ParentLink: Better and Safer Emergency Care for Children

NCT00457600 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: CHB-R01HS014947
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 3,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

The emergency department (ED) constitutes a high-risk environment for errors and poor quality of care. Pediatric patients are at increased risk of medical errors. We postulate that implementation of a patient-centered health information technology - ParentLink - can address system-level deficiencies and the unique "just-in-time" information needs of ED physicians and the parents of ill children. The proposed work delivers an innovative product - an electronic interface linked to a pediatric knowledge base that integrates parent-derived data with best practices for safe and effective emergency care across common pediatric disease conditions: otitis media, urinary tract infections, asthma, and head trauma. The study has two aims, the first of which addresses critical gaps in data capture: to evaluate the completeness and accuracy of information on symptoms, disease condition, medications and allergies generated by parents using ParentLink versus information documented by ED physicians and nurses, using structured telephone interviews as a gold standard. The second aim measures the ParentLink's impact on ED patient safety and quality, specifically: a) the error rate for ordering and prescribing of medications during ED care, and b) the percent of ED visits that adhere to national evidence-based guidelines. Parentlink will be rigorously evaluated in a clinical trial at two diverse ED sites and will use a sequential, non-randomized observational design with two intervention and two control periods to measure the effects of ParentLink on data capture and safety and quality of patient care.

Conditions

Otitis Media; Urinary Tract Infection; Asthma; Head Injury

Keywords

information technology; emergency department; medication error; quality of care; patient-centered care

Interventions

patient-driven health IT product PROCEDURE

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: Up to 12 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Age less than 12 years with head trauma
• Age less than 12 years with ear pain
• Ages less than 12 years with concern for UTI
• year - 12 years with asthma history and respiratory chief complaint
• months - 2 years with fever
• Parent speaks English or Spanish
• Triage status is non-emergent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Boston Children's Hospital: lead
• South Shore Hospital: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

Children's Hospital Boston

Boston, Massachusetts, 02115, United States

Location

South Shore Hospital

Weymouth, Massachusetts, 02190, United States

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Otitis Media; Urinary Tract Infections; Asthma; Craniocerebral Trauma; Emergencies

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Otitis; Ear Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Infections; Urologic Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases; Female Urogenital Diseases and Pregnancy Complications; Urogenital Diseases; Male Urogenital Diseases; Bronchial Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases, Obstructive; Lung Diseases; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Hypersensitivity, Immediate; Hypersensitivity; Immune System Diseases; Trauma, Nervous System; Nervous System Diseases; Wounds and Injuries; Disease Attributes; Pathologic Processes; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Officials

• Stephen C Porter, MD

  Boston Children's Hospital

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: DEFINED POPULATION
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 4, 2007
• First Posted: April 6, 2007
• Study Start: June 1, 2005
• Study Completion: July 1, 2006
• Last Updated: April 6, 2007

Record last verified: 2007-01

Locations

US (2)