This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: M1944v1 13/3/302    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 Rosenbloom, S. T. Articles by Spooner, S. A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rosenbloom, S. T. Articles by Spooner, S. A.

Implementing Pediatric Growth Charts into an Electronic Health Record System

Affiliations of the authors: Departments of Biomedical Informatics (STR, XFQ, DG), Pediatrics (STR, WER, SCD), Radiology and Radiological Sciences (WRR), and Cell and Developmental Biology (WER), School of Nursing (STR), Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN; University of Michigan Medical Center, Ann Arbor, MI (ABS); Department of Pediatrics, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, Memphis, TN (SAS).

Correspondence and reprints: S. Trent Rosenbloom, MD, MPH, Eskind Biomedical Library, Room 440, 2209 Garland Avenue, Nashville, TN 37232-8340; e-mail: <trent.rosenbloom{at}vanderbilt.edu>.

Received for publication: 08/25/05; accepted for publication: 01/11/06.

Electronic health record (EHR) systems are increasingly being adopted in pediatric practices; however, requirements for integrated growth charts are poorly described and are not standardized in current systems. The authors integrated growth chart functionality into an EHR system being developed and installed in a multispecialty pediatric clinic in an academic medical center. During a three-year observation period, rates of electronically documented values for weight, stature, and head circumference increased from fewer than ten total per weekday, up to 488 weight values, 293 stature values, and 74 head circumference values (p < 0.001 for each measure). By the end of the observation period, users accessed the growth charts an average 175 times per weekday, compared to 127 patient visits per weekday to the sites that most closely monitored pediatric growth. Because EHR systems and integrated growth charts can manipulate data, perform calculations, and adapt to user preferences and patient characteristics, users may expect greater functionality from electronic growth charts than from paper-based growth charts.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. A. Spooner and D. C. Classen Data Standards and Improvement of Quality and Safety in Child Health Care Pediatrics, January 1, 2009; 123(Supplement_2): S74 - S79. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. A. Spooner and and the Council on Clinical Information Technology Special Requirements of Electronic Health Record Systems in Pediatrics Pediatrics, March 1, 2007; 119(3): 631 - 637. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]