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Introduction: Physicians commonly recommend automatic primary care follow-up visits to children being discharged from the hospital. While automatic follow-up provides an opportunity to address postdischarge needs, the alternative is as-needed follow-up. With this strategy, families monitor their child's symptoms and decide if they need a follow-up visit in the days after discharge. In addition to being family centered, as-needed follow-up has the potential to reduce time and financial burdens on both families and the healthcare system. As-needed follow-up has been shown to be safe and effective for children hospitalized with bronchiolitis, but the extent to which hospitalized children with other common conditions might benefit from as-needed follow-up is unclear., Methods: The Follow-up Automatically versus As-Needed Comparison (FAAN-C, or "fancy") trial is a multicenter randomized controlled trial. Children who are hospitalized for pneumonia, urinary tract infection, skin and soft tissue infection, or acute gastroenteritis are eligible to participate. Participants are randomized to an as-needed versus automatic posthospitalization follow-up recommendation. The sample size estimate is 2674 participants and the primary outcome is all-cause hospital readmission within 14 days of discharge. Secondary outcomes are medical interventions and child health-related quality of life. Analyses will be conducted in an intention-to-treat manner, testing noninferiority of as-needed follow-up compared with automatic follow-up., Discussion: FAAN-C will elucidate the relative benefits of an as-needed versus automatic follow-up recommendation, informing one of the most common decisions faced by families of hospitalized children and their medical providers. Findings from FAAN-C will also have implications for national quality metrics and guidelines., (© 2024 Society of Hospital Medicine.)

Background: Central venous access devices (CVAD) are associated with central line associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) and venous thromboembolism (VTE). We identified trends in non-intensive care unit (ICU) CVAD utilization, described complication rates, and compared resources between low and high CVAD sites., Methods: We combined data from the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database and surveys from included hospitals. We analyzed 10-year trends in CVAD encounters for non-ICU children between 01/2012-12/2021 and described variation and complication rates between 01/2017-12/2021. Using Fisher's exact test, we compared resources between low and high CVAD users., Results: CVAD use decreased from 6.3% to 3.8% of hospitalizations over 10 years. From 2017-2021, 67,830 encounters with CVAD were identified. Median age was 7 (IQR 2-13) years; 46% were female. Significant variation in CVAD utilization exists (range 1.4-16.9%). Rates of CLABSI and VTE were 4.0% and 3.4%, respectively. Survey responses from 33/41 (80%) hospitals showed 91% had vascular access teams, 30% used vascular access selection guides, and 70% used midline/long peripheral catheters. Low CVAD users were more likely to have a team guiding device selection (100% vs 43%, p = 0.026)., Conclusions: CVAD utilization decreased over time. Significant variation in CVAD use remains and may be associated with hospital resources., Impact: Central venous access device (CVAD) use outside of the ICU is trending down; however, significant variation exists between institutions. Children with CVADs hospitalized on the acute care units had a CLABSI rate of 4% and VTE rate of 3.4%. 91% of surveyed institutions have a vascular access team; however, the services provided vary between institutions. Even though 70% of the surveyed institutions have the ability to place midline/long peripheral catheters, the majority use these catheters less than a few times per month. Institutions with low CVAD use are more likely to have a vascular access team that guides device selection., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to the International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.)

Importance: There is a lack of randomized clinical trial (RCT) data to guide many routine decisions in the care of children hospitalized for common conditions. A first step in addressing the shortage of RCTs for this population is to identify the most pressing RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions., Objective: To identify the most important and feasible RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions., Design, Setting, and Participants: For this consensus statement, a 3-stage modified Delphi process was used in a virtual conference series spanning January 1 to September 29, 2022. Forty-six individuals from 30 different institutions participated in the process. Stage 1 involved construction of RCT questions for the 10 most common pediatric conditions leading to hospitalization. Participants used condition-specific guidelines and reviews from a structured literature search to inform their development of RCT questions. During stage 2, RCT questions were refined and scored according to importance. Stage 3 incorporated public comment and feasibility with the prioritization of RCT questions., Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was RCT questions framed in a PICO (population, intervention, control, and outcome) format and ranked according to importance and feasibility; score choices ranged from 1 to 9, with higher scores indicating greater importance and feasibility., Results: Forty-six individuals (38 who shared demographic data; 24 women [63%]) from 30 different institutions participated in our modified Delphi process. Participants included children's hospital (n = 14) and community hospital (n = 13) pediatricians, parents of hospitalized children (n = 4), other clinicians (n = 2), biostatisticians (n = 2), and other researchers (n = 11). The process yielded 62 unique RCT questions, most of which are pragmatic, comparing interventions in widespread use for which definitive effectiveness data are lacking. Overall scores for importance and feasibility of the RCT questions ranged from 1 to 9, with a median of 5 (IQR, 4-7). Six of the top 10 selected questions focused on determining optimal antibiotic regimens for 3 common infections (pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and cellulitis)., Conclusions and Relevance: This consensus statementhas identified the most important and feasible RCT questions for children hospitalized with common conditions. This list of RCT questions can guide investigators and funders in conducting impactful trials to improve care and outcomes for hospitalized children.

Importance: Most children's hospitals have adopted weight-based high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) bronchiolitis protocols for use outside of the intensive care unit (ICU) setting. Whether these protocols are achieving their goal of reducing bronchiolitis-related ICU admissions remains unknown., Objective: To measure the association between hospital transition to weight-based non-ICU HFNC use and subsequent ICU admission., Design, Setting, and Participants: This multicenter retrospective cohort study was conducted with a controlled interrupted time series approach and involved 18 children's hospitals that contribute data to the Pediatric Health Information Systems database. The cohort included patients aged 0 to 24 months who were hospitalized with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2021. Data were analyzed from July 2023 to January 2024., Exposure: Hospital-level transition from ICU-only to weight-based non-ICU protocol for HFNC use. Data for the ICU-only group were obtained from a previously published survey., Main Outcomes and Measures: Proportion of patients with bronchiolitis admitted to the ICU., Results: A total of 86 046 patients with bronchiolitis received care from 10 hospitals in the ICU-only group (n = 47 336; 27 850 males [58.8%]; mean [SD] age, 7.6 [6.2] years) and 8 hospitals in the weight-based protocol group (n = 38 710; 22 845 males [59.0%]; mean [SD] age, 7.7 [6.3] years). Mean age and sex were similar for patients between the 2 groups. Hospitals in the ICU-only group vs the weight-based protocol group had higher proportions of Black (26.2% vs 19.8%) and non-Hispanic (81.6% vs 63.8%) patients and patients with governmental insurance (68.1% vs 65.9%). Hospital transition to a weight-based HFNC protocol was associated with a 6.1% (95% CI, 8.7%-3.4%) decrease per year in ICU admission and a 1.5% (95% CI, 2.8%-0.1%) reduction per year in noninvasive positive pressure ventilation use compared with the ICU-only group. No differences in mean length of stay or the proportion of patients who received invasive mechanical ventilation were found between groups., Conclusions and Relevance: Results of this cohort study of hospitalized patients with bronchiolitis suggest that transition from ICU-only to weight-based non-ICU HFNC protocols is associated with reduced ICU admission rates.

