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How the Study Was Conducted:
Results: The authors identified 10,720 patients with new-onset ALL and 1,323 with new-onset AML. Of those, 2,009 patients (16.7 percent) were admitted on the weekend. Patients admitted on the weekend did not have an increased rate of mortality during their first hospitalization, but they did have an increased length of stay (1.4 day increase), slightly longer time to start chemotherapy (0.36 day increase) and a higher risk for respiratory failure.
Discussion: "Given the increasing need for cost-effective care in medically complex children, these findings highlight a potential area for improvement in patient care and in cost reduction. Hospitals should consider the increased acuity level of index admissions of pediatric patients with leukemia when determining allocation of weekend staff and clinical resources. Optimizing weekend resources may not only help to reduce hospital LOS (length of stay) across all weekend admissions but may also ensure the availability of comprehensive care for those weekend admissions with higher acuity."
( JAMA Pediatr . Published online August 25, 2014. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.1023. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com .)
Editor's Note:
Editorial: Weekend Hospitalization
In a related editorial, Patrick J. Hagan, M.H.S.A., an independent consultant and former president and chief operating officer of the Seattle Children's Hospital, writes: "In this issue of JAMA Pediatrics , Goodman and colleagues have provided a good service for patients, clinicians and hospital leaders by demonstrating a statistically significant difference in hospital performance for patients admitted on weekends vs. weekdays."
"The authors noted that for index leukemia cases, a higher proportion of higher-acuity patients can be expected on weekends. They suggest that changes in staffing levels and staff skill mix in anticipation of this higher-acuity patient may prove beneficial," Hagan notes.
( JAMA Pediatr . Published online August 25, 2014. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.1531. Available pre-embargo to the media at http://media.jamanetwork.com .)
Media Advisory:
To contact author Elizabeth K. Goodman, B.A., call Rachel Salis-Silverman at 267-426-6063 or email salis@email.chop.edu . To contact editorial author Patrick J. Hagan, M.H.S.A., email phagan.hagan@gmail.com .
To place an electronic embedded link to this study in your story The links for this study and editorial will be live at the embargo time: http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.1023 and http://archpedi.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jamapediatrics.2014.1531 .
JAMA Pediatrics