Ongoing management of monitor alarms is important for reducing alarm fatigue among clinicians (e.g., nurses, physicians). Strategies to enhance clinician engagement in active alarm management in pediatric acute care have not been well explored. Access to alarm summary metrics may enhance clinician engagement. To lay the foundation for intervention development, we sought to identify functional specifications for formulating, packaging, and delivering alarm metrics to clinicians. Our team of clinician scientists and human factors engineers conducted focus groups with clinicians from medical-surgical inpatient units in a children's hospital. We inductively coded transcripts, developed codes into themes, and grouped themes into "current state" and "future state." We conducted five focus groups with 13 clinicians (eight registered nurses and five doctors of medicine). In the current state, information exchanged among team members about alarm burden is initiated by nurses on an ad hoc basis. For a future state, clinicians identified ways in which alarm metrics could help them manage alarms and described specific information, such as alarm trends, benchmarks, and contextual data, that would support decision-making. We developed four recommendations for future strategies to enhance clinicians' active management of patient alarms: (1) formulate alarm metrics for clinicians by categorizing alarm rates by type and summarizing alarm trends over time, (2) package alarm metrics with contextual patient data to facilitate clinicians' sensemaking, (3) deliver alarm metrics in a forum that facilitates interprofessional discussion, and (4) provide clinician education to establish a shared mental model about alarm fatigue and evidence-based alarm-reduction strategies.

Ongoing management of monitor alarms is important for reducing alarm fatigue among clinicians (e.g., nurses, physicians). Strategies to enhance clinician engagement in active alarm management in pediatric acute care have not been well explored. Access to alarm summary metrics may enhance clinician engagement. To lay the foundation for intervention development, we sought to identify functional specifications for formulating, packaging, and delivering alarm metrics to clinicians. Our team of clinician scientists and human factors engineers conducted focus groups with clinicians from medical-surgical inpatient units in a children's hospital. We inductively coded transcripts, developed codes into themes, and grouped themes into "current state" and "future state." We conducted five focus groups with 13 clinicians (eight registered nurses and five doctors of medicine). In the current state, information exchanged among team members about alarm burden is initiated by nurses on an ad hoc basis. For a future state, clinicians identified ways in which alarm metrics could help them manage alarms and described specific information, such as alarm trends, benchmarks, and contextual data, that would support decision-making. We developed four recommendations for future strategies to enhance clinicians' active management of patient alarms: (1) formulate alarm metrics for clinicians by categorizing alarm rates by type and summarizing alarm trends over time, (2) package alarm metrics with contextual patient data to facilitate clinicians' sensemaking, (3) deliver alarm metrics in a forum that facilitates interprofessional discussion, and (4) provide clinician education to establish a shared mental model about alarm fatigue and evidence-based alarm-reduction strategies.

<p>Home pulse oximeters prescribed for infants with cardiorespiratory conditions generate many false alarms, which create caregiver stress and sleep disturbance and can lead to unsafe practices. Additionally, relationships among oximeters, alarms, and everyday living demands are not well understood. Therefore, we aimed to gather parent perspectives on home pulse oximetry monitoring during the problem analysis phase of a quality improvement (QI) initiative.</p>

<p><strong>Methods: </strong>We purposively sampled and interviewed parents of infants prescribed home pulse oximeters and receiving local home care company services. We based questions on systems engineering frameworks previously used in healthcare. Data were coded iteratively and analyzed deductively (theoretical frameworks) and inductively (emerging themes).</p>

<p><strong>Results: </strong>Generally, themes aligned with theoretical frameworks. Parents expressed dissatisfaction with the number of false alarms home pulse oximeters generate, which parents primarily attributed to poor probe adhesiveness and the inability of oximeters to account for infant movement. Interviews highlighted the burden associated with poor device tones and portability. Device-related issues had negative repercussions for the entire family related to sleep quality, mobility, and social interactions. Universally, parents developed workarounds, including cessation of monitoring.</p>

<p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Parents of infants monitored at home using pulse oximetry face many challenges, resulting in compromises in safety. Continuing to instruct parents to comply with prescribed monitoring recommendations may be unrealistic. Instead, we suggest re-engineering the home monitoring system with the needs and goals of children and their families at the center. Our description of adapting qualitative research and systems engineering methods may benefit others developing QI work.</p>

