Summaries of Independent Scientist (K) Awards

Marcin, James

Institution: University of California, Davis
Grant Title: Telemedicine for Children in Rural Emergency Departments
Grant Number: K08 HS013179
Duration: 5 years (2002-2007)
Total Award: $608,850

Project Description: The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of telemedicine consultations on the quality and satisfaction of care that critically ill and injured children receive in rural emergency departments. There are three main specific aims:

1. To assess the impact of telemedicine consultation on medication errors and quality of care provided to acutely ill and injured children who present to rural hospitals.
2. To assess the effect of telemedicine on the frequency of admissions to and transports from rural hospitals.
3. To determine the level of parental satisfaction when telemedicine consultations are used.

Baseline data being collected will further result in data describing the current quality of care, frequency of medication errors, and admission appropriateness of acutely ill children presenting to rural hospitals.

Career Goals: Dr. Marcin intends to become an expert in the field of pediatric emergency telemedicine for the acutely ill and injured child. By incorporating and developing explicit measures of medical errors and quality in the Pediatric Emergency Department and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, he hopes to contribute to the science of assessing quality and measures other than mortality and length of stay. The grantee will complete coursework in clinical and injury epidemiology, hierarchical modeling in biostatistics, diffusion theory, and health services research methods.

Progress to Date: Dr. Marcin is continuing formal training at University of California, Davis, including courses in Clinical Epidemiology and Study Design. He is also regularly attending Center for Health Technology research meetings, conferences, and the Center for Health Services Research journal clubs and seminars. Dr. Marcin has presented five abstracts that resulted from his K-Award research at the Pediatric Academic Societies National Meeting in Washington, DC.

Future Plans: Dr. Marcin will continue data collection and analysis for the prospective portion of the study. He will prepare manuscripts that detail data on baseline quality of care, medication errors and admission appropriateness of acutely ill and injured children presenting to rural hospitals.

Highlights and Specific Accomplishments:

• Faculty member, University of California, Davis Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care.
• Professional Societies:
  • American Medical Association.
  • American Academy of Pediatrics.

K-Generated Publications:

• Derrington S, Cole SL, Marcin JP, et al. Increased Nonessential Admissions in Rural Emergency Departments and by Non-Pediatric Emergency Medicine Physicians. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2005.
• Marcin JP, Kuppermann N, Nesbitt TS, et al. Improving Care of Critically Ill Children in Rural Emergency Departments with Telemedicine. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2005.
• Marcin JP, Dharmar M, Kuppermann N, et al. Assessing Quality of Care Among Children Receiving Care in the Emergency Department. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2005.
• Marcin JP, Seifert L, Cho M, et al. Medication Errors Among Acutely Ill and Injured Children Presenting to Rural Emergency Departments. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2005.
• Cole SL, Kuppermann N, Marcin JP, et al. Quality of Care Provided to Acutely Ill Children in Emergency Departments by Hospital Setting and Physician Training. Pediatric Academic Society, May 2005.

AHRQ Research Portfolio: Informatics; Quality and Patient Safety; Training.
AHRQ Goals: Safety and Quality

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