Importance: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children, but the population incidence is largely unknown. Controversy surrounds the optimal diagnostic criteria and how to balance the risks of undertreatment and overtreatment. Changes in health care use during the COVID-19 pandemic created a natural experiment to examine health care use and UTI diagnosis and outcomes., Objectives: To examine the population incidence of UTI in children and assess the changes of the COVID-19 pandemic regarding UTI diagnoses and measures of UTI severity., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective observational cohort study used US commercial claims data from privately insured patients aged 0 to 17 years from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2021., Exposure: Time periods included prepandemic (January 1, 2016, to February 29, 2020), early pandemic (April 1 to June 30, 2020), and midpandemic (July 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021)., Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was the incidence of UTI, defined as having a UTI diagnosis code with an accompanying antibiotic prescription. Balancing measures included measures of UTI severity, including hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions. Trends were evaluated using an interrupted time-series analysis., Results: The cohort included 13 221 117 enrollees aged 0 to 17 years, with males representing 6 744 250 (51.0%) of the population. The mean incidence of UTI diagnoses was 1.300 (95% CI, 1.296-1.304) UTIs per 100 patient-years. The UTI incidence was 0.86 per 100 patient-years at age 0 to 1 year, 1.58 per 100 patient-years at 2 to 5 years, 1.24 per 100 patient-years at 6 to 11 years, and 1.37 per 100 patient-years at 12 to 17 years, and was higher in females vs males (2.48 [95% CI, 2.46-2.50] vs 0.180 [95% CI, 0.178-0.182] per 100 patient-years). Compared with prepandemic trends, UTIs decreased in the early pandemic: -33.1% (95% CI, -39.4% to -26.1%) for all children and -52.1% (95% CI, -62.1% to -39.5%) in a subgroup of infants aged 60 days or younger. However, all measures of UTI severity decreased or were not significantly different. The UTI incidence returned to near prepandemic rates (-4.3%; 95% CI, -32.0% to 34.6% for all children) after the first 3 months of the pandemic., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, UTI diagnosis decreased during the early pandemic period without an increase in measures of disease severity, suggesting that reduced overdiagnosis and/or reduced misdiagnosis may be an explanatory factor.

