Ensuring Diagnostic Accuracy in Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Children often present to the emergency department with undifferentiated complaints, such as abdominal pain. The role of the emergency physician is to make an accurate and efficient assessment leading to diagnosis and management. Physician risk tolerance and decision methods have led to variations in practice and quality of care within the pediatric emergency department (PED). The use of evidence-based clinical algorithms to standardize and improve the quality of care delivered in the PED has increased significantly over the last decade. Using an example of a care map for children with suspected appendicitis, this article will demonstrate the incorporation of clinical prediction rules into clinical practice as a model for quality improvement in the PED.