Outpatient Follow-up Care After Hospital Discharge of Children With Complex Chronic Conditions at a Rural Tertiary Care Hospital

• Published in: Clinical pediatrics Vol. 60; no. 13; p. 512
• Main Authors: Brown, Andrew, Quaile, Mary, Morris, Hannah, Tumin, Dmitry, Parker, Clayten L, Warren, Lana, Wall, Bennett, Crickmore, Kim, Ledoux, Matthew, Eldridge, David Lewis, Aikman, Inga
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01.11.2021
• Subjects: Aftercare - organization & administration; Child; Chronic Disease - epidemiology; Chronic Disease - therapy; Humans; Patient Discharge - statistics & numerical data; Quality of Health Care; Risk Factors; Tertiary Care Centers - organization & administration; United States; United States; patient characteristics; follow-up; care coordination; children with special health care needs; children with complex chronic conditions; children with medical complexity
• ISSN: 1938-2707
• DOI: 10.1177/00099228211047242

To determine factors associated with completion of recommended outpatient follow-up visits in children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) following hospital discharge. We retrospectively identified children aged 1 to 17 years diagnosed with a CCC who were discharged from our rural tertiary care children's hospital between 2017 and 2018 with a diagnosis meeting published CCC criteria. Patients discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit and patients enrolled in a care coordination program for technology-dependent children were excluded. Of 113 eligible patients, 77 (68%) had outpatient follow-up consistent with discharge instructions. Intensive care unit (ICU) admission ( = .020) and prolonged length of stay ( = .004) were associated with decreased likelihood of completing recommended follow-up. Among children with CCCs who were not already enrolled in a care coordination program, ICU admission was associated with increased risk of not completing recommended outpatient follow-up. This population could be targeted for expanded care coordination efforts.