Background and Objectives: Longitudinal pediatric low-value care (LVC) trends are not well established. We used the Pediatric Health Information System LVC Calculator, which measures utilization of 30 nonevidenced-based services, to report 7-year LVC trends., Methods: This retrospective cohort study applied the LVC Calculator to emergency department (ED) and hospital encounters from January 1, 2016, to December 31, 2022. We used generalized estimating equation models accounting for hospital clustering to assess temporal changes in LVC., Results: There were 5 265 153 eligible ED encounters and 1 301 613 eligible hospitalizations. In 2022, of 21 LVC measures applicable to the ED cohort, the percentage of encounters with LVC had increased for 11 measures, decreased for 1, and remained unchanged for 9 as compared with 2016. Computed tomography for minor head injury had the largest increase (17%-23%; P < .001); bronchodilators for bronchiolitis decreased (22%-17%; P = .001). Of 26 hospitalization measures, LVC increased for 6 measures, decreased for 9, and was unchanged for 11. Inflammatory marker testing for pneumonia had the largest increase (23%-38%; P = .003); broad-spectrum antibiotic use for pneumonia had the largest decrease (60%-48%; P < .001). LVC remained unchanged or decreased for most medication and procedure measures, but remained unchanged or increased for most laboratory and imaging measures., Conclusions: LVC improved for a minority of services between 2016 and 2022. Trends were more favorable for therapeutic (medications and procedures) than diagnostic measures (imaging and laboratory studies). These data may inform prioritization of deimplementation efforts., (Copyright © 2024 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Objectives: A broad understanding of the scope of birth hospitalizations in the United States is lacking. We aimed to describe the demographics and location of birth hospitalizations in the United States and rank the most common and costly conditions documented during birth hospitalizations., Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2019 Kids' Inpatient Database, a nationally-representative administrative database of pediatric discharges. All hospitalizations with the indicator "in-hospital birth" and any categorized by the Pediatric Clinical Classification System as "liveborn" were included. Discharge-level survey weights were used to generate nationally-representative estimates. Primary and secondary conditions coded during birth hospitalizations were categorized using the Pediatric Clinical Classification System, rank-ordered by total prevalence and total marginal costs (calculated using design-adjusted lognormal regression)., Results: In 2019, there were an estimated 5 299 557 pediatric hospitalizations in the US and 67% (n = 3 551 253) were for births, totaling $18.1 billion in cost. Most occurred in private, nonprofit hospitals (n = 2 646 685; 74.5%). Prevalent conditions associated with birth admissions included specified conditions originating in the perinatal period (eg, pregnancy complications, complex births) (n = 1 021 099; 28.8%), neonatal hyperbilirubinemia (n = 540 112; 15.2%), screening or risk for infectious disease (n = 417 421; 11.8%), and preterm newborn (n = 314 288; 8.9%). Conditions with the highest total marginal costs included specified conditions originating in perinatal period ($168.7 million) and neonatal jaundice with preterm delivery ($136.1 million)., Conclusions: Our study details common and costly areas of focus for future quality improvement and research efforts to improve care during term and preterm infant birth hospitalizations. These include hyperbilirubinemia, infectious disease screening, and perinatal complications., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Objectives: To describe the current state of non-ICU high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) protocols at children's hospitals and explore associations between HFNC protocol type and utilization outcomes., Methods: We performed a cross-sectional study of the Pediatric Health Information Systems (PHIS) database. First, we designed a survey with the purpose of classifying HFNC protocols used at hospitals currently contributing data to PHIS. Next, we categorized hospitals based on their current HFNC protocol (ICU only, age-based non-ICU, or weight-based non-ICU). Finally, using the PHIS database, we compared hospital characteristics and patient-level bronchiolitis outcomes by HFNC protocol group., Results: We received survey responses from 36 of 44 (82%) hospitals contributing data to PHIS in 2021. During the time period studied, there was a steady increase in adoption of non-ICU HFNC protocols, with 71% of responding children's hospitals reporting non-ICU HFNC protocols in 2021 compared with 11% before 2010. No differences in hospital characteristics were observed between ICU-only hospitals, age-based hospitals, or weight-based hospitals. Age-based hospitals had the highest proportion of bronchiolitis patients treated in the ICU (36.1%), whereas weight-based hospitals had the lowest proportion of patients treated in the ICU (21.0%, P < .001). Length of stay was longer at age-based hospitals (2.9 days) as compared with weight-based and ICU-only hospitals (1.9 days, P < .001)., Conclusions: Most children's hospitals have adopted non-ICU HFNC protocols for patients with bronchiolitis, the majority of which are now utilizing weight-based maximum flow rates. Weight-based HFNC protocols were associated with decreased ICU utilization compared with age-based HFNC protocols., (Copyright © 2023 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Objectives: Healthcare utilization decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic, likely due to reduced transmission of infections and healthcare avoidance. Though various investigations have described these changing patterns in children, most have analyzed specific care settings. We compared healthcare utilization, prescriptions, and diagnosis patterns in children across the care continuum during the first year of the pandemic with preceding years., Study Design: Using national claims data, we compared enrollees under 18 years during the pre-pandemic (January 2016 -mid-March 2020) and pandemic (mid-March 2020 through March 2021) periods. The pandemic was further divided into early (mid-March through mid-June 2020) and middle (mid-June 2020 through March 2021) periods. Utilization was compared using interrupted time series., Results: The mean number of pediatric enrollees/month was 2,519,755 in the pre-pandemic and 2,428,912 in the pandemic period. Utilization decreased across all settings in the early pandemic, with the greatest decrease (76.9%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 72.6-80.5%) seen for urgent care visits. Only well visits returned to pre-pandemic rates during the mid-pandemic. Hospitalizations decreased by 43% (95% CI 37.4-48.1) during the early pandemic and were still 26.6% (17.7-34.6) lower mid-pandemic. However, hospitalizations in non-psychiatric facilities for various mental health disorders increased substantially mid-pandemic., Conclusion: Healthcare utilization in children dropped substantially during the first year of the pandemic, with a shift away from infectious diseases and a spike in mental health hospitalizations. These findings are important to characterize as we monitor the health of children, can be used to inform healthcare strategies during subsequent COVID-19 surges and/or future pandemics, and may help identify training gaps for pediatric trainees. Subsequent investigations should examine how changes in healthcare utilization impacted the incidence and outcomes of specific diseases., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Although the number of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published each year involving adult populations is steadily rising, the annual number of RCTs published involving pediatric populations has not changed since 2005. Barriers to the broader utilization of RCTs in pediatrics include a lower prevalence of disease, less available funding, and more complicated regulatory requirements. Although child health researchers have been successful in overcoming these barriers for isolated diseases such as pediatric cancer, common pediatric diseases are underrepresented in RCTs relative to their burden. This article proposes a strategy called High-Efficiency RandOmIzed Controlled (HEROIC) trials to increase RCTs focused on common diseases among hospitalized children. HEROIC trials are multicenter RCTs that pursue the rapid, low-cost accumulation of study participants with minimal burden for individual sites. Five key strategies distinguish HEROIC trials: (1) dispersed low-volume recruitment, in which a large number of sites (50-150 hospitals) enroll a small number of participants per site (2-10 participants per site), (2) incentivizing site leads with authorship, training, education credits, and modest financial support, (3) a focus on pragmatic questions that examine simple, widely used interventions, (4) the use of a single institutional review board, integrated consent, and other efficient solutions to regulatory requirements, and (5) scaling the HEROIC trial strategy to accomplish multiple trials simultaneously. HEROIC trials can boost RCT feasibility and volume to answer fundamental clinical questions and improve care for hospitalized children., (Copyright © 2022 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: The authors have indicated they have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Objectives: Describe the prevalence of different care models for children with Kawasaki disease (KD) and evaluate utilization and cardiac outcomes by care model., Methods: Multicenter, retrospective cohort study of children aged 0 to 18 hospitalized with KD in US children's hospitals from 2017 to 2018. We classified hospital model of care via survey: hospitalist primary service with as-needed consultation (Model 1), hospitalist primary service with automatic consultation (Model 2), or subspecialist primary service (Model 3). Additional data sources included administrative data from the Pediatric Health Information System database supplemented by a 6-site chart review. Utilization outcomes included laboratory, medication and imaging usage, length of stay, and readmission rates. We measured the frequency of coronary artery aneurysms (CAAs) in the full cohort and new CAAs within 12 weeks in the 6-site chart review subset., Results: We included 2080 children from 44 children's hospitals; 21 hospitals (48%) identified as Model 1, 19 (43%) as Model 2, and 4 (9%) as Model 3. Model 1 institutions obtained more laboratory tests and had lower overall costs (P < .001), whereas echocardiogram (P < .001) and immune modulator use (P < .001) were more frequent in Model 3. Secondary outcomes, including length of stay, readmission rates, emergency department revisits, CAA frequency, receipt of anticoagulation, and postdischarge CAA development, did not differ among models., Conclusions: Modest cost and utilization differences exist among different models of care for KD without significant differences in outcomes. Further research is needed to investigate primary service and consultation practices for KD to optimize health care value and outcomes., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Competing Interests: FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE: The authors have indicated they have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

