Identifying children with medical complexity in administrative datasets in a Canadian context: study protocol

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Health Services Research
• Health Informatics
• Population Health Management

Background:

• Children with medical complexity (CMC) represent a small but high-need pediatric population, accounting for significant healthcare expenditures.
• Accurate identification of CMC is crucial for researching care disparities and optimizing health resource allocation in Canada.
• The Canadian Maritimes (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island) have a unique healthcare landscape requiring tailored approaches to identify CMC.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate algorithms for identifying CMC in Canadian Maritime administrative data.
• To estimate the prevalence of CMC in the Canadian Maritimes from 2003-2017.
• To describe healthcare utilization patterns among CMC in this region.

Main Methods:

• A gold-standard definition for pediatric medical complexity will be co-developed with an expert panel.
• Algorithm performance will be validated using a two-gate process with Nova Scotia data.
• The best-performing algorithm will be applied to administrative data from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island.

Main Results:

• Algorithm performance evaluation results are pending.
• Prevalence estimates for CMC in the Canadian Maritimes are pending.
• Healthcare utilization patterns for CMC are pending.

Conclusions:

• This research will establish a reliable method for identifying CMC in the Canadian Maritimes.
• Findings will provide critical data on CMC prevalence and healthcare use, informing policy and practice.
• The study employs an integrated knowledge translation approach to maximize research impact.