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Pediatric Bronchiolitis Quality Improvement

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Bronchiolitis
Interventions
Other: Bronchiolitis quality improvement
Registration Number
NCT03528083
Lead Sponsor
University of California, Davis
Brief Summary

Bronchiolitis is a respiratory illness characterized by acute inflammation of the airways, typically caused by a virus. By definition, it impacts children between 2 months and 2 years of age and is the most common cause of hospitalization among infants in the first year of life (American Academy of Pediatrics). Children with this illness may exhibit respiratory distress, as well as symptoms of viral respiratory illness, such as sneezing, nasal congestion, and cough. Often, hospitalization is required for respiratory distress and to support hydration needs.

Evidence based guidelines for the treatment of acute viral bronchiolitis primarily involve supportive care, which most often includes supplemental oxygen, hydration, and suctioning of secretions. However, in practice, bronchiolitis care is highly variable, often involving therapies such as inhaled bronchodilators, systemic corticosteroids, inhaled hypertonic saline, continuous pulse oximetry, chest physiotherapy, antibacterial medications, and use of intravenous fluids, all of which have been shown to be unnecessary and costly. Unnecessary care remains although multiple published quality improvement studies centered on acute bronchiolitis have proven successful. Quality improvement interventions have shown reduced use of unnecessary treatments and reduced resource allocation. Therefore, the investigators will conduct a quality improvement process to improve adherence to bronchiolitis treatment guidelines for children with bronchiolitis treated at University of California Davis Children's Hospital.

Detailed Description

A multidisciplinary team, involving pediatric hospitalists, pediatric emergency physicians, residents, medical students, nurses and nurse managers, and respiratory therapists will be assembled. The investigators will participate in a value stream mapping process, to map out the current pediatric bronchiolitis care process and identify areas for improvement in efficiency and effectiveness. The investigators will then begin the iterative process of implementing improvements to the bronchiolitis care process. Interventions will be evidence-based and designed to improve compliance with bronchiolitis care guidelines, as set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics. Examples of possible interventions may include creation of a bronchiolitis admission order set, implementation of an evidence-based bronchiolitis clinical pathway, and/or institution of standardized bronchiolitis discharge criteria. Interventions will be implemented in a stepwise fashion, utilizing successive plan-do-study-act cycles, with a minimum 2 month period between interventions to monitor outcomes. The investigators will track utilization of diagnostic testing and treatments within our intervention group, as compared to historical controls who also meet inclusion criteria.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
1321
Inclusion Criteria
  • Children less than 2 years of age admitted to UC Davis Children's Hospital with any diagnosis of bronchiolitis
Exclusion Criteria
  • Children or adults greater than 2 years of age
  • Children born at less than 35 weeks gestational age
  • Children with underlying illnesses, such as chronic lung disease, congenital heart disease, other congenital anomalies including airway anomalies, or immunodeficiencies

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
SINGLE_GROUP
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Quality ImprovementBronchiolitis quality improvementAll patients diagnosed with bronchiolitis and meeting inclusion criteria will undergo the intervention of a bronchiolitis quality improvement process to improve bronchiolitis care quality at our institution.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Chest x-ray utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received a chest x-ray

Steroid utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received steroids

Hypertonic saline utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received nebulized hypertonic saline.

Antibiotic utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received antibiotics

Bronchodilator utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received bronchodilators

Supplemental oxygen utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received supplemental oxygen

Continuous pulse oximetry utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received continuous pulse oximetry

Chest physiotherapy utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received chest physiotherapy

Intravenous fluid utilizationThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received intravenous fluid

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
MCC capture rateThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

The capture rate for major comorbid conditions within our charting for patients diagnosed with bronchiolitis

Bronchiolitis specific discharge instructionsThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who received bronchiolitis specific handout containing care instructions on discharge

Timely completion of discharge summaryWithin 48 hours of discharge from the index hospitalization

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who had a discharge summary completed

Timely routing of discharge summaryWithin 48 hours of discharge from the index hospitalization

Percentage of patients meeting inclusion criteria who had a discharge summary routed to their primary care provider

Readmission rateWithin 30 days following the index hospitalization discharge date

Same hospital readmission rate for patients with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis

Emergency room revisit rateWithin 30 days following the index hospitalization discharge date

Same hospital emergency room revisit rate for patients with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis

CC capture rateThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

The capture rate for comorbid conditions within our charting for patients diagnosed with bronchiolitis

Length of stay indexThrough study completion, an average of 19 months

A ratio of observed to expected length of stay for patients admitted with bronchiolitis, as compared to national standards

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

UC David Medical Center

🇺🇸

Sacramento, California, United States

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