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Comment & Response
December 17, 2018

Telephone Call After Pediatric Discharge—Reply

Author Affiliations
  • 1Division of Hospital Medicine, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 2Department of Pediatrics, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 3James M. Anderson Center for Health System Excellence, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio
JAMA Pediatr. 2019;173(2):196-197. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4555

In Reply We agree that discharge preparation by the hospital team is important to consider when interpreting the results of a postdischarge intervention. In our randomized clinical trial, studying the effects of a one-time nurse-led telephone call after hospital discharge, we demonstrated no difference in reutilization but an increase in red flags, or warning signs, recalled by families after discharge.1 Importantly, the median length of stay for the acute care population included in our study was short at 2 days (interquartile range, 1-2), indicating relatively uncomplicated hospitalizations. Thus, discharge planning in our population was straightforward for most patients.

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