<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>Evaluate the association between dexamethasone dosing and outcomes for children hospitalized with croup.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This study was nested within a multisite prospective cohort study of children aged 6 months to 6 years admitted to 1 of 5 US children's hospitals between July 2014 and June /2016. Multivariable linear and logistic mixed-effects regression models were used to examine the association between the number of dexamethasone doses (1 vs &gt;1) and outcomes (length of stay [LOS], cost, and 30-day same-cause reuse). All multivariable analyses included a site-specific random effect to account for clustering within hospital and were adjusted for age, sex, race and ethnicity, presenting severity, medical complexity, insurance, caregiver education, and hospital. In cost analyses, we controlled for LOS.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Among 234 children hospitalized with croup, patient characteristics did not differ by number of doses. The proportion receiving &gt;1 dose varied by hospital (range 27.9%-57.1%). In adjusted analyses, &gt;1 dose was not associated with same-cause reuse (odds ratio 0.87 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.26 to 2.95]) but was associated with 45% longer LOS (relative risk = 1.45 [95% CI: 1.30 to 1.62]). When we controlled for LOS, &gt;1 dose was not associated with differential cost ($-31.2 [95% CI $-424.4 to $362.0]). Eighty-two (35%) children received dexamethasone before presentation.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>We found significant interhospital variation in dexamethasone dosing and LOS. When we controlled for severity on presentation, &gt;1 dexamethasone dose was associated with longer LOS but not reuse. Although incomplete adjustment for severity is one possible explanation, some providers may routinely keep children hospitalized to administer multiple dexamethasone doses.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>To use adherence to the Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES) indicators to evaluate the strength of associations for individual indicators with length of stay (LOS) and cost for bronchiolitis.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We prospectively enrolled children with bronchiolitis at 5 children's hospitals between July 1, 2014, and June 30, 2016. We examined associations between adherence to each individual PRIMES indicator for bronchiolitis and LOS and cost. Sixteen indicators were included, 9 "overuse" indicators for care that should not occur and 7 "underuse" indicators for care that should occur. We performed mixed effects linear regression to examine the association between adherence to each individual indicator and LOS (hours) and cost (dollars). All models controlled for patient demographics, patient complexity, and hospital.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>We enrolled 699 participants. The mean age was 8 months; 56% were male, 38% were white, and 63% had public insurance. Three indicators were significantly associated with shorter LOS and lower cost. All 3 indicators were overuse indicators and related to laboratory testing: no blood cultures (adjusted mean difference in LOS: -24.3 hours; adjusted mean cost difference: -$731, &lt; .001), no complete blood cell counts (LOS: -17.8 hours; cost: -$399, &lt; .05), and no respiratory syncytial virus testing (LOS: -16.6 hours; cost: -$272, &lt; .05). Two underuse indicators were associated with higher cost: documentation of oral intake at discharge ($671, &lt; .01) and documentation of hospital follow-up ($538, &lt; .05).</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>A subset of PRIMES quality indicators for bronchiolitis are strongly associated with improved outcomes and can serve as important measures for future quality improvement efforts.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVES: </strong>To assess the relationship between vaccination status and clinician adherence to quality measures for children with acute respiratory tract illnesses.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a multicenter prospective cohort study of children aged 0 to 16 years who presented with 1 of 4 acute respiratory tract illness diagnoses (community-acquired pneumonia, croup, asthma, and bronchiolitis) between July 2014 and June 2016. The predictor variable was provider-documented up-to-date (UTD) vaccination status. Our primary outcome was clinician adherence to quality measures by using the validated Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES). Across all conditions, we examined overall PRIMES composite scores and overuse (including indicators for care that should not be provided, eg, C-reactive protein testing in community-acquired pneumonia) and underuse (including indicators for care that should be provided, eg, dexamethasone in croup) composite subscores. We examined differences in length of stay, costs, and readmissions by vaccination status using adjusted linear and logistic regression models.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Of the 2302 participants included in the analysis, 92% were documented as UTD. The adjusted mean difference in overall PRIMES scores by UTD status was not significant (adjusted mean difference -0.3; 95% confidence interval: -1.9 to 1.3), whereas the adjusted mean difference was significant for both overuse (-4.6; 95% confidence interval: -7.5 to -1.6) and underuse (2.8; 95% confidence interval: 0.9 to 4.8) composite subscores. There were no significant adjusted differences in mean length of stay, cost, and readmissions by vaccination status.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>We identified lower adherence to overuse quality indicators and higher adherence to underuse quality indicators for children not UTD, which suggests that clinicians "do more" for hospitalized children who are not UTD.</p>

<p><strong>BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: </strong>The Pediatric Respiratory Illness Measurement System (PRIMES) generates condition-specific composite quality scores for asthma, bronchiolitis, croup, and pneumonia in hospital-based settings. We sought to determine if higher PRIMES composite scores are associated with improved health-related quality of life, decreased length of stay (LOS), and decreased reuse.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>We conducted a prospective cohort study of 2334 children in 5 children's hospitals between July 2014 and June 2016. Surveys administered on admission and 2 to 6 weeks postdischarge assessed the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL). Using medical records data, 3 PRIMES scores were calculated (0-100 scale; higher scores = improved adherence) for each condition: an overall composite (including all quality indicators for the condition), an overuse composite (including only indicators for care that should not be provided [eg, chest radiographs for bronchiolitis]), and an underuse composite (including only indicators for care that should be provided [eg, dexamethasone for croup]). Multivariable models assessed relationships between PRIMES composite scores and (1) PedsQL improvement, (2) LOS, and (3) 30-day reuse.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>For every 10-point increase in PRIMES overuse composite scores, LOS decreased by 8.8 hours (95% confidence interval [CI] -11.6 to -6.1) for bronchiolitis, 3.1 hours (95% CI -5.5 to -1.0) for asthma, and 2.0 hours (95% CI -3.9 to -0.1) for croup. Bronchiolitis overall composite scores were also associated with shorter LOS. PRIMES composites were not associated with PedsQL improvement or reuse.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSIONS: </strong>Better performance on some PRIMES condition-specific composite measures is associated with decreased LOS, with scores on overuse quality indicators being a primary driver of this relationship.</p>