To evaluate the impact of a collaborative initiative between general emergency departments (EDs) and the pediatric academic medical center on the process of clinical care in a group of general EDs.

This retrospective cohort study assessed the process of clinical care delivered to critically ill children presenting to 3 general EDs. Our previous multifaceted intervention included the following components: postsimulation debriefing, designation of a pediatric champion, customized performance reports, pediatric resources toolkit, and ongoing interactions. Five pediatric emergency care physicians conducted chart reviews and scored encounters using the Pediatric Emergency Care Research Network’s Quality of Care Implicit Review Instrument, which assigns scores between 5 and 35 across 5 domains. In addition, safety metrics were collected for medication, imaging, and laboratory orders.

A total of 179 ED encounters were reviewed, including 103 preintervention and 76 postintervention encounters, with an improvement in mean total quality score from 23.30 (SD 5.1) to 24.80 (4.0). In the domain of physician initial treatment plan and initial orders, scores increased from a mean of 4.18 (0.13) to 4.61 (0.15). In the category of safety, administration of wrong medications decreased from 28.2% to 11.8% after the intervention.

A multifaceted collaborative initiative involving simulation and enhanced pediatric readiness was associated with improvement in the processes of care in general EDs. This work provides evidence that innovative collaborations between academic medical centers and general EDs may serve as an effective strategy to improve pediatric care.