EXPLORE HOW EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS AND PEDIATRICIANS CAN IMPROVE PATIENT OUTCOMES

Abstract

Communication between pediatricians and emergency departments (ED) is crucial to improve patient outcomes in pediatric care. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of different communication strategies between emergency departments and pediatricians strategies on pediatric patients' clinical outcomes, such as illness type, patients' satisfaction, clinical outcomes, and overall quality of life. We conducted a cross-sectional study on 130 children patients transferred to the emergency department. We enrolled clinical data, mode of communication used (Phone Consultations, Face‐to‐face communication, Secure Messaging, and Shared Access in Electronic Health Records (EHR)), patient clinical outcomes, parental satisfaction scores, and health-related quality of life through SF-36 questionnaires. The findings of the study showed that face-to-face communication recorded the highest parental satisfaction rate (100%) and the most untimely communication (mean 10 minutes). In contrast, shared access in EHR exhibited the most time for communication (mean 25 minutes) and moderate satisfaction (40%). Clinical outcomes showed that face-to-face communication patients recorded the least PICU lengths of stay (mean 2.1 days) and re-admission rates (20%), whereas phone consultations recorded high levels of morbidity outcomes. The results suggest that direct communication is the ideal method for enhancing pediatric patient outcomes during ED transfer. Direct communication between pediatricians and ED staff can possibly lead to improved clinical outcomes and parental satisfaction.