Decreasing Emergency Department Visits for Children With Epilepsy

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Neurology
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Epilepsy and seizures frequently lead to emergency department (ED) visits in children and adolescents.
• Previous quality improvement (QI) initiatives demonstrated potential for reducing these visits.

Purpose of the Study:

• To decrease the rate of ED visits for pediatric epilepsy patients using QI methodology.
• Specific aim: Reduce ED visits from 13.03 to 11.6 per 1000 established patients by December 2019 and sustain for one year.

Main Methods:

• A multidisciplinary team was formed in 2016 to implement QI strategies.
• Focused on addressing the root causes of ED visits for epilepsy-related care.

Main Results:

• Successfully reduced ED visits for seizure-related care in epilepsy patients to 10.2% per 1000 patients.
• Achieved a significant centerline shift, indicating a sustained improvement in the outcome measure.

Conclusions:

• QI methodology is effective in decreasing ED visits for children with epilepsy.
• These interventions can be replicated in other institutions to achieve similar positive outcomes in pediatric epilepsy care.