BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Elevated blood lead levels have well-described detrimental effects to growth and development in children, yet screening rates remain low. We sought to determine if a reminder within the electronic health record (EHR) could change provider behavior and improve blood lead level (BLL) screening test ordering rates in an urban academic family medicine practice. METHODS: Baseline BLL test ordering rates were calculated for children ages 9-72 months. An update adding reminders to screen was made to the electronic note template used during pediatric well and sick visits at the practice. Data from the 10-week periods both before and after the change was made were compared through a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: A total of 210 children were seen during the pre-intervention period. Forty-eight percent (n=101) had already been screened. Of the 109 eligible for screening, 23 had tests ordered, and 18 of those had tests completed. Eighty-four children were eligible for screening in the post-intervention period. Forty-one of those children had tests ordered, and 15 had tests completed. Provider ordering rates increased from 21% of eligible patients to 49%. Test completion rates only increased from 17% to 18%. CONCLUSIONS: An electronic note-based reminder system significantly improves provider ordering rates of BLL tests. Researchers are currently investigating how the use of point-of-care BLL sample collection can improve test completion rates and therefore increase the frequency of successful screening.
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Elevated blood lead levels have well-described detrimental effects to growth and development in children, yet screening rates remain low. We sought to determine if a reminder within the electronic health record (EHR) could change provider behavior and improve blood lead level (BLL) screening test ordering rates in an urban academic family medicine practice. METHODS: Baseline BLL test ordering rates were calculated for children ages 9-72 months. An update adding reminders to screen was made to the electronic note template used during pediatric well and sick visits at the practice. Data from the 10-week periods both before and after the change was made were compared through a retrospective chart review. RESULTS: A total of 210 children were seen during the pre-intervention period. Forty-eight percent (n=101) had already been screened. Of the 109 eligible for screening, 23 had tests ordered, and 18 of those had tests completed. Eighty-four children were eligible for screening in the post-intervention period. Forty-one of those children had tests ordered, and 15 had tests completed. Provider ordering rates increased from 21% of eligible patients to 49%. Test completion rates only increased from 17% to 18%. CONCLUSIONS: An electronic note-based reminder system significantly improves provider ordering rates of BLL tests. Researchers are currently investigating how the use of point-of-care BLL sample collection can improve test completion rates and therefore increase the frequency of successful screening.
Authors: Thomas A McCormick; John L Adams; Eric A Lee; Nicholas P Emptage; Darryl E Palmer-Toy; John P Martin; Benjamin I Broder; Michael H Kanter; Anna C Davis; Elizabeth A McGlynn Journal: EGEMS (Wash DC) Date: 2019-08-26
Authors: Van C Willis; Kelly Jean Thomas Craig; Yalda Jabbarpour; Elisabeth L Scheufele; Yull E Arriaga; Monica Ajinkya; Kyu B Rhee; Andrew Bazemore Journal: JMIR Med Inform Date: 2022-01-21