<p><strong>INTRODUCTION: </strong>Pulse oximetry monitoring is prescribed to children receiving home oxygen for chronic medical conditions associated with hypoxemia. Although home pediatric pulse oximetry is supported by national organizations, there are a lack of guidelines outlining indications and prescribing parameters.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>A mixed-methods analysis of pediatric home pulse oximetry orders prescribed through the institutional home health care provider at a large US children's hospital 6/2018-7/2019 were retrospectively reviewed to determine prescribed alarm parameter limits and recommended interventions. Semi-structured qualitative interviews with pediatric providers managing patients receiving home oxygen and pulse oximetry were conducted to identify opportunities to improve home pulse oximetry prescribing practices. Interviews were analyzed using a modified content analysis approach to identify recurring themes.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>368 children received home pulse oximetry orders. Orders were most frequently prescribed on non-cardiac medical floors (32%). Attending physicians were the most frequent ordering providers (52%). Frequency of use was prescribed in 96% of orders, however just 70% were provided with specific instructions for interventions when alarms occurred. Provider role and clinical setting were significantly associated with the presence of a care plan. Provider interviews identified opportunities for improvement with the device, management of alarm parameter limits, and access to home monitor data.</p>

<p><strong>DISCUSSION: </strong>This study demonstrated significant variability in home pulse oximetry prescribing practices. Provider interviews highlighted the importance of the provider-patient relationship and areas for improvement. There is an opportunity to create standardized guidelines that optimize the use of home monitoring devices for patients, families, and pulmonary providers. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.</p>

<p><strong>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: </strong>Continuous pulse oximetry (oxygen saturation [Spo]) monitoring in hospitalized children with bronchiolitis not requiring supplemental oxygen is discouraged by national guidelines, but determining monitoring status accurately requires in-person observation. Our objective was to determine if electronic health record (EHR) data can accurately estimate the extent of actual Spo monitoring use in bronchiolitis.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This repeated cross-sectional study included infants aged 8 weeks through 23 months hospitalized with bronchiolitis. In the validation phase at 3 children's hospitals, we calculated the test characteristics of the Spo monitor data streamed into the EHR each minute when monitoring was active compared with in-person observation of Spo monitoring use. In the application phase at 1 children's hospital, we identified periods when supplemental oxygen was administered using EHR flowsheet documentation and calculated the duration of Spo monitoring that occurred in the absence of supplemental oxygen.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Among 668 infants at 3 hospitals (validation phase), EHR-integrated Spo data from the same minute as in-person observation had a sensitivity of 90%, specificity of 98%, positive predictive value of 88%, and negative predictive value of 98% for actual Spo monitoring use. Using EHR-integrated data in a sample of 317 infants at 1 hospital (application phase), infants were monitored in the absence of oxygen supplementation for a median 4.1 hours (interquartile range 1.4-9.4 hours). Those who received supplemental oxygen experienced a median 5.6 hours (interquartile range 3.0-10.6 hours) of monitoring after oxygen was stopped.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>EHR-integrated monitor data are a valid measure of actual Spo monitoring use that may help hospitals more efficiently identify opportunities to deimplement guideline-inconsistent use.</p>

<p><strong>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: </strong>Physiologic monitor alarms occur at high rates in children's hospitals; ≤1% are actionable. The burden of alarms has implications for patient safety and is challenging to measure directly. Nurse workload, measured by using a version of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) validated among nurses, is a useful indicator of work burden that has been associated with patient outcomes. A recent study revealed that 5-point increases in the NASA-TLX score were associated with a 22% increased risk in missed nursing care. Our objective was to measure the relationship between alarm count and nurse workload by using the NASA-TLX.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a repeated cross-sectional study of pediatric nurses in a tertiary care children's hospital to measure the association between NASA-TLX workload evaluations (using the nurse-validated scale) and alarm count in the 2 hours preceding NASA-TLX administration. Using a multivariable mixed-effects regression accounting for nurse-level clustering, we modeled the adjusted association of alarm count with workload.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>The NASA-TLX score was assessed in 26 nurses during 394 nursing shifts over a 2-month period. In adjusted regression models, experiencing &gt;40 alarms in the preceding 2 hours was associated with a 5.5 point increase (95% confidence interval 5.2 to 5.7; &lt; .001) in subjective workload.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Alarm count in the preceding 2 hours is associated with a significant increase in subjective nurse workload that exceeds the threshold associated with increased risk of missed nursing care and potential patient harm.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Develop and evaluate an interactive information visualization embedded within the electronic health record (EHR) by following human-centered design (HCD) processes and leveraging modern health information exchange standards.</p>

