title: Developing and testing a discharge planning decision support tool for hospitalized pediatric patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To develop and test a decision support tool that identifies patients who would benefit from early consult with discharge planners.
  
  
  METHODS
  A predictive, correlational design was used with parents/guardians of children (1 month to 18 years; N = 197). Data were collected by interviews and record reviews. Expert consensus determined referral to discharge planning.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 8.7 years; mean length of stay was 7.5 days. Forty percent (n = 79) were identified for early referral. The variable "substantial post-acute care needs" had the strongest association with expert consensus (internally validated AUC = 0.79).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings from this study provide preliminary evidence for a decision support tool to improve the discharge planning process by reducing individual decision-making variability through systematic matching of patient needs to service delivery.
authors: College of Medicine, Department of Nursing.
authors: Diane E
authors: DE
authors: Holland
authors: Patricia M
authors: PM
authors: Conlon
authors: Gina M
authors: GM
authors: Rohlik
authors: Kris L
authors: KL
authors: Gillard
authors: Angie L
authors: AL
authors: Tomlinson
authors: Dawn M
authors: DM
authors: Raadt
authors: Onalee R
authors: OR
authors: Finseth
authors: Lori M
authors: LM
authors: Rhudy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003661:Decision Support Techniques; D005260:Female; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D015146:Midwestern United States; D010351:Patient Discharge; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010934:Planning Techniques; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers; D014481:United States
keywords: Decision support; discharge planning; pediatrics