Practices and Perceptions of Face Mask Use in a Pediatric Health System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Patient Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are groups of patients, families, and clinical health system leaders collaborating to improve the quality, safety, and experience of care. Best practices encourage PFAC membership to reflect the diversity of the communities served. A cross-sectional survey was conducted from September 2019 to January 2020 collecting demographic characteristics of the members of a pediatric health system's 17 PFACs. Of the 93 respondents (71.5%), notable inequities were racial (4.8% adult PFAC members vs. 17.4% patients were Black) and financial (adult PFAC median annual income was >$100,000 compared to the community median $77,589). The governing family advisory board used this information to codesign interventions to achieve the ideal state of inclusive excellence by identifying barriers for participation for the Black community, recruiting and retaining diverse board members, and continuous monitoring to maintain a diverse board representation.

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OpenNotes: Toward a Participatory Pediatric Health System

PEDIATRICS ◽

10.1542/peds.2018-0601 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 142 (4) ◽

pp. e20180601 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Chethan Sarabu ◽

Natalie Pageler ◽

Fabienne Bourgeois

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Pediatric Health

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Covid-19: The Burden of a Pandemic and Effectiveness of Face Masks in Curtailing Its Spread

Journal of Medical and Biological Science Research ◽

10.36630/jmbsr_21001 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 7 (1) ◽

pp. 1-4

Author(s):

Muyiwa Seun OLUWAFEMI ◽

◽

Ese Freeman OGHAGHARE ◽

Bassey UDOFIA ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Public Health ◽

United States ◽

Health System ◽

World Economy ◽

Face Mask ◽

The United States ◽

Public Places ◽

The World ◽

The Government

The outbreak of Covid-19 presents an unprecedented threat to public health with a devastating effect on the world economy and health system. In March 2020, the government of the United States responded by adopting the use of face masks as one of the measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in public places. The increase in the spread of coronavirus necessitated the need for researchers to evaluate the effectiveness of face masks as a measure to control the spread of coronavirus. It became of more concern when alternatives to face masks were observed in public places. This article reviewed factors that affect the effectiveness of face masks and the choice of an effective face mask as reported by several studies. The use of appropriate face masks and other measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus should be encouraged at all levels. Keywords: COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, FACE-MASKS.

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Implementation of a medication therapy management collaborative within a pediatric health system

Journal of the American Pharmacists Association ◽

10.1016/j.japh.2018.04.021 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 58 (4) ◽

pp. S114-S119 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Gregory Sneed ◽

Karl Kappeler ◽

Travis Gilmore ◽

Catherine Kuhn

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Medication Therapy Management ◽

Pediatric Health ◽

Therapy Management ◽

Medication Therapy

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Opioid e-prescribing trends at discharge in a large pediatric health system

Journal of Opioid Management ◽

10.5055/jom.2019.0493 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (2) ◽

pp. 119-127

Author(s):

Christopher M. Horvat, MD, MHA ◽

Brian Martin, DMD ◽

Liwen Wu, MS ◽

Anthony Fabio, PhD ◽

Phil E. Empey, PharmD, PhD ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health System ◽

Drug Monitoring ◽

Monitoring Program ◽

The United States ◽

Prevalence Odds Ratio ◽

Pediatric Health ◽

Lower Odds ◽

Opioid Prescribing ◽

Prescribing Trends ◽

The Impact

Objective: Legitimate opioid prescriptions have been identified as a risk factor for opioid misuse in pediatric patients. In 2014, Pennsylvania legislation expanded a prescription drug monitoring program (PDMP) to curb inappropriate controlled substance prescriptions. The authors’ objective was to describe recent opioid prescribing trends at a large, pediatric health system situated in a region with one of the highest opioid-related death rates in the United States and examine the impact of the PDMP on prescribing trends.Design: Quasi-experimental assessment of trends of opioid e-prescriptions, from 2012 to 2017. Multivariable Poisson segmented regression examined the effect of the PDMP. Period prevalence comparison of opioid e-prescriptions across the care continuum in 2016.Results: There were 62,661 opioid e-prescriptions identified during the study period. Combination opioid/non-opioid prescriptions decreased, while oxycodone prescriptions increased. Seasonal variation was evident. Of 110,884 inpatient encounters, multivariable regression demonstrated lower odds of an opioid being prescribed at discharge per month of the study period (p 0.001) and a significant interaction between passage of the PDMP legislation and time (p = 0.03). Black patients had lower odds of receiving an opioid at discharge compared to white patients. Inpatients had significantly greater odds of receiving an opioid compared to emergency department (Prevalence Odds Ratio 7.1 [95% confidence interval: 6.9-7.3]; p 0.001) and outpatient (398.9 [355.5-447.5]; p 0.001) encounters.Conclusion: In a large pediatric health system, oxycodone has emerged as the most commonly prescribed opioid in recent years. Early evidence indicates that a state-run drug monitoring program is associated with reduced opioid prescribing. Additional study is necessary to examine the relationship between opioid prescriptions and race.

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An Alternate Approach to Improving Healthcare Worker Influenza Vaccination Rates

Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology ◽

10.1086/660762 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 32 (7) ◽

pp. 703-705 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Lisa M. Esolen ◽

Kimberly L. Kilheeney ◽

Richard E. Merkle ◽

Albert Bothe

Keyword(s):

Influenza Vaccination ◽

Health System ◽

Healthcare Worker ◽

Teaching Hospital ◽

Face Mask ◽

Vaccination Rates ◽

Major Teaching Hospital ◽

Major Teaching

Optimizing employee influenza vaccination rates has become a healthcare focus. We detail an approach involving a strong requirement for unvaccinated workers to wear a face mask and a super-convenient vaccination process. Our major teaching hospital achieved 95% compliance in 2009, and our health system reached 90% and 92% compliance for 2 years.

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