This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Data Supplement All Versions of this Article: M1713v1 12/3/299    most recent Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Porter, S. C. Articles by Goldmann, D. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Porter, S. C. Articles by Goldmann, D. A.

Parents as Partners in Obtaining the Medication History

Affiliations of the authors: Department of Medicine (SCP, ISK, DAG), and Children's Hospital Informatics Program (SCP, ISK), Children's Hospital Boston, Boston, MA.

Correspondence and reprints: Stephen C. Porter, MD, MPH, MSc, Division of Emergency Medicine, MA-001, Children's Hospital Boston, 300 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail: <stephen.porter{at}childrens.harvard.edu>.

Received for publication: 10/05/04; accepted for publication: 12/30/04.

Objective: Patient-centered information management may overcome barriers that impede high-quality, safe care in the emergency department (ED). The utility of parents' report of medication data via a multimedia, touch screen interface, the asthma kiosk, was investigated. Our specific aims were (1) to estimate the validity of parents' electronically entered medication history for asthma and (2) to compare the parents' kiosk entries regarding medications to the documentation of ED physicians and nurses.

Methods: We enrolled a cohort of parents to use the asthma kiosk and tested the validity of this communication channel for medication data specific to pediatric asthma. Parents' data provided via the kiosk during the ED encounter and the documentation of ED nurses and physicians were compared with a telephone-based interview with the parent after discharge that reviewed all asthma-specific medications physically present in the home. Treating clinicians in the ED were blinded to the parents' kiosk entries.

Results: Sixty-six parents were enrolled and 49 of 66 (74.2%) completed the gold standard interview. When analyzed at the level of individual medications, the validity of parental report was 81% for medication name, 79% for route of delivery, 66% for the form of the medication, and 60% for dose. Parents' report improved on the validity of documentation by physicians across all medication details save for medication name. Parents' report was more valid than nursing documentation at triage for all medication details.

Conclusion: Parents can provide an independent source of medication data that improves on current documentation for key variables that impact quality and safety in emergency asthma care.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				F. T. Bourgeois, S. C. Porter, C. Valim, T. Jackson, E. F. Cook, and K. D. Mandl The Value of Patient Self-report for Disease Surveillance J. Am. Med. Inform. Assoc., November 1, 2007; 14(6): 765 - 771. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				E. W. Fleegler, T. A. Lieu, P. H. Wise, and S. Muret-Wagstaff Families' Health-Related Social Problems and Missed Referral Opportunities Pediatrics, June 1, 2007; 119(6): e1332 - e1341. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S C Porter, S F Manzi, D Volpe, and A M Stack Getting the data right: information accuracy in pediatric emergency medicine. Qual. Saf. Health Care, August 1, 2006; 15(4): 296 - 301. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. C. Porter, P. Forbes, H. A. Feldman, and D. A. Goldmann Impact of Patient-Centered Decision Support on Quality of Asthma Care in the Emergency Department Pediatrics, January 1, 2006; 117(1): e33 - e42. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]