Effect of a Computer-Based Decision Support Intervention on Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening in Pediatric Primary Care Clinics: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance: Universal early screening for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is recommended but not routinely performed. Objective: To determine whether computer-automated screening and clinical decision support can improve ASD screening rates in pediatric primary care practices. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cluster randomized clinical trial, conducted between November 16, 2010, and November 21, 2012, compared ASD screening rates among a random sample of 274 children aged 18 to 24 months in urban pediatric clinics of an inner-city county hospital system with or without an ASD screening module built into an existing decision support software system. Statistical analyses were conducted from February 6, 2017, to June 1, 2018. Interventions: Four clinics were matched in pairs based on patient volume and race/ethnicity, then randomized within pairs. Decision support with the Child Health Improvement Through Computer Automation system (CHICA) was integrated with workflow and with the electronic health record in intervention clinics. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was screening rates among children aged 18 to 24 months. Because the intervention was discontinued among children aged 18 months at the request of the participating clinics, only results for those aged 24 months were collected and analyzed. Rates of positive screening results, clinicians' response rates to screening results in the computer system, and new cases of ASD identified were also measured. Main results were controlled for race/ethnicity and intracluster correlation. Results: Two clinics were randomized to receive the intervention, and 2 served as controls. Records from 274 children (101 girls, 162 boys, and 11 missing information on sex; age range, 23-30 months) were reviewed (138 in the intervention clinics and 136 in the control clinics). Of 263 children, 242 (92.0%) were enrolled in Medicaid, 138 (52.5%) were African American, and 96 (36.5%) were Hispanic. Screening rates in the intervention clinics increased from 0% (95% CI, 0%-5.5%) at baseline to 68.4% (13 of 19) (95% CI, 43.4%-87.4%) in 6 months and to 100% (18 of 18) (95% CI, 81.5%-100%) in 24 months. Control clinics had no significant increase in screening rates (baseline, 7 of 64 children [10.9%]; 6-24 months after the intervention, 11 of 72 children [15.3%]; P = .46). Screening results were positive for 265 of 980 children (27.0%) screened by CHICA during the study period. Among the 265 patients with positive screening results, physicians indicated any response in CHICA in 151 (57.0%). Two children in the intervention group received a new diagnosis of ASD within the time frame of the study. Conclusions and Relevance: The findings suggest that computer automation, when integrated with clinical workflow and the electronic health record, increases screening of children for ASD, but follow-up by physicians is still flawed. Automation of the subsequent workup is still needed

Simple and Elaborated Clinician Reminder Prompts for Human Papillomavirus Vaccination: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objective To evaluate the effects of simple and elaborated health care provider (HCP) reminder prompts on human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine initiation rates. Methods Twenty-nine pediatric HCPs serving 5 pediatric clinics were randomized to 1 of 3 arms: 1) usual practice control, 2) simple reminder prompt, and 3) elaborated reminder prompt, which included suggested language for recommending the early adolescent platform vaccines. Prompts were delivered via a computer-based clinical decision support system deployed in the 5 clinics. Eligible patients were ages 11 to 13 years, had not received HPV vaccine, and were due for meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) vaccine and/or the tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis booster (Tdap). Receipt of HPV vaccine was determined via automated queries sent to the Indiana immunization registry. Data were analyzed via logistic regression models, with generalized estimating equations used to account for the clustering of patients within HCPs. Results Ten HCPs in the control group saw 301 patients, 8 HCPs in the simple prompt group saw 124, and 11 HCPs in the elaborated prompt group saw 223. The elaborated prompt arm had a higher rate of HPV vaccination (62%) than the control arm (45%): adjusted odds ratio, 2.76; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 7.14. The simple prompt arm did not differ significantly from the control arm with respect to HPV vaccine initiation, which might have been because of the small sample size for this arm. MenACWY and Tdap rates did not vary across the 3 arms. Conclusions Results suggest that an elaborated HCP-targeted reminder prompt, with suggested recommendation language, might improve rates of HPV vaccine initiation

Medical legal partnership and health informatics impacting child health: Interprofessional innovations

Dramatic differences in health are closely related to degrees of social and economic disadvantage. Poverty-induced hardships such as food insecurity, utility shut-offs, and substandard housing, all have the potential to negatively impact the health of families. In an effort to better address social determinants of health in pediatric primary health care settings using the Medical Legal Partnership (MLP) model of health care delivery, an interprofessional team of investigators came together to design an innovative process for using computerized clinical decision support to identify health-harming legal and social needs, improve the delivery of appropriate physician counseling, and streamline access to legal and social service professionals when non-medical remedies are required. This article describes the interprofessional nature of the MLP model itself, illustrates the work that was done to craft this innovative health informatics approach to implementing MLP, and demonstrates how pediatricians, social workers and attorneys may work together to improve child health outcomes