This update on pediatric medical overuse identifies and provides concise summaries of 10 impactful articles related to pediatric medical overuse from the years 2019 to 2020., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES: The authors have indicated they have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose., (Copyright © 2022 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Importance: The scope of low-value care in children's hospitals is poorly understood., Objective: To develop and apply a calculator of hospital-based pediatric low-value care to estimate prevalence and cost of low-value services., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study developed and applied a calculator of hospital-based pediatric low-value care to estimate the prevalence and cost of low-value services among 1 011 950 encounters reported in 49 US children's hospitals contributing to the Pediatric Health Information System (PHIS) database. To develop the calculator, a multidisciplinary stakeholder group searched existing pediatric low-value care measures and used an iterative process to identify and operationalize relevant hospital-based measures in the PHIS database. Children with an eligible encounter in 2019 were included in the calculator-applied analysis. Two cohorts were analyzed: an emergency department cohort (with encounters resulting in emergency department discharge) and a hospitalized cohort., Exposures: Eligible condition-specific hospital encounters., Main Outcomes and Measures: The proportion and volume of encounters in which low-value services were delivered and their associated standardized costs. Measures were ranked by those outcomes., Results: There were 1 011 950 encounters eligible for 1 or more of 30 calculator-included measures in 2019; encounters were incurred by 816 098 unique patients with a median age of 3 years (IQR, 1-8 years). In the emergency department cohort, low-value services delivered in the greatest percentage of encounters were Group A streptococcal testing among children younger than 3 years with pharyngitis (3679 of 9785 [37.6%]), computed tomography scan for minor head injury (7541 of 42 602 [17.7%]), and bronchodilators for treatment of bronchiolitis (8899 of 55 616 [16.0%]). In the hospitalized cohort, low-value care was most prevalent for broad-spectrum antibiotics in the treatment of community-acquired pneumonia (3406 of 5658 [60.2%]), acid suppression therapy for infants with esophageal reflux (3814 of 7507 of [50.8%]), and blood cultures for uncomplicated community-acquired pneumonia (2277 of 5823 [39.1%]). Measured low-value services generated nearly $17 million in total standardized cost. The costliest services in the emergency department cohort were computed tomography scan for abdominal pain (approximately $1.8 million) and minor head injury (approximately $1.5 million) and chest radiography for asthma (approximately $1.1 million). The costliest services in the hospitalized cohort were receipt of 2 or more concurrent antipsychotics (approximately $2.4 million), and chest radiography for bronchiolitis ($801 680) and asthma ($625 866)., Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional analysis found that low-value care for some pediatric services was prevalent and costly. Measuring receipt of low-value services across conditions informs prioritization of deimplementation efforts. Continued use of this calculator may establish trends in low-value care delivery.

Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose.

Importance: Increasing hospital costs for bronchiolitis have been associated with increasing patient complexity and mechanical ventilation. However, the associations of illness severity and diagnostic coding practices with bronchiolitis hospitalization costs have not been examined., Objective: To investigate the association of patient complexity, illness severity, and diagnostic coding practices with bronchiolitis hospitalization costs., Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 385 883 infants aged 24 months or younger who were hospitalized with bronchiolitis at 39 hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database from January 1, 2010, to December 31, 2019., Exposure: Hospitalization for bronchiolitis., Main Outcomes and Measures: Inflation-adjusted standardized unit cost (expressed in dollar units) per hospitalization over time. A nested subgroup analysis was performed to further examine factors associated with changes in cost., Results: A total of 385 883 bronchiolitis hospitalizations were studied; the patients had a mean (SD) age of 7.5 (6.4) months and included 227 309 of 385 883 boys (58.9%) and 253 870 of 385 883 publicly insured patients (65.8%). Among patients hospitalized with bronchiolitis, the median standardized unit cost per hospitalization increased significantly during the study period (from $5636 [95% CI, $5558-$5714] in 2010 to $6973 [95% CI, $6915-$7030] in 2019; P < .001 for trend). Similar increases in cost were observed among subgroups of patients without a complex chronic condition and without the need for mechanical ventilation. However, costs for patients without a complex chronic condition or mechanical ventilation, who received care outside the intensive care unit did not change in an economically significant manner (from $4803 [95% CI, $4752-$4853] in 2010 to $4853 [95% CI, $4811-$4895] in 2019; P < .001 for trend), suggesting that intensive care unit use was a primary factor associated with cost increases. Substantial changes in coding practices were observed. Among patients hospitalized with bronchiolitis, 1.2% (95% CI, 1.1%-1.3%) were assigned an APR-DRG (All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Group) for respiratory failure in 2010, which increased to 21.6% (95% CI, 21.2%-21.9%) in 2019 (P < .001 for trend). Increased costs and coding intensity were not accompanied by objective evidence of worsening illness severity., Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional study suggests that hospitalized children with bronchiolitis are receiving costlier and more intensive care without objective evidence of increasing severity of illness. Changes in coding practices may complicate efforts to study trends in the use of health care resources using administrative data.

Objectives: To determine if the implementation of a weight-based high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) protocol for infants with bronchiolitis was associated with improved outcomes, including decreased ICU use., Methods: We implemented a weight-based HFNC protocol across a tertiary care children's hospital and 2 community hospitals that admit pediatric patients on HFNC. We included all patients who were <2 years old and had a discharge diagnosis of bronchiolitis or viral pneumonia during the preimplementation (November 2013 to April 2018) and postimplementation (November 2018 to April 2020) respiratory seasons. Data were analyzed by using an interrupted time series approach. The primary outcome measure was the proportion of patients treated in the ICU. Patients with a complex chronic condition were excluded., Results: Implementation of the weight-based HFNC protocol was associated with an immediate absolute decrease in ICU use of 4.0%. We also observed a 6.2% per year decrease in the slope of ICU admissions pre- versus postintervention. This was associated with an immediate reduction in median cost per bronchiolitis encounter of $661, a 2.3% immediate absolute reduction in the proportion of patients who received noninvasive ventilation, and a 3.4% immediate absolute reduction in the proportion of patients who received HFNC., Conclusions: A multicenter, weight-based HFNC protocol was associated with decreased ICU use and noninvasive ventilation use. In hospitals where HFNC is used in non-ICU units, weight-based approaches may lead to improved resource use., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2021 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Background: We implemented an observation unit and home oxygen therapy (OU-HOT) protocol at our children's hospital during the 2010-2011 winter season to facilitate earlier discharge of children hospitalized with bronchiolitis. An earlier study demonstrated substantial reductions in inpatient length of stay and costs in the first year after implementation., Objective: Evaluate long-term reductions in length of stay and cost., Design, Setting, and Participants: Interrupted time-series analysis, adjusting for patient demographic factors and disease severity. Participants were children aged 3 to 24 months and hospitalized with bronchiolitis from 2007 to 2019., Intervention: OU-HOT protocol implementation., Main Outcome and Measures: Hospital length of stay. Process measures were the percentage of patients discharged from the OU; percentage of patients discharged with HOT. Balancing measures were 7-day hospital revisit rates; annual per-population bronchiolitis admission rates. Secondary outcomes were inflation-adjusted cost per episode of care and discharges within 24 hours., Results: A total of 7,116 patients met inclusion criteria. The OU-HOT protocol was associated with immediate decreases in mean length of stay (-30.6 hours; 95% CI, -37.1 to -24.2 hours) and mean cost per episode of care (-$4,181; 95% CI, -$4,829 to -$3,533). These findings were sustained for 9 years after implementation. Hospital revisit rates did not increase immediately (-1.1% immediate change; 95% CI, -1.8% to -0.4%), but a small increase in revisits was observed over time (change in slope 0.4% per season, 95% CI, 0.1%-0.8%)., Conclusion: The OU-HOT protocol was associated with sustained reductions in length of stay and cost, representing a promising strategy to reduce the inpatient burden of bronchiolitis.

