An EMR alert is effective for reducing food allergy panel ordering among pediatric and adult patients, according to a study
presented at the 2023 annual meeting of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology. Jenika Ferretti-Gallon, MD, and colleagues conducted a quality improvement project involving an EMR intervention consisting of a hard-stop alert with food allergy order placement and recommendation of targeted testing instead. The intervention’s effectiveness was examined by reviewing pediatric and adult patients for whom food allergy panels were ordered in the 12 months before and after the intervention. A total of 318 charts were reviewed; 98 food allergy panels were ordered in the year post-intervention, representing a 55% reduction from the previous year. Per month, 18.3±7.2 food panels were ordered pre-intervention compared with 8.1±1.8 post-intervention. Overall, 7.9% of patients had symptoms consistent with IgE-mediated food allergy. Chronic abdominal pain and recurrent rash were the most common presenting symptoms (37.4% and 22.3%, respectively). Of those with positive tests, 42.2% and 49.0% were instructed to eliminate food from their diet and were given no clear dietary instructions, respectively.