Follow-up of Mothers with Suspected Postpartum Depression from Pediatrics Clinics

Purpose Pediatric providers are increasingly screening for postpartum depression (PD), yet, it is unknown how often mothers comply with recommendations to seek treatment. The objectives were to describe the rate at which mothers with suspected PD seek treatment and explore factors that predict help-seeking behavior. Design and methods Mothers were recruited from four pediatric clinics after identification using the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system. Mothers with a positive screen were invited to participate in a telephone interview between January 2012 and December 2014. Mothers reported if they sought treatment or called a community resource. Results 73 of 133 eligible mothers participated (55% response rate). Fifty women recalled a recommendation to seek help. Only 43.8% (32/73) made a follow-up appointment with an adult provider and even fewer kept the appointment. Conclusion A majority of mothers suspected of having PD recalled a referral for further intervention; yet, less than half took action. Further investigation of barriers of help-seeking behavior is warranted

Pediatric decision support using adapted Arden Syntax

BACKGROUND: Pediatric guidelines based care is often overlooked because of the constraints of a typical office visit and the sheer number of guidelines that may exist for a patient's visit. In response to this problem, in 2004 we developed a pediatric computer based clinical decision support system using Arden Syntax medical logic modules (MLM). METHODS: The Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation system (CHICA) screens patient families in the waiting room and alerts the physician in the exam room. Here we describe adaptation of Arden Syntax to support production and consumption of patient specific tailored documents for every clinical encounter in CHICA and describe the experiments that demonstrate the effectiveness of this system. RESULTS: As of this writing CHICA has served over 44,000 patients at 7 pediatric clinics in our healthcare system in the last decade and its MLMs have been fired 6182,700 times in "produce" and 5334,021 times in "consume" mode. It has run continuously for over 10 years and has been used by 755 physicians, residents, fellows, nurse practitioners, nurses and clinical staff. There are 429 MLMs implemented in CHICA, using the Arden Syntax standard. Studies of CHICA's effectiveness include several published randomized controlled trials. CONCLUSIONS: Our results show that the Arden Syntax standard provided us with an effective way to represent pediatric guidelines for use in routine care. We only required minor modifications to the standard to support our clinical workflow. Additionally, Arden Syntax implementation in CHICA facilitated the study of many pediatric guidelines in real clinical environments

Computer decision support changes physician practice but not knowledge regarding autism spectrum disorders

Objective: To examine whether adding an autism module promoting adherence to clinical guidelines to an existing computer decision support system (CDSS) changed physician knowledge and self-reported clinical practice. Methods: The CHICA (Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation) system, a CDSS, was enhanced with a module to improve management of autism in 2 of the 4 community pediatric clinics using the system. We examined the knowledge and beliefs of pediatric users using cross-sectional surveys administered at 3 time points (baseline, 12 months and 24 months post-implementation) between November 2010 and January 2013. Surveys measured knowledge, beliefs and self-reported practice patterns related to autism. Results: A total of 45, 39, and 42 pediatricians responded at each time point, respectively, a 95-100% response rate. Respondents’ knowledge of autism and perception of role for diagnosis did not vary between control and intervention groups either at baseline or any of the two post-intervention time points. At baseline, there was no difference between these groups in rates in the routine use of parent-rated screening instruments for autism. However, by 12 and 24 months post-implementation there was a significant difference between intervention and control clinics in terms of the intervention clinics consistently screening eligible patients with a validated autism tool. Physicians at all clinics reported ongoing challenges to community resources for further work-up and treatment related to autism. Conclusions: A CDSS module to improve primary care management of ASD in pediatric practice led to significant improvements in physician-reported use of validated screening tools to screen for ASDs. However it did not lead to corresponding changes in physician knowledge or attitudes