Objective: The aim was to analyze the impact of decreased head computed tomography (CT) imaging on detection of abnormalities and outcomes for children with isolated head trauma., Methods: The study involves a multicenter retrospective cohort of patients younger than 19 years presenting for isolated head trauma to emergency departments in the Pediatric Health Information System database from 2003 to 2015. Patients directly admitted or transferred to another facility and those with a discharge diagnosis code for child maltreatment were excluded. Outcomes were ascertained from administrative and billing data. Trends were tested using mixed effects logistic regression, accounting for clustering within hospitals and adjusted for age, sex, insurance type, race, presence of a complex chronic condition, and hospital-level case mix index., Results: Between 2003 and 2015, 306,041 children presented for isolated head trauma. The proportion of children receiving head CT imaging was increasing until 2008, peaking at just under 40%, before declining to 25% by 2015. During the recent period of decreased head CT imaging, the detection of skull fractures (odds ratio [OR]/year, 0.96; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.95-0.97) and intracranial bleeds (OR/year, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.94-0.97), hospitalization (OR/year, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.95-0.96), neurosurgery (OR/year, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.95), and revisit (OR/year, 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96-1.00) also decreased, without significant changes in mortality (OR/year, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.84-1.04) or persistent neurologic impairment (OR/year, 1.03; 95% CI, 0.92-1.15)., Conclusions: The recent decline in CT scanning in children with isolated head trauma was associated with a reduction in detection of intracranial abnormalities, and a concomitant decrease in interventions, without measurable patient harm., Competing Interests: Disclosure: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (Copyright © 2018 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.)

Children with complicated appendicitis, osteomyelitis, and complicated pneumonia have historically been treated with postdischarge intravenous antibiotics (PD-IV) using peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs). Recent studies have shown no advantage and increased complications of PD-IV, compared with oral therapy, and the extent to which use of PD-IV has since changed for these conditions is not known. We used a national children's hospital database to evaluate trends in PD-IV during 2000-2018 for each of these three conditions. PD-IV decreased from 13% to 2% (risk ratio [RR], 0.15; 95% CI, 0.14-0.16) for complicated appendicitis, 61% to 22% (RR, 0.41; 95% CI, 0.39-0.43) for osteomyelitis, and 29% to 19% (RR, 0.63; 95% CI, 0.58-0.69) for complicated pneumonia. Despite these overall reductions, substantial variation in PD-IV use by hospital remains in 2018.

Background: Bronchiolitis is often described to follow an expected clinical trajectory, with a peak in severity between days 3 and 5. This predicted trajectory may influence anticipatory guidance and clinical decision-making. We aimed to determine the association between day of illness at admission and outcomes, including hospital length of stay, receipt of positive-pressure ventilation, and total cough duration., Methods: We compiled data from 2 multicenter prospective studies involving bronchiolitis hospitalizations in patients <2 years. Patients were excluded for complex conditions. We assessed total cough duration via weekly postdischarge phone calls. We used mixed-effects multivariable regression models to test associations between day of illness and outcomes, with adjustment for age, sex, insurance (government versus nongovernment), race, and ethnicity., Results: The median (interquartile range) day of illness at admission for 746 patients was 4 (2-5) days. Day of illness at admission was not associated with length of stay (coefficient 0.01 days, 95% confidence interval [CI]: -0.05 to 0.08 days), positive-pressure ventilation (adjusted odds ratio: 1.0, 95% CI: 0.9 to 1.1), or total cough duration (coefficient 0.33 days, 95% CI: -0.01 to 0.67 days). Additionally, there was no significant difference in day of illness at discharge in readmitted versus nonreadmitted patients (5.9 vs 6.4 days, P = .54). The median cough duration postdischarge was 6 days, with 65 (14.3%) patients experiencing cough for 14+ days., Conclusions: We found no associations between day of illness at admission and outcomes in bronchiolitis hospitalizations. Practitioners should exercise caution when making clinical decisions or providing anticipatory guidance based on symptom duration., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Importance: Posthospitalization follow-up visits are prescribed frequently for children with bronchiolitis. The rationale for this practice is unclear, but prior work has indicated that families value these visits for the reassurance provided. The overall risks and benefits of scheduled visits have not been evaluated., Objective: To assess whether an as-needed posthospitalization follow-up visit is noninferior to a scheduled posthospitalization follow-up visit with respect to reducing anxiety among parents of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis., Design, Setting, and Participants: This open-label, noninferiority randomized clinical trial, performed between January 1, 2018, and April 31, 2019, assessed children younger than 24 months of age hospitalized for bronchiolitis at 2 children's hospitals (Primary Children's Hospital, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, California) and 2 community hospitals (Intermountain Riverton Hospital, Riverton, Utah, and Packard El Camino Hospital, Mountain View, California). Data analysis was performed in an intention-to-treat manner., Interventions: Randomization (1:1) to a scheduled (n = 151) vs an as-needed (n = 153) posthospitalization follow-up visit., Main Outcome and Measures: The primary outcome was parental anxiety 7 days after hospital discharge, measured using the anxiety portion of the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, which ranged from 0 to 28 points, with higher scores indicating greater anxiety. Fourteen prespecified secondary outcomes were assessed., Results: Among 304 children randomized (median age, 8 months; interquartile range, 3-14 months; 179 [59%] male), the primary outcome was available for 269 patients (88%). A total of 106 children (81%) in the scheduled follow-up group attended a scheduled posthospitalization visit compared with 26 children (19%) in the as-needed group (absolute difference, 62%; 95% CI, 53%-71%). The mean (SD) 7-day parental anxiety score was 3.9 (3.5) among the as-needed posthospitalization follow-up group and 4.2 (3.5) among the scheduled group (absolute difference, -0.3 points; 95% CI, -1.0 to 0.4 points), with the upper bound of the 95% CI within the prespecified noninferiority margin of 1.1 points. Aside from a decreased mean number of clinic visits (absolute difference, -0.6 visits per patient; 95% CI, -0.4 to -0.8 visits per patient) among the as-needed group, there were no significant between-group differences in secondary outcomes, including readmissions (any hospital readmission before symptom resolution: absolute difference, -1.6%; 95% CI, -5.7% to 2.5%) and symptom duration (time from discharge to cough resolution: absolute difference, -0.6 days; 95% CI, -2.4 to 1.2 days; time from discharge to child reported "back to normal": absolute difference, -0.8 days; 95% CI, -2.7 to 1.0 days; and time from discharge to symptom resolution: absolute difference, -0.6 days; 95% CI, -2.5 to 1.3 days)., Conclusions and Relevance: Among parents of children hospitalized for bronchiolitis, an as-needed posthospitalization follow-up visit is noninferior to a scheduled posthospitalization follow-up visit with respect to reducing parental anxiety. These findings support as-needed follow-up as an effective posthospitalization follow-up strategy., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03354325.