<p><strong>MATERIALS AND METHODS: </strong>We applied an HCD process to develop a Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) application that displays a patient's asthma history to clinicians in a pediatric emergency department. We performed a preimplementation comparative system evaluation to measure time on task, number of screens, information retrieval accuracy, cognitive load, user satisfaction, and perceived utility and usefulness. Application usage and system functionality were assessed using application logs and a postimplementation survey of end users.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Usability testing of the Asthma Timeline Application demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in time on task (P &lt; .001), number of screens (P &lt; .001), and cognitive load (P &lt; .001) for clinicians when compared to base EHR functionality. Postimplementation evaluation demonstrated reliable functionality and high user satisfaction.</p>

<p><strong>DISCUSSION: </strong>Following HCD processes to develop an application in the context of clinical operations/quality improvement is feasible. Our work also highlights the potential benefits and challenges associated with using internationally recognized data exchange standards as currently implemented.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>Compared to standard EHR functionality, our visualization increased clinician efficiency when reviewing the charts of pediatric asthma patients. Application development efforts in an operational context should leverage existing health information exchange standards, such as FHIR, and evidence-based mixed methods approaches.</p>

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>The risk of medical errors increases upon transfer out of the intensive care unit (ICU). Discrepancies in the documented care plan between notes at the time of transfer may contribute to communication errors. We sought to determine the frequency of clinically meaningful discrepancies in the documented care plan for patients transferred from the pediatric ICU to the medical wards and identified risk factors.</p>

<p><strong>Materials and Methods: </strong>Two physician reviewers independently compared the transfer note and handoff document of 50 randomly selected transfers. Clinically meaningful discrepancies in the care plan between these two documents were identified using a coding procedure adapted from healthcare failure mode and effects analysis. We assessed the influence of risk factors via multivariable regression.</p>

<p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified 34 clinically meaningful discrepancies in 50 patient transfers. Fourteen transfers (28%) had ≥1 discrepancy, and ≥2 were present in 7 transfers (14%). The most common discrepancy categories were differences in situational awareness notifications and documented current therapy. Transfers with handoff document length in the top quartile had 10.6 (95% CI: 1.2-90.2) times more predicted discrepancies than transfers with handoff length in the bottom quartile. Patients receiving more medications in the 24 hours prior to transfer had higher discrepancy counts, with each additional medication increasing the predicted number of discrepancies by 17% (95% CI: 6%-29%).</p>

<p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Clinically meaningful discrepancies in the documented care plan pose legitimate safety concerns and are common at the time of transfer out of the ICU among complex patients.</p>

<p>Clinical decision support (CDS) systems delivered through the electronic health record are an important element of quality and safety initiatives within a health care system. However, managing a large CDS knowledge base can be an overwhelming task for informatics teams. Additionally, it can be difficult for these informatics teams to communicate their goals with external operational stakeholders and define concrete steps for improvement. We aimed to develop a maturity model that describes a roadmap toward organizational functions and processes that help health care systems use CDS more effectively to drive better outcomes. We developed a maturity model for CDS operations through discussions with health care leaders at 80 organizations, iterative model development by four clinical informaticists, and subsequent review with 19 health care organizations. We ceased iterations when feedback from three organizations did not result in any changes to the model. The proposed CDS maturity model includes three main "pillars": "Content Creation," "Analytics and Reporting," and "Governance and Management." Each pillar contains five levels-advancing along each pillar provides CDS teams a deeper understanding of the processes CDS systems are intended to improve. A "roof" represents the CDS functions that become attainable after advancing along each of the pillars. Organizations are not required to advance in order and can develop in one pillar separately from another. However, we hypothesize that optimal deployment of preceding levels and advancing in tandem along the pillars increase the value of organizational investment in higher levels of CDS maturity. In addition to describing the maturity model and its development, we also provide three case studies of health care organizations using the model for self-assessment and determine next steps in CDS development.</p>

<p>Smartphone-integrated consumer baby monitors that measure vital signs are popular among parents but are not regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This study measured the accuracy of pulse oximetry-based consumer baby monitors using an FDA-cleared oximeter as a reference.</p>