and receiving discharge information. METHODS A survey of physician preferences and experiences regarding discharge communication was sent to 320 PCPs who refer patients to 16 hospitals, with an analogous survey sent to 147 hospitalists. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and χ2 analyses were performed. RESULTS A total of 201 PCPs (63%) and 71 hospitalists (48%) responded to the survey. Seven clinical elements were reported as essential by >75% of both PCPs and hospitalists: dates of admission and discharge; discharge diagnoses; brief hospital course; discharge medications; immunizations given during hospitalization; pending laboratory or test results; and follow-up appointments. PCPs reported reliably receiving discharge communication significantly less often than hospitalists reported sending it (71.8% vs 85.1%; P < .01), and PCPs considered this communication to be complete significantly less often than hospitalists did (64.9% vs 79.1%; P < .01). CONCLUSIONS We identified 7 core clinical elements that PCPs and hospitalists consider essential in discharge communication. Consistently and promptly communicating at least these core elements after discharge may enhance PCP satisfaction and patient-level outcomes. Reported rates of transmission and receipt of this information were suboptimal and should be targeted for improvement.
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. Our specific aim was the achievement 90% documentation of hospitalist-PCP communication within 2 days of hospital discharge in <12 months. Methods: As part of a grassroots collaborative improvement organization, pediatric hospitalist groups engaged in parallel quality improvement projects to improve the timeliness and reliability of discharge communication at their local institutions. After an initial face-to-face meeting, e-mail and regular conference calls were used to promote shared effort and learning. The study period lasted 12 months, with >16 weeks of continuous data required for inclusion. Results: The mean rate of documentation of timely discharge communication across the collaborative increased from 57% to 85% over the study period. For the 7 hospitals that were able to collect >16 weeks of data before July 2010, the mean rate of communication was >90%. Participants reported that the context of the collaborative contributed to their success. Conclusions: Timely hospitalist-PCP communication was inconsistent at the beginning of the study. This low-resource quality improvement collaborative was able to achieve rapid improvement and resulted in improved perceptions of quality improvement knowledge among participants.
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