Background: Because of the impact of continuous pulse oximetry (CPOX) on the overdiagnosis of hypoxemia in bronchiolitis, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Choosing Wisely campaign have issued recommendations for intermittent monitoring. Parental preferences for monitoring may impact adoption of these recommendations, but these perspectives are poorly understood., Methods: Using this cross-sectional survey, we explored parental perspectives on CPOX monitoring before discharge and 1 week after bronchiolitis hospitalizations. During the 1-week call, half of the participants were randomly assigned to receive a verbal statement on the potential harms of CPOX to determine if conveying the concept of overdiagnosis can change parental preferences on monitoring frequency. An aggregate variable measuring favorable perceptions of CPOX was created to determine CPOX affinity predictors., Results: In-hospital interviews were completed on 357 patients, of which 306 (86%) completed the 1-week follow-up. Although 25% of parents agreed or strongly agreed that hospital monitors made them feel anxious, 98% agreed that the monitors were helpful. Compared to other vital signs, respiratory rate (87%) and oxygen saturation (84%) were commonly rated as "extremely important." Providing an educational statement on CPOX comparatively decreased parental desire for continuous monitoring (40% vs 20%; P < .001). Although there were no significant predictors of CPOX affinity, the effect size of the educational intervention was higher in college-educated parents., Conclusions: Parents find security in CPOX. A brief statement on the potential harms of CPOX use had an impact on stated monitoring preferences. Parental perspectives are important to consider because they may influence the adoption of intermittent monitoring., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2020 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Background: Hospitals are increasingly adopting ward-based high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) protocols that allow HFNC treatment of bronchiolitis outside of the intensive care unit (ICU). Our objective was to determine whether adoption of a ward-based HFNC protocol reduces ICU utilization., Methods: We examined a retrospective cohort of infants aged 3 to 24 months hospitalized with bronchiolitis at hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database. The study exposure was adoption of a ward-based HFNC protocol, measured by direct contact with pediatric hospital medicine leaders at each hospital. All analyses utilized an interrupted time series approach. The primary analysis compared outcomes three respiratory seasons before and three respiratory seasons after HFNC adoption, among adopting hospitals. Supplementary analysis 1 mirrored the primary analysis with the exception that the first season after adoption was censored. In supplementary analysis 2, effects among nonadopting hospitals were subtracted from effects measured among adopting hospitals., Results: Of 44 contacted hospitals, 41 replied (93% response rate), of which 18 were categorized as non-adopting hospitals and 12 were categorized as adopting hospitals. Included ward-based HFNC protocols were adopted between the 2010-2011 and 2015-2016 respiratory seasons. The primary analysis included 26,253 bronchiolitis encounters and measured immediate increases in the proportion of patients admitted to the ICU (absolute difference, 3.1%; 95% CI, 2.8%-3.4%) and ICU length of stay (absolute difference, 9.1 days per 100 patients; 95% CI, 5.1-13.2). Both supplementary analyses yielded similar findings., Conclusion: Early protocols for ward-based HFNC were paradoxically associated with increased ICU utilization.

Importance: Medical overuse is common in pediatrics and may lead to unnecessary care, resource use, and patient harm. Timely scrutiny of established and emerging practices can identify areas of overuse and empower clinicians to reconsider the balance of harms and benefits of the medical care that they provide. A literature review was conducted to identify the most important areas of pediatric medical overuse in 2018., Observations: Consistent with prior methods, a structured MEDLINE search and manual table of contents review of selected pediatric journals for the 2018 literature was conducted identifying articles pertaining to pediatric medical overuse. The structured MEDLINE search consisted of a PubMed search for articles with the Medical Subject Headings term health services misuse or medical overuse or article titles containing the term unnecessary, inappropriate, overutilization, or overuse. Articles containing the term overuse injury or overuse injuries were excluded, along with articles not published in English and those not constituting original research. The same search was performed using Embase with the additional Emtree term unnecessary procedure. Each article was evaluated by 3 independent raters for quality of methods, magnitude of potential harm, and number of patients potentially harmed. Ten articles were identified based on scores and appraisal of overall potential harm. This year's review identified both established and emerging practices that may warrant deimplementation. Examples of such established practices include antibiotic prophylaxis for urinary tract infections, routine opioid prescriptions, prolonged antibiotic courses for latent tuberculosis, and routine intensive care admission and pharmacologic therapy for neonatal abstinence syndrome. Emerging practices that merit greater inspection and discouragement of widespread adoption include postdischarge nurse-led home visits, probiotics for gastroenteritis, and intensive cardiac screening programs for athletes., Conclusions and Relevance: This year's review highlights established and emerging practices that represent medical overuse in the pediatric setting. Deimplementation of disproven practices and careful examination of emerging practices are imperative to prevent unnecessary resource use and patient harm.

