Background: High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is a non-invasive oxygen delivery system commonly used in emergency rooms, pediatric intensive care units (PICU), and pediatric wards for respiratory illnesses. Previously, HFNC was strictly managed in the ICU, but this is becoming less common as more pediatric wards have initiated its use. Questions have arisen regarding the [...]

Background: Pediatric hospitalists are responsible for providing high quality care in the hospital setting while teaching learners and maintaining a professional learning environment. This skill is rarely taught during medical training. Peer observation is a collaborative tool with potential for mutual benefit; offering the observer an opportunity to learn new strategies and the individual observed [...]

Background: Growth faltering or failure to thrive is a common cause of admission in infancy and early childhood. In the United States, approximately 2-10% of children experience lower-than-expected growth associated with malnutrition (Tang et al). Growth faltering accounts for 3-5% of pediatric hospitalizations (Mazze et al, 2019). Malnutrition is associated with complications of increased risk [...]

Background: There is increasing awareness that social determinants of health (SDOH) contribute to inequities in health outcomes. Due to methodological challenges, most studies have focused on adult metrics and quantitative data are limited. The Child Opportunity Index (COI) is a unified measure of SDOH with local specificity at the level of census tracts, using indicators [...]

Background: Postpartum Depression can have a negative impact on the physical, cognitive, and behavioral development of children. In the most extreme cases, it can be associated with the cause of death for mothers and their children. Some risk factors that can lead to Postpartum Depression are teenage pregnancy, late or lack of prenatal care, food/housing [...]

Background: Regionalization of pediatric healthcare has led to an increased proportion of hospitalizations at tertiary care centers and freestanding children’s hospitals. For some of these patients, transfer from another hospital is required to access inpatient care. There are known disparities in access to care for historically marginalized races/ethnicities, but it is unclear if these disparities [...]

Background: Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening complication of diabetes mellitus that is increasing in frequency, and yet is preventable with adequate outpatient management. Studies have shown that children with diabetes in minority populations experience more frequent DKA admissions, possibly due to inequities in healthcare access. We examined whether disparities by race/ethnicity exist in DKA [...]

Background: Croup is a common cause of respiratory distress in young children secondary to viral infection. Oral dexamethasone has been shown to improve the symptoms of respiratory distress caused by croup. The frequency of repeat dexamethasone dosing during admission or on discharge is not well understood, and the effect of re-dosing on re-admission or recurrence [...]

Background: Social needs are associated with poor medical outcomes, including increased readmissions. Several studies compare demographic or ICD-10 code indices of social risk and readmissions, or social needs in disease-specific readmissions. Others found that addressing needs is associated with decreased readmissions. However, little is known about how needs differ between patients who are readmitted to [...]

Background: Patient portals are a digital health technology that help caregivers engage with their child’s healthcare. Unfortunately, significant disparities in portal use exist, with caregivers who speak languages other than English (LOE) having lower usage rates compared with their English-speaking counterparts. No pediatric study has sought to understand why and how LOE caregivers use patient [...]