Pediatric ED Saves: Analyzing the ED Screen of Direct Admissions

Direct admissions (DAs) are a routine hospital entry portal with few guidelines to assess patient safety during this process. This study assessed the effectiveness of an institutional screen for patients presenting as DA. It investigated patient variables that may predict appropriateness for DA and those at high risk for deterioration.

The study includes patients who received the institutional screen between June 1, 2019, and May 31, 2020. We placed charts into three groups: group 1 (stable), group 2 (unstable), and group 3 (stable then transferred to pediatric intensive care unit within 6 hours). We assessed effectiveness by calculating sensitivity, specificity, and predictive values. We used comparative analysis between groups to identify patients safe for DA and those at high risk for deterioration.

The screen was 80% sensitive and 100% specific, predicting 97.7% of stable patients. Of the 652 charts reviewed, 384 met the inclusion criteria. Group 1 (31.60, 26.45%, 5.23%) had lower respiratory rate, respiratory diagnosis, and oxygen requirement compared to group 2 (45.00, 78.13%, 15.63%) and group 3 (44.50, 75.00%, 50.00%). For SpO₂, group 1 (98.70) was higher than group 2 (96.03). For the Pediatric Early Warning Score, group 2 (1.72) was higher than group 1 (0.31) and group 3 (0.63).

The institutional screen is an effective tool to identify patients presenting as DA needing immediate emergency department intervention and/or pediatric intensive care unit care. The screen benefits patients with a respiratory diagnosis, oxygen requirement, high respiratory rate or low SpO₂.