Effects of Structured Encounter Forms on Pediatric House Staff Knowledge, Parent Satisfaction, and Quality of Care

To evaluate the effects of health supervision structured encounter forms on pediatric house staff knowledge, parent satisfaction, and quality of care.Randomized, controlled trial.Pediatric house staff continuity clinic in a university-based children's hospital.53 pediatric house officers and 153 parents.House staff were randomized to use structured encounter forms focused on developmental milestones (group 1) or anticipatory guidance/preventive care (group 2) during health supervision visits.Changes in house staff knowledge were assessed with pretests and posttests. Parent satisfaction was assessed with surveys. Quality of care, defined as compliance with recommended guidelines for age-specific health supervision, was assessed by audiotaping visits.Group 1 demonstrated greater but not significantly different improvement in knowledge of developmental milestones than group 2, while group 2 improved more than group 1 in knowledge of anticipatory guidance/ preventive care. Parent satisfaction with developmental screening was significantly greater for group 1 visits than for group 2 visits (P < .001). Group 1 demonstrated significantly greater compliance than group 2 with recommended standards of developmental screening (P = .001).The use of structured encounter forms for health supervision in pediatric house staff continuity clinics may increase house staff knowledge of developmental milestones and anticipatory guidance/preventive care, increases parent satisfaction with developmental assessment during health supervision, and improves compliance with recommended guidelines for developmental assessment.