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Background: Hospitalization costs for treatment of hemodialysis (HD) catheter-associated blood stream infections (CA-BSI) in adults are high. No studies have evaluated hospitalization costs for HD CA-BSI in children or identified factors associated with high-cost hospitalizations., Methods: We analyzed 160 HD CA-BSIs from the Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric End-stage Kidney Disease (SCOPE) collaborative database linked to hospitalization encounters in the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. Charge-to-cost ratios were used to convert hospitalization charges reported in PHIS database to estimated hospital costs. Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to assess the relationship between higher-cost hospitalization (cost above 50 th percentile) and patient and clinical characteristics. Generalized linear regression models were used to assess differences in mean service line costs between higher- and lower-cost hospitalizations., Results: The median (IQR) length of stay for HD CA-BSI hospitalization was 5 (3-10) days. The median (IQR) cost for HD CA-BSI hospitalization was $18,375 ($11,584-$36,266). ICU stay (aOR 5.44, 95% CI 1.62-18.26, p = 0.01) and need for a catheter procedure (aOR = 6.08, 95% CI 2.45-15.07, p < 0.001) were associated with higher-cost hospitalization., Conclusions: Hospitalizations for HD CA-BSIs in children are often multiple days and are associated with substantial costs. Interventions to reduce CA-BSI may reduce hospitalization costs for children who receive chronic HD. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Pediatric Nephrology Association.)

Background: There has been growing support for the adoption of telehealth (TH) services in pediatric populations. Children on chronic peritoneal dialysis (PD) represent a vulnerable population that could benefit from increased use of TH. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted rapid adoption of TH services in the population among pediatric centers participating in The Children's Hospital Association's Standardizing Care to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric ESKD (SCOPE) Collaborative., Methods: We developed a survey to explore the experience of both pediatric PD providers and caregivers of patients receiving PD care at home and using TH services during the COVID-19 pandemic., Results: We obtained responses from 27 out of 53 (50.9%) SCOPE centers that included 175 completed surveys from providers and caregivers. Major challenges identified by providers included inadequate/lack of physical exam, inability to visit with the patient/family in-person, and inadequate/lack of PD catheter exit site exam. Only 51% of caregivers desired future TH visits; however, major benefits of TH for caregivers included no travel, visit takes less time, easier to care for other children, more comfortable for patient, and no time off from work. Providers and caregivers agreed that PD TH visits are family centered (p = 0.296), with the lack of a physical exam (p < 0.001) and the inability to meet in-person (p = 0.002) deemed particularly important to caregivers and providers, respectively., Conclusions: TH is a productive and viable visit option for children on PD; however, making this a successful, permanent part of routine care will require an individualized approach with standardization of core elements. A higher resolution version of the Graphical abstract is available as Supplementary information., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to International Pediatric Nephrology Association.)