Social Needs Screening Via Electronic Tablet in Pediatric Primary Care

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Health Informatics
• Pediatric Primary Care

Background:

• Identifying health-related social needs (HRSN) and caregiver mental health concerns (CMHC) is crucial for comprehensive pediatric care.
• Traditional paper-based screening methods may underreport these critical patient needs.
• Transitioning to digital health tools can potentially improve screening efficiency and accuracy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare disclosure rates of HRSN/CMHC between paper and electronic tablet screening.
• To evaluate the impact of improved need identification on referral rates to social work and medical-legal partnerships (MLP).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of HRSN/CMHC screening data from 16,151 paper-based and 13,019 electronic screens in pediatric primary care.
• Utilized generalized estimating equations and interrupted time series (ITS) analysis to assess changes in disclosure rates.
• Conducted mediation analyses to examine the link between disclosure rates and referral patterns.

Main Results:

• Electronic screening identified significantly more needs (26%) compared to paper screening (11%, p<0.001).
• All practices observed increased disclosure rates post-transition, with ITS confirming significant increases in two practices (OR 3.0 and 1.7).
• Higher disclosure rates during electronic screening mediated increased referrals to social work and MLP.

Conclusions:

• Electronic screening tools are more effective than paper for identifying HRSN and CMHC in pediatric patients.
• The shift to electronic screening positively impacts the utilization of support services like social work and MLP.