284 - Evaluating virtual family-centered rounds effectiveness, efficiency and usability during COVID-19

Poster Number: 284

Melanie Buba, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Catherine Dulude, CHEO Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Dennis Newhook, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Ottawa, ON, Canada; Stephanie D. Sutherland, Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario, Toronto, ON, Canada

Background: Virtual care has seen exponential growth since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic however, the evaluation of virtual care tools and services is lacking, particularly in the inpatient setting. In this study, we evaluate our virtual family-centered rounds (vFCR) process against the core components of in-person family-centered rounds (FCR) to ensure high quality care is maintained and support adoption by health care providers, administrators, patients and caregivers.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare vFCR to established core components of in-person FCR. Perceptions of overall satisfaction, safety and technology usability were also explored.

Design/Methods: This was a mixed methods process evaluation of vFCR. Data collection included virtual and in-person observation and post-vFCR participant surveys. Virtual observations focused on timing and adherence to core components of FCR, while in-person naturalistic observations focused on technology interaction and usability. Observation data underwent quantitative and content analysis. Survey data were analysed with descriptive statistics and content analysis for open-text responses.

Results: Sixty-two vFCR were observed virtually and 40 vFCR were observed in-person. A patient and/or caregiver participated in 68% of observed vFCR. Adherence to the core components of FCR was variable (Table 1). Mean duration of a single patient round was 8.44 ± 4.93 min, with a mean transition time between patients of 3.96 ± 2.96 min.
 
One hundred and four surveys were completed (76% response rate), 42 by patients/caregivers and 62 by members of the medical team. The majority (93/100) of respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with vFCR, and 67/100 felt it was important or very important to do FCR virtually during the pandemic to keep people safer. Importantly, vFCR was perceived by 55/57 of medical team respondents as supporting shared decision making with patients and caregivers, and 31/40 of patients/caregivers felt like a valued partner in their (child’s) care.
 
vFCR technology was perceived as easy or very easy to use by 94/99 of respondents.
 
Additional comments were submitted by 38% of respondents about their experience with vFCR (Figure 1).Conclusion(s): Virtual family-centered rounds afford adherence to the core components of family-centered rounds. Satisfaction with vFCR and perceived usability of vFCR technology were highly rated. The efficiency and quality of vFCR may be optimized through training on the rounding process and technology and recognition of family-centered rounds as a part of inpatient pediatric care that should be prioritized.
Table 1: Adherence to core components of family-centered rounds during virtual family-centered rounds.
Figure 1. Responses to the question “Is there anything else you would like to share about your experience with virtual family-centered rounds?”