Grassroots Intervention to Increase Appointment of Pediatric Emergency Care Coordinators in Massachusetts Emergency Departments
Objectives Appointment of a pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) is considered the single best intervention to improve pediatric emergency care and has been recommended for all U.S. general emergency departments (EDs) for more than a decade. Unfortunately, many EDs do not adhere with this rec...
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Veröffentlicht in: | Academic emergency medicine 2018-12, Vol.25 (12), p.1442-1446 |
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Sprache: | eng |
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Zusammenfassung: | Objectives
Appointment of a pediatric emergency care coordinator (PECC) is considered the single best intervention to improve pediatric emergency care and has been recommended for all U.S. general emergency departments (EDs) for more than a decade. Unfortunately, many EDs do not adhere with this recommendation. In 2017, we performed a grassroots intervention to establish a PECC in every Massachusetts ED.
Methods
We conducted annual surveys of all 73 Massachusetts EDs from 2014 to 2018. Data collection included ED visit volumes, presence of a pediatric area, and PECC status. The intervention in 2017–2018 included e‐mails and telephone calls to every ED director to not only assess PECC status but also encourage him/her to appoint one as needed.
Results
Survey response rates were > 85% in all years and 100% during 2016 to 2018. While Massachusetts EDs did not materially change over time (in terms of visit volumes or presence of a pediatric area), the 2017 intervention increased the percentage of EDs with an appointed PECC. Specifically, PECCs were present in approximately 30% of EDs during 2014 to 2016, climbed to 85% in 2017, and reached 100% in 2018. Most of the newly appointed PECCs were physicians.
Conclusions
Through a relatively simple grassroots intervention, we increased the appointment of PECCs in Massachusetts EDs from 30% to 100%. In addition to providing PECCs with online educational materials, ongoing work is focused on building community, identifying best practices, and implementing interventions at the local level. |
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ISSN: | 1069-6563 1553-2712 |
DOI: | 10.1111/acem.13630 |