New Study Takes First Steps to Improve the Quality of Health
Care for Chronically Ill Children November 15, 2010 Data mining
method helps hospitals better identify needs of their sickest
patients and could reduce health care costs Children with
chronic health conditions such as cystic fibrosis, type 1
diabetes, sickle cell diseases and cerebral palsy represent less
than two percent of the population but can consume more than 50
percent of resources at children’s hospitals throughout the
country. Coordinating care for these children has historically
been difficult because hospitals have varying methods to
identify them in their systems. In a new study led by John Neff,
MD, of Seattle Children’s Research Institute, researchers
developed a unique method to identify children with serious
lifelong chronic conditions using hospital discharge data that
will enable children’s hospitals to improve the quality of care
for these patients and reduce costs. The study, “Identifying
Children with Lifelong Chronic Conditions