Population Health Research
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At CHOC, we know research can save the lives of sick children. But through our research, we also aim to improve wellness across all kids in our community, not only those who seek CHOC’s care for illness or injury.
At the CHOC Research Institute, we conduct population health research that addresses health outcomes of the pediatric and adolescent populations in Orange County and beyond, so that we can develop preventative care and intervention models to proactively improve health disparities.
Our research considers multiple social determinants of health—including mental, emotional, social, biological and academic—to create innovative solutions to pediatric care and disease prevention. We especially support projects focused on translational research that can be applied to everyday practice. This research works to characterize problems and develop solutions for inequities in child wellness, as well as helping CHOC achieve its mission of making Orange County the healthiest county in the nation.
The large scope of our cross-continuum team, covering inpatient, outpatient, primary care, specialty care and ancillary areas at CHOC—along with a 153,000 life Accountable Care Organization—allows us access to a robust pool of health data to guide our research.
Current Population Health Research
Our current population health research is focused on developing care model designs for identifying and caring for high-risk children, addressing the social determinants of health, developing and implementing comprehensive programs for transition to adult care and developing predictive modeling to reduce unnecessary emergency department and inpatient admissions.
Care Model Designs for High-Risk Children
Our research in this area is focused on creating a care model that meets the needs of all children and families and provides the best possible clinical outcomes and patient experience by:
Measuring the effectiveness of telehealth encounters for: clinical outcomes, the need for subsequent in-person visits, the need for emergency department (ED) visits and patient satisfaction.
Measuring the connectivity of patients to care and finding ways to reduce unnecessary readmissions. The hypothesis is that timely follow-up with a physician after hospital discharge will reduce re-admission rates.
Addressing Social Determinants of Health
ACEs and Trauma-Informed Care Education
Phase 1: CHOC was awarded funding from the California Attorney General’s office to provide education for providers on trauma-informed care and approaches to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs). Phase 2 (sub-recipient): CHOC will build a Trauma-Informed Network of Care across Orange County by collaborating with multiple community agencies. We will also create a tech clearinghouse for referrals and closed loop follow-ups for social determinant interventions.
Lack of Routine as an Adjunct to ACEs Screening
CHOC was awarded a $2.4 million grant from the CA Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine (CIAPM) to explore the role of the lack of routine in a child’s life as a co-variant with ACEs. We will study the genetic make-up of children to determine if there are markers that can help us predict a better or worse outcome, and thus, design early interventions.
Transition from Adolescent to Adult Care
Our research is focused on identifying obstacles to a smooth transition of care from a pediatric to an adult provider, such as identifying adult providers to care for the adolescent, parent/adolescent understanding of the adult approach to care, compliance issues and others. This data will help us to develop and implement the most comprehensive care transition program possible, with a tiered approach to care and a structured curriculum that is taught across the organization.
Reducing Unnecessary Emergency Department and Inpatient Admissions/Re-Admissions
Our research is focused on developing a predictive modeling tool embedded in the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) that identifies children with “rising risk,” so interventions can be implemented before the child is admitted or requires ED care.
Population Health Publications
- Effective Care Management For Children with Special Health Care Needs in the Era of Value-Based Payment
- The Effect of Medications on the Odds of Pediatric Readmissions – A Multi-Center Mixed Effects Study
- Race, Ethnicity, and Insurance: The Association with Opioid Use in a Pediatric Hospital Setting
- Adult Provider Perspectives on Transition and Transfer to Adult Care: A Multi-Specialty, Multi-Institutional Exploration.
- Primary to Subspecialty: A Multi-Component Approach to Health Care Transition
- Development of a Telehealth-Based Transitions to Adult Care Program: A Pilot Study
- Targeted Clinical Interventions for Reducing Pediatric Readmissions