Prevalence of infant television viewing and maternal depression symptoms

BACKGROUND: Early television (TV) viewing has been linked with maternal depression and has adverse health effects in children. However, it is not known how early TV viewing occurs. This study evaluated the prevalence at which parents report TV viewing for their children if asked in the first 2 years of life and whether TV viewing is associated with maternal depression symptoms. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, TV viewing was evaluated in children 0 to 2 years of age in 4 pediatric clinics in Indianapolis, IN, between January 2011 and April 2012. Families were screened for any parental report of depression symptoms (0-15 months) and for parental report of TV viewing (before 2 years of age) using a computerized clinical decision support system linked to the patient's electronic health record. RESULTS: There were 3254 children in the study. By parent report, 50% of children view TV by 2 months of age, 75% by 4 months of age, and 90% by 2 years of age. Complete data for both TV viewing and maternal depression symptoms were available for 2397 (74%) of children. In regression models, the odds of parental report of TV viewing increased by 27% for each additional month of child's age (odds ratio [OR], 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.25-1.30; p < .001). The odds of TV viewing increased by almost half with parental report of depression symptoms (OR, 1.47; CI, 1.07-2.00, p = .016). Publicly insured children had 3 times the odds of TV viewing compared to children with private insurance (OR, 3.00; CI, 1.60-5.63; p = .001). Black children had almost 4 times the odds (OR, 3.75; CI, 2.70-5.21; p < .001), and white children had one-and-a-half times the odds (OR, 1.55; CI, 1.04-2.30; p = .032) of TV viewing when compared to Latino children. CONCLUSIONS: By parental report, TV viewing occurs at a very young age in infancy, usually between 0 and 3 months and varies by insurance and race/ethnicity. Children whose parents report depression symptoms are especially at risk for early TV viewing. Like maternal depression, TV viewing poses added risks for reduced interpersonal interactions to stimulate infant development. This work suggests the need to develop early targeted developmental interventions. Children as young as 0 to 3 months are viewing TV on most days. In the study sample of 0 to 2 year olds, the odds of TV viewing increased by more than a quarter for each additional month of child's age and by as much as half when the mother screened positive for depression symptoms

Experience with decision support system and comfort with topic predict clinicians’ responses to alerts and reminders

Objective Clinicians at our institution typically respond to about half of the prompts they are given by the clinic’s computer decision support system (CDSS). We sought to examine factors associated with clinician response to CDSS prompts as part of a larger, ongoing quality improvement effort to optimize CDSS use. Methods We examined patient, prompt, and clinician characteristics associated with clinician response to decision support prompts from the Child Health Improvement through Computer Automation (CHICA) system. We asked pediatricians who were nonusers of CHICA to rate decision support topics as “easy” or “not easy” to discuss with patients and their guardians. We analyzed these ratings and data, from July 1, 2009 to January 29, 2013, utilizing a hierarchical regression model, to determine whether factors such as comfort with the prompt topic and the length of the user’s experience with CHICA contribute to user response rates. Results We examined 414 653 prompts from 22 260 patients. The length of time a clinician had been using CHICA was associated with an increase in their prompt response rate. Clinicians were more likely to respond to topics rated as “easy” to discuss. The position of the prompt on the page, clinician gender, and the patient’s age, race/ethnicity, and preferred language were also predictive of prompt response rate. Conclusion This study highlights several factors associated with clinician prompt response rates that could be generalized to other health information technology applications, including the clinician’s length of exposure to the CDSS, the prompt’s position on the page, and the clinician’s comfort with the prompt topic. Incorporating continuous quality improvement efforts when designing and implementing health information technology may ensure that its use is optimized

Secondhand smoke exposure, parental depressive symptoms and preschool behavioral outcomes

Little is known about the association of secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure and behavioral conditions among preschoolers. A cross-sectional analysis was used to examine billing and pharmacy claims from November 2004 to June 2012 linked to medical encounter-level data for 2,441 children from four pediatric community health clinics. Exposure to SHS was associated with attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder/ADHD and disruptive behavior disorder/DBD after adjusting for potential confounding factors. Assessment of exposure to SHS and parental depressive symptoms in early childhood may increase providers' ability to identify children at higher risk of behavioral issues and provide intervention at the earliest stages

Patient-tailored prioritization for a pediatric care decision support system through machine learning

Objective Over 8 years, we have developed an innovative computer decision support system that improves appropriate delivery of pediatric screening and care. This system employs a guidelines evaluation engine using data from the electronic health record (EHR) and input from patients and caregivers. Because guideline recommendations typically exceed the scope of one visit, the engine uses a static prioritization scheme to select recommendations. Here we extend an earlier idea to create patient-tailored prioritization. Materials and methods We used Bayesian structure learning to build networks of association among previously collected data from our decision support system. Using area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) as a measure of discriminability (a sine qua non for expected value calculations needed for prioritization), we performed a structural analysis of variables with high AUC on a test set. Our source data included 177 variables for 29 402 patients. Results The method produced a network model containing 78 screening questions and anticipatory guidance (107 variables total). Average AUC was 0.65, which is sufficient for prioritization depending on factors such as population prevalence. Structure analysis of seven highly predictive variables reveals both face-validity (related nodes are connected) and non-intuitive relationships. Discussion We demonstrate the ability of a Bayesian structure learning method to ‘phenotype the population’ seen in our primary care pediatric clinics. The resulting network can be used to produce patient-tailored posterior probabilities that can be used to prioritize content based on the patient's current circumstances. Conclusions This study demonstrates the feasibility of EHR-driven population phenotyping for patient-tailored prioritization of pediatric preventive care services