Adult Inpatient Services in Pediatric Hospitals: A National Mixed Methods Study

Some pediatric institutions have developed adult inpatient services to enable quality care of hospitalized adults. Our objectives were to understand the characteristics of these adult inpatient services in pediatric hospitals, barriers and facilitators to their creation and sustainability, and patient and system needs they addressed.

An explanatory mixed methods study was conducted using a distribution of an electronic survey followed by targeted semi-structured interviews of directors (or designates) of adult inpatient services in US pediatric hospitals. The survey identified institutional demographics, service line characteristics, and patient populations. An interview guide was created to explore survey findings and facilitators and barriers in the creation of adult inpatient services. Interviews were conducted after survey completion. A codebook was created using an inductive thematic approach and iteratively refined. Final themes were condensed, and illustrative quotes selected.

Ten institutions identified as having an adult inpatient service. Service staffing models varied, but all had dually trained internal medicine and pediatrics physicians. All participants voiced their respective pediatric institutions valued that these services filled a clinical care gap for hospitalized adults adding to whole-person care, patient safety, and health system navigation.

Adult inpatient services in pediatric institutions have been present for >15 years. These services address clinical care gaps for adults hospitalized in pediatric institutions and use specialized internal medicine and pediatrics knowledge. Demonstrating return on investment of these services using a traditional fee for service model is a barrier to creation and sustainability.