New national guidelines on pediatric care in emergency departments reduce mortality, a recent study found.
The study, published in June in the Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians Open, used Bureau of Labor Statistics data from 2021 from 983 EDs in 11 states. It also collected information from the 2021 National Pediatric Readiness Project assessment and the regional PECC survey and compared that to purchasing costs from seven healthcare organizations and equipment usage per ED pediatric volume.
The study found that the new guidelines reduced mortality by about 76%. The researchers also estimated the costs to treat a pediatric patient in emergency departments to be between $4 and $48, adding that the cost compares favorably with the average of $65 it costs to inoculate a child through the CDC's vaccination program.
"Our findings underscore the importance of investing in pediatric readiness in EDs," Kate Remick, MD, an emergency physician at the Dell School of Medicine at the University of Texas at Austin, said in a system news release. "While there are associated costs, they are minimal when considering the potential survival benefits."