Importance: Medical overuse is an important cause of patient harm and medical waste., Observation: This structured literature review of English-language articles supplemented by examination of tables of contents of high-impact journals published in 2018 identified articles related to medical overuse. Articles were appraised for their methodologic quality, clinical relevance, and influence on patients. Of 1499 candidate articles, 839 addressed medical overuse. Of these, 117 were deemed to be most significant, with the 10 highest-ranking articles selected by author consensus. The most important articles on medical overuse identified issues with testing, including that procalcitonin does not affect antibiotic duration in patients with lower respiratory tract infection (4.2 vs 4.3 days); incidentalomas are present in 22% to 38% of common magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography studies; 9% of women dying of stage IV cancer are still screened with mammography; and computed tomography lung cancer screening offers stable benefit and higher rates of harm for patients at lower risk. Articles related to overtreatment reported that urgent care clinics commonly overprescribe antibiotics (in 39% of all visits, patients received antibiotics) and that treatment of subclinical hypothyroidism had no effect on clinical outcomes. Three studies highlighted services that should be questioned, including using opioids for chronic noncancer pain (meta-analysis found no clinically significant benefit), stress ulcer prophylaxis for intensive care unit patients (mortality, 31.1% with pantoprazole vs 30.4% with placebo), and supplemental oxygen for patients with normal oxygen levels (mortality relative risk, 1.21; 95% CI, 1.03-1.43). A policy article found that state medical liability reform was associated with reduced invasive testing for coronary artery disease, including 24% fewer angiograms., Conclusions and Relevance: The findings suggest that many tests are overused, overtreatment is common, and unnecessary care can lead to patient harm. This review of these 2018 findings aims to inform practitioners who wish to reduce overuse and improve patient care.

Importance: Efforts to combat medical overuse have gained traction in recent years, but success has been intermittent and shortcomings have been recognized. A commitment to a strong evidence base is needed to more broadly engage clinicians and reduce overuse., Observations: A structured MEDLINE search and a manual review of tables of contents from selected high-impact journals was performed to identify original research published in 2017 relevant to pediatric overuse. Articles were scored from low to high for 3 categories: quality of methods, magnitude of potential harm, and number of patients potentially harmed. The top-scoring articles presented in this review highlight examples of safe reductions in treatment intensity, including in the setting of cancer, appendicitis, acute respiratory tract infection, and elective anesthesia. This year's articles also provide cautionary examples of rational interventions adopted without a full understanding of potential harms, including pharmacologic migraine therapies, docosahexaenoic acid supplementation for preterm neonates, tight glycemic control for individuals with critically illness, and prophylactic antibiotics for children with vesicoureteral reflux., Conclusions and Relevance: The articles represent high-quality, original research from 2017 that may help mitigate overuse. These works should be fundamental to the maturation of the pediatric overuse field.

Importance: Overuse of medical care is a well-recognized problem in health care, associated with patient harm and costs. We sought to identify and highlight original research articles published in 2017 that are most relevant to understanding medical overuse., Observations: A structured review of English-language articles published in 2017 was performed, coupled with examination of tables of contents of high-impact journals to identify articles related to medical overuse in adult care. Manuscripts were appraised for their quality, clinical relevance, and impact. A total of 1446 articles were identified, 910 of which addressed medical overuse. Of these, 111 articles were deemed to be the most relevant based on originality, methodologic quality, and scope. The 10 most influential articles were selected by author consensus. Findings included that unnecessary electrocardiograms are common (performed in 22% of patients at low risk) and can lead to a cascade of services, lipid monitoring rarely affects care, patients who were overdiagnosed with cancer experienced anxiety and criticism about not seeking treatment, calcium and vitamin D supplementation does not reduce hip fracture (relative risk, 1.09; 95% CI, 0.85-1.39), and pregabalin does not improve symptoms of sciatica but frequently has adverse effects (40% of patients experienced dizziness). Antipsychotic medications increased the severity of delirium in patients receiving hospice care and were associated with an increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.7; P = .003), and robotic-assisted radical nephrectomy was without benefits by being slower and more costly than laparoscopic surgery. High-sensitivity troponin testing often yielded false-positive results, as 16% of patients with positive troponin results in a US hospital had a myocardial infarction. One-third of patients who received a diagnosis of asthma had no evidence of asthma. Restructuring the electronic health record was able to reduce unnecessary testing (from 31.3 to 13.9 low-value tests performed per 100 patient visits)., Conclusions and Relevance: Many current practices were found to represent overuse, with no benefit and potential harms. Other services were used inappropriately. Reviewing these findings and extrapolating to their patients will enable health care professionals to improve the care they provide.

: media-1vid110.1542/5804909691001PEDS-VA&#95;2018-0345 Video Abstract BACKGROUND: Guidelines recommend a prolonged course (10 days) of intravenous (IV) antibiotic therapy for infants with uncomplicated, late-onset group B Streptococcus (GBS) bacteremia. Our objective was to determine the frequency with which shorter IV antibiotic courses are used and to compare rates of GBS disease recurrence between prolonged and shortened IV antibiotic courses., Methods: We performed a multicenter retrospective cohort study of infants aged 7 days to 4 months who were admitted to children's hospitals in the Pediatric Health Information System database from 2000 to 2015 with GBS bacteremia. The exposure was shortened IV antibiotic therapy, defined as discharge from the index GBS visit after a length of stay of ≤8 days without a peripherally inserted central catheter charge. The primary outcome was readmission for GBS bacteremia, meningitis, or osteomyelitis in the first year of life. Outcomes were analyzed by using propensity-adjusted, inverse probability-weighted regression models., Results: Of 775 infants who were diagnosed with uncomplicated, late-onset GBS bacteremia, 612 (79%) received a prolonged IV course of antibiotic therapy, and 163 (21%) received a shortened course. Rates of treatment with shortened IV courses varied by hospital (range: 0%-67%; SD: 20%). Three patients (1.8%) in the shortened IV duration group experienced GBS recurrence, compared with 14 patients (2.3%) in the prolonged IV duration group (adjusted absolute risk difference: -0.2%; 95% confidence interval: -3.0% to 2.5%)., Conclusions: Shortened IV antibiotic courses are prescribed among infants with uncomplicated, late-onset GBS bacteremia, with low rates of disease recurrence and treatment failure., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2018 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

