Feasibility of computerized clinical decision support for pediatric to adult care transitions for patients with special healthcare needs

The objective of this study was to determine the feasibility of a computerized clinical decision support (cCDS) tool to facilitate referral to adult healthcare services for children with special healthcare needs. A transition-specific cCDS was implemented as part of standard care in a general pediatrics clinic at a tertiary care academic medical center. The cCDS alerts providers to patients 17–26 years old with 1 or more of 15 diagnoses that may be candidates for referral to an internal medicine adult transition clinic (ATC). Provider responses to the cCDS and referral outcomes (e.g. scheduled and completed visits) were retrospectively analyzed using descriptive statistics. One hundred and fifty-two patients were seen during the 20-month observation period. Providers referred 87 patients to the ATC using cCDS and 77% of patients ≥18 years old scheduled a visit in the ATC. Transition-specific cCDS tools are feasible options to facilitate adult care transitions for children with special healthcare needs.