OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that a checklist enhanced by the electronic medical record and a unit-wide dashboard would improve compliance with an evidence-based, pediatric-specific catheter care bundle and decrease central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSI). METHODS:We performed a cohort study with historical controls that included all patients with a central venous catheter in a 24-bed PICU in an academic children' s hospital. Postintervention CLABSI rates, compliance with bundle elements, and staff perceptions of communication were evaluated and compared with preintervention data.RESULTS: CLABSI rates decreased from 2.6 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days before intervention to 0.7 CLABSIs per 1000 line-days after intervention. Analysis of specific bundle elements demonstrated increased daily documentation of line necessity from 30% to 73% (P , .001), increased compliance with dressing changes from 87% to 90% (P = .003), increased compliance with cap changes from 87% to 93% (P , .001), increased compliance with port needle changes from 69% to 95% (P , .001), but decreased compliance with insertion bundle documentation from 67% to 62% (P = .001). Changes in the care plan were made during review of the electronic medical record checklist on 39% of patient rounds episodes. CONCLUSIONS:Use of an electronic medical record-enhanced CLABSI prevention checklist coupled with a unit-wide real-time display of adherence was associated with increased compliance with evidencebased catheter care and sustained decrease in CLABSI rates. These data underscore the potential for computerized interventions to promote compliance with proven best practices and prevent patient harm. Pediatrics 2014;133:e738-e746 AUTHORS:

IntroductionConsensus criteria for pediatric severe sepsis have standardized enrollment for research studies. However, the extent to which critically ill children identified by consensus criteria reflect physician diagnosis of severe sepsis, which underlies external validity for pediatric sepsis research, is not known. We sought to determine the agreement between physician diagnosis and consensus criteria to identify pediatric patients with severe sepsis across a network of international pediatric intensive care units (PICUs).MethodsWe conducted a point prevalence study involving 128 PICUs in 26 countries across 6 continents. Over the course of 5 study days, 6925 PICU patients <18 years of age were screened, and 706 with severe sepsis defined either by physician diagnosis or on the basis of 2005 International Pediatric Sepsis Consensus Conference consensus criteria were enrolled. The primary endpoint was agreement of pediatric severe sepsis between physician diagnosis and consensus criteria as measured using Cohen’s κ. Secondary endpoints included characteristics and clinical outcomes for patients identified using physician diagnosis versus consensus criteria.ResultsOf the 706 patients, 301 (42.6 %) met both definitions. The inter-rater agreement (κ ± SE) between physician diagnosis and consensus criteria was 0.57 ± 0.02. Of the 438 patients with a physician’s diagnosis of severe sepsis, only 69 % (301 of 438) would have been eligible to participate in a clinical trial of pediatric severe sepsis that enrolled patients based on consensus criteria. Patients with physician-diagnosed severe sepsis who did not meet consensus criteria were younger and had lower severity of illness and lower PICU mortality than those meeting consensus criteria or both definitions. After controlling for age, severity of illness, number of comorbid conditions, and treatment in developed versus resource-limited regions, patients identified with severe sepsis by physician diagnosis alone or by consensus criteria alone did not have PICU mortality significantly different from that of patients identified by both physician diagnosis and consensus criteria.ConclusionsPhysician diagnosis of pediatric severe sepsis achieved only moderate agreement with consensus criteria, with physicians diagnosing severe sepsis more broadly. Consequently, the results of a research study based on consensus criteria may have limited generalizability to nearly one-third of PICU patients diagnosed with severe sepsis.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-015-1055-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Implementation of clinical decision-support alerts was associated with a decrease in RBCTs, which suggests improved adoption of evidence-based recommendations. This strategy might be widely applied to promote timely adoption of scientific evidence.

Limits on laboratory orders within the context of computerized provider order entry decreased laboratory utilization without adverse affects on mortality or length of stay. Broader application of this strategy might decrease costs, the incidence of iatrogenic anemia, and catheter-associated bloodstream infections.