Association between Electronic Health Record Implementations and Hospital-Acquired Conditions in Pediatric Hospitals

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Informatics
• Patient Safety Research
• Pediatric Healthcare Management

Background:

• Electronic Health Record (EHR) implementation is a major operational challenge for healthcare systems.
• Limited research exists on the impact of EHR transitions on patient safety, especially in pediatrics.
• This study leverages data from Solutions for Patient Safety (SPS), a network of over 145 children's hospitals.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between the period surrounding EHR implementation and hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) rates in pediatric care.
• To assess if EHR go-live events correlate with changes in patient safety metrics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized data from 27 pediatric hospitals within the SPS network that implemented EHRs between 2012 and 2022.
• Analyzed monthly rates of six key HACs and four care bundle compliance rates for 7 months before and after EHR transition.
• Compared patient safety metrics across three eras: pre-implementation, during implementation, and post-implementation using paired t-tests.

Main Results:

• No statistically significant increase in the rates of hospital-acquired conditions was observed during or after EHR implementation.
• Care bundle compliance rates showed no significant decrease in the periods surrounding EHR go-live.
• Patient safety outcomes remained stable despite the operational disruption of EHR system transitions.

Conclusions:

• This multi-site study indicates that EHR implementations in pediatric hospitals are not associated with a significant increase in HACs.
• Preventive care bundle compliance was also unaffected by the EHR transition period.
• Findings suggest that careful planning and execution can mitigate risks to patient safety during EHR implementations.