BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Consumer home monitors (CHM), which measure vital signs, are popular products marketed to detect airway obstruction and arrhythmia. Yet, they lack evidence of infant death prevention, demonstrate suboptimal accuracy, and may result in false alarms that prompt unnecessary acute care visits. To better understand the hospital utilization and costs of CHM, we characterized emergency department (ED) and hospital encounters associated with CHM use at a children's hospital.

METHODS: We used structured query language to search the free text of all ED and admission notes between January 2013 and December 2019 to identify clinical documentation discussing CHM use. Two physicians independently reviewed the presence of CHM use and categorized encounter characteristics.

RESULTS: Evidence of CHM use contributed to the presentation of 36 encounters in a sample of over 300 000 encounters, with nearly half occurring in 2019. The leading discharge diagnoses were viral infection (13, 36%), gastroesophageal reflux (8, 22%) and false positive alarm (6, 17%). Median encounter duration was 20 hours (interquartile range: 3 hours to 2 days; max 10.5 days) and median cost of encounters was $2188 (interquartile range: $255 to $7632; max $84 928).

CONCLUSIONS: Although the annual rate of CHM-related encounters was low and did not indicate a major public health burden, for individual families who present to the ED or hospital for concerns related to CHMs, there may be important adverse financial and emotional consequences.

<p>The accuracy of pulse oximetry monitor orders for identifying infants with bronchiolitis who are being continuously monitored is unknown. In this 56-hospital repeated cross-sectional study, investigators used direct bedside observation to determine continuous pulse oximetry monitor use and then assessed if an active continuous monitoring order was present in the electronic health record. Investigators completed 3,612 observations of infants aged 8 weeks to 23 months hospitalized with bronchiolitis and on room air. Most monitored infants did not have an active monitoring order (sensitivity 49% [95% CI, 41-57]). The positive predictive value of a monitoring order was 77% (95% CI, 72-82), and the negative predictive value was 69% (95% CI, 61-77). Teams intending to measure continuous pulse oximetry use should understand the limitations of using electronic health record orders as a stand-alone measure.</p>

<p><strong>OBJECTIVE: </strong>Continuous pulse oximetry monitoring (cSpO) in children with bronchiolitis does not improve clinical outcomes and has been associated with increased resource use and alarm fatigue. It is critical to understand the factors that contribute to cSpO overuse in order to reduce overuse and its associated harms.</p>

<p><strong>METHODS: </strong>This multicenter qualitative study took place in the context of the Eliminating Monitor Overuse (EMO) SpO study, a cross-sectional study to establish rates of cSpO in bronchiolitis. We conducted semistructured interviews, informed by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, with a purposive sample of stakeholders at sites with high and low cSpO use rates to identify barriers and facilitators to addressing cSpO overuse. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Analyses were conducted using an integrated approach.</p>

<p><strong>RESULTS: </strong>Participants (n = 56) included EMO study site principal investigators (n = 12), hospital administrators (n = 8), physicians (n = 15), nurses (n = 12), and respiratory therapists (n = 9) from 12 hospitals. Results suggest that leadership buy-in, clear authoritative guidelines for SpO use incorporated into electronic order sets, regular education about cSpO in bronchiolitis, and visual reminders may be needed to reduce cSpO utilization. Parental perceptions and individual clinician comfort affect cSpO practice.</p>

<p><strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>We identified barriers and facilitators to deimplementation of cSpO for stable patients with bronchiolitis across children's hospitals with high- and low-cSpO use. Based on these data, future deimplementation efforts should focus on clear protocols for cSpO, EHR changes, and education for hospital staff on bronchiolitis features and rationale for reducing cSpO.</p>

<p><strong>Importance: </strong>US national guidelines discourage the use of continuous pulse oximetry monitoring in hospitalized children with bronchiolitis who do not require supplemental oxygen.</p>

<p><strong>Objective: </strong>Measure continuous pulse oximetry use in children with bronchiolitis.</p>

<p><strong>Design, Setting, and Participants: </strong>A multicenter cross-sectional study was performed in pediatric wards in 56 US and Canadian hospitals in the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings Network from December 1, 2018, through March 31, 2019. Participants included a convenience sample of patients aged 8 weeks through 23 months with bronchiolitis who were not receiving active supplemental oxygen administration. Patients with extreme prematurity, cyanotic congenital heart disease, pulmonary hypertension, home respiratory support, neuromuscular disease, immunodeficiency, or cancer were excluded.</p>

<p><strong>Exposures: </strong>Hospitalization with bronchiolitis without active supplemental oxygen administration.</p>

<p><strong>Main Outcomes and Measures: </strong>The primary outcome, receipt of continuous pulse oximetry, was measured using direct observation. Continuous pulse oximetry use percentages were risk standardized using the following variables: nighttime (11 pm to 7 am), age combined with preterm birth, time after weaning from supplemental oxygen or flow, apnea or cyanosis during the present illness, neurologic impairment, and presence of an enteral feeding tube.</p>

<p><strong>Results: </strong>The sample included 3612 patient observations in 33 freestanding children's hospitals, 14 children's hospitals within hospitals, and 9 community hospitals. In the sample, 59% were male, 56% were white, and 15% were black; 48% were aged 8 weeks through 5 months, 28% were aged 6 through 11 months, 16% were aged 12 through 17 months, and 9% were aged 18 through 23 months. The overall continuous pulse oximetry monitoring use percentage in these patients, none of whom were receiving any supplemental oxygen or nasal cannula flow, was 46% (95% CI, 40%-53%). Hospital-level unadjusted continuous pulse oximetry use ranged from 2% to 92%. After risk standardization, use ranged from 6% to 82%. Intraclass correlation coefficient suggested that 27% (95% CI, 19%-36%) of observed variation was attributable to unmeasured hospital-level factors.</p>

<p><strong>Conclusions and Relevance: </strong>In a convenience sample of children hospitalized with bronchiolitis who were not receiving active supplemental oxygen administration, monitoring with continuous pulse oximetry was frequent and varied widely among hospitals. Because of the apparent absence of a guideline- or evidence-based indication for continuous monitoring in this population, this practice may represent overuse.</p>