Objective: Compare trends in coronary artery (CA) abnormality diagnoses to trends in adverse cardiac outcomes among American children with Kawasaki disease (KD) to assess the fit of detection of CA abnormalities to an established model of overdiagnosis., Design: Multicenter retrospective cohort., Setting: 48 US children's hospitals in the Paediatric Health Information System database., Participants: Children <18 years receiving care for KD between 2000 and 2014., Main Outcome Measures: The main outcomes were rates of CA abnormality diagnoses and adverse cardiac outcomes, measured during a child's incident KD visit and longitudinally at all subsequent visits to the same hospital, through December 2016. CA abnormalities were considered severe if long-term anticoagulation other than aspirin was prescribed. Trends were tested using mixed effects logistic regression, adjusting for patient demographics., Results: Among 17 809 children treated for KD, a CA abnormality was diagnosed in 1435 children (8%), including 1117 considered non-severe and 318 severe. The rate of non-severe CA abnormality diagnoses increased from 45 per 1000 patients with KD in 2000 to 81 per 1000 patients with KD in 2014, representing an adjusted 2.3-fold increased odds (95% CI 1.8 to 3.0) of diagnosis. There was no significant change in diagnoses of severe CA abnormalities. Adverse cardiac outcomes were stable over the study period at 19 per 1000 patients with KD (P=0.24 for trend)., Conclusions: The rising rate of detection of non-severe CA abnormalities accompanied by an unchanging rate of adverse cardiac outcomes among American children with KD fits an overdiagnosis pattern., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2018. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.)

Importance: Medical overuse has historically focused on adult health care, but interest in how children are affected by medical overuse is increasing. This review examines important research articles published in 2016 that address pediatric overuse., Observations: A structured search of PubMed and a manual review of the tables of contents of 10 journals identified 169 articles related to pediatric overuse published in 2016, from which 8 were selected based on the quality of methods and potential harm to patients in terms of prevalence and magnitude. Articles were categorized by overtreatment, overmedicalization, and overdiagnosis. Findings included evidence of overtreatment with commercial rehydration solution, antidepressants, and parenteral nutrition; overmedicalization with planned early deliveries, immobilization of ankle injuries, and use of hydrolyzed infant formula; and evidence of overdiagnosis of hypoxemia among children recovering from bronchiolitis., Conclusions and Relevance: The articles were of high quality, with most based on randomized clinical trials. The potential harms associated with pediatric overuse were significant, including increased risk of infection, developmental disability, and suicidality.

Importance: Overuse of medical care is a well-recognized problem., Objective: To identify and highlight original research articles published in 2016 that are most relevant to understanding medical overuse or strategies to reduce it., Evidence Review: A structured review of English-language articles on PubMed published in 2016 coupled with examination of tables of contents of high-impact journals to identify articles related to medical overuse in adults. These articles were appraised for their importance to medicine., Findings: This study considered 2252 articles, 1224 of which addressed medical overuse. Of these, 122 were deemed most relevant based on originality, methodologic quality, and number of patients potentially affected. The 10 most influential articles were selected by author consensus. Select findings from the studies include the lack of benefit of transesophageal echocardiography in the workup of cryptogenic stroke, increasing use of computed tomography in the emergency department from 2.2% to 9.4% from 2001 to 2010, and carotid ultrasonography and revascularization being performed for uncertain or inappropriate indications with 95% frequency. Likewise, services for which harms are likely to outweigh benefits include treatment for early-stage prostate cancer, which provides no mortality benefit but increases absolute risk of erectile dysfunction by 10% to 30%, oxygen for patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, surgery for meniscal tear with mechanical symptoms, and nutritional interventions for inpatients with malnutrition. This review highlights 2 methods for reducing overuse: clinician audit and feedback with peer comparison for antibiotic use (reduction in inappropriate antibiotic use from 20% to 4%) and a practical and sensible shared decision-making tool for low-risk chest pain (reduction in emergency department workup from 52% to 37%)., Conclusions and Relevance: The body of empirical work continues to expand related to medical services that are provided for inappropriate or uncertain indications. Engaging patients in conversations aimed at shared decision making and giving practitioners feedback about their performance relative to peers appear to be useful in reducing overuse.

Competing Interests: Competing interests: We have read and understood BMJ policy on declaration of interests and declare that we have no competing interests.

Background and Objective: The number of quality measures has grown dramatically in recent years. This growth has outpaced research characterizing content and impact of these metrics. Our study aimed to identify and classify nationally promoted quality metrics applicable to children, both by type and by content, and to analyze the representation of common pediatric issues among available measures., Methods: We identified nationally applicable quality measure collections from organizational databases or clearinghouses, federal Web sites, and key informant interviews and then screened each measure for pediatric applicability. We classified measures as structure, process, or outcome using a Donabedian framework. Additionally, we classified process measures as targeting underuse, overuse, or misuse of health services. We then classified measures by content area and compared disease-specific metrics to frequency of diagnoses observed among children., Results: A total of 386 identified measures were relevant to pediatric patients; exclusion of duplicates left 257 unique measures. The majority of pediatric measures were process measures (59%), most of which target underuse of health services (77%). Among disease-specific measures, those related to depression and asthma were the most common, reflecting the prevalence and importance of these conditions in pediatrics. Conditions such as respiratory infection and otitis media had fewer associated measures despite their prevalence. Other notable pediatric issues lacking associated measures included care of medically complex children and injuries., Conclusions: Pediatric quality measures are predominated by process measures targeting underuse of health care services. The content represented among these measures is broad, although there remain important gaps., Competing Interests: POTENTIAL CONFLICT OF INTEREST: The authors have indicated they have no potential conflicts of interest to disclose., (Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)

As concerns over health care-related harms and costs continue to mount, efforts to identify and combat medical overuse are needed. Although much of the recent attention has focused on health care for adults, children are also harmed by overuse. Using a structured PubMed search and manual tables of contents review, we identified important articles on pediatric overuse published in 2015. These articles were evaluated according to the quality of the methods, the magnitude of clinical effect, and the number of patients potentially affected and were categorized into overdiagnosis, overtreatment, and overutilization. Overdiagnosis: Findings included evidence for overdiagnosis of hypoxemia in children with bronchiolitis and skull fractures in children suffering minor head injuries. Overtreatment: Findings included evidence that up to 85% of hospitalized children with radiographic pneumonia may not have a bacterial etiology; many children are receiving prolonged intravenous antibiotic therapy for osteomyelitis although oral therapy is equally effective; antidepressant medication for adolescents and nebulized hypertonic saline for bronchiolitis appear to be ineffective; and thresholds for treatment of hyperbilirubinemia may be too low. Overutilization: Findings suggested that the frequency of head circumference screening could be relaxed; large reductions in abdominal computed tomography testing for appendicitis appear to have been safe and effective; and overreliance on C-reactive protein levels in neonatal early onset sepsis appears to extend hospital length-of-stay., (Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.)