The American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines for improving patient safety for children who are directly admitted into a hospital without first receiving care through an emergency department.
The statement, "Direct Admission to Hospital for Children in the United States," found approximately 2 million children and adolescents are admitted to hospitals with hospital care, accounting for more than 40 percent of all pediatric healthcare expenditures.
The statement calls for developing direct admission written guidelines, clear systems of communication between members of the healthcare team and with families, triage systems to identify patient acuity and disease severity, and identification of hospital resources needed to support direct admission systems of care.
The AAP also suggested that hospitals consider that pediatric patients may be at higher risk of adverse outcomes during the hospital admission process.