The Quality of Ambulatory Care Delivered to Children in the United States

TLDR

Little is known about deficits in pediatric ambulatory care quality, and strategies to reduce these gaps are needed. The study assessed how often recommended pediatric outpatient care processes were delivered. The authors developed quality indicators via RAND‑UCLA Delphi, sampled 1,536 children across 12 metros, abstracted their records, and calculated composite quality scores as the proportion of indicated care delivered. Children received only 46.5 % of recommended care overall, with 67.6 % for acute problems, 53.4 % for chronic conditions, and 40.7 % for preventive services, and adherence ranged from 92 % for upper‑respiratory infections to 34.5 % for adolescent preventive care, mirroring adult deficits.

Abstract

Little is known about the magnitude of deficits in the quality of care delivered to children, since comprehensive studies have been lacking.We assessed the extent to which care processes recommended for pediatric outpatients are delivered. Quality indicators were developed with the use of the RAND-UCLA modified Delphi method. Parents of 1536 children who were randomly selected from 12 metropolitan areas provided written informed consent to obtain medical records from all providers who had seen the children during the 2-year period before the date of study recruitment. Trained nurses abstracted these medical records. Composite quality scores were calculated by dividing the number of times indicated care was documented as having been ordered or delivered by the number of times a care process was indicated.On average, according to data in the medical records, children in the study received 46.5% (95% confidence interval [CI], 44.5 to 48.4) of the indicated care. They received 67.6% (95% CI, 63.9 to 71.3) of the indicated care for acute medical problems, 53.4% (95% CI, 50.0 to 56.8) of the indicated care for chronic medical conditions, and 40.7% (95% CI, 38.1 to 43.4) of the indicated preventive care. Quality varied according to the clinical area, with the rate of adherence to indicated care ranging from 92.0% (95% CI, 89.9 to 94.1) for upper respiratory tract infections to 34.5% (95% CI, 31.0 to 37.9) for preventive services for adolescents.Deficits in the quality of care provided to children appear to be similar in magnitude to those previously reported for adults. Strategies to reduce these apparent deficits are needed.