Evidence-based standardization and ED admission rate variation in US children's hospitals.

In this issue of Pediatrics, Bourgeois et al describe wide variation in emergency department (ED) admission rates for common conditions across 35 US children’s hospitals. The greatest variation was observed for concussion, with adjusted admission rates ranging from 5% to 72%; the least was in “bronchiolitis and RSV pneumonia” and “pneumonia not elsewhere classified,” for which rates ranged from 19% to 65% and 19% and 69%, respectively. Studies of adults have demonstrated similar acrossand within-hospital admission variation, indicating this phenomenon goes beyond children’s hospitals.