SCCM Pediatric Section Internet Working Group (SCCMPIWG)

Meeting Minutes February 1997

A dozen or so members of SCCMPIWG gathered on the morning of 2/9/97 during the SCCM symposium in San Diego for a meeting chaired by Carl Weigle and Barry Markovitz. After brief summaries, by Barry and Carl, of the past developments and current staus of the PICU list and the PedsCCM Website, discussion turned to current problems, projects, and future plans for these resources, as follows:

1. The PICU list:
   1. Survey on perceived list value
      • Survey by Carl Weigle, Mary Zollo, and Peter Tarczy-Hornoch currently being analyzed, and manuscript being prepared.
        • Most value 6 months on the list as highly as a one-year journal subscription or a single national meeting.
        • Most use the list as self-education, not to change patient care.
      • Followup: Carl Weigle et al.
   2. Proposals to analyze content of past messages
      • Adrienne Randolph (unable to attend) planning to categorize past messages for several months before and after establishing an evidence-based medicine resource on PedsCCM, to answer the question:
        • Does ready access to an EBM resource cause an increase in quality of discussions ?
      • Followup: Carl Weigle with Adrienne Randolph
   3. Proposal to follow up on past presented cases
      • Jane Barnsteiner suggested that people who had presented difficult cases contemporaneously on the list be contacted individually and asked:
        • Was care changed?
        • Was the discussion opinion or evidence-based?
        • what was the patient's outcome?
        • etc.
      • Followup: Carl Weigle with Jane Barnsteiner
   4. The issue of standards
      • Tim Timmons asked if standards were changing due to discussions on the list and if so:
        • What standards have changed?
        • Have they changed for good reasons?
        • Have they changed just because of "loud" voices on the PICU list?
      • Followup: None (see above)
   5. Journal Club feature .
      • Barry Markovitz suggested a Journal Club as a regular scheduled feature on the PICU list.
        • Jonathan Woods was approached before the meeting by Barry and Carl with this job in mind, having previously volunteered to help on unspecified projects.
        • With no objection from the SCCMPIWG assemblage, Jonathan became the PICU Journal Club Taskmaster.
        • Details of the Journal Club function were not worked out .
      • Followup: Jonathan Wood
2. The PedsCCM Website:
   • Where are the original contributions?
     • Very few have been offered. Requested materials include:
       • outline for talk
       • slide show
       • journal club notes
       • small chapter
       • rare case presentation
     • Why? Reasons suggested by the group included:
       • People too busy.
       • Not enough academic credit.
       • Fear of being exposed as inadequate.
       • Competion from more traditional publication media.
     • Suggestions included:
       • Establishing more academic "weight" over time will help
       • separate areas for "quick and dirty" talks -vs- national meeting quality
         • "Quick and dirty" talks not meant to be authoratative, just stimulating discussion guides
     • Followup: Barry Markovitz and co-editors
   • The (electronic) Journal of Pediatric Critical Care:
     • What makes an electronic journal have academic merit?
     • What does it take to be in the Index Medicus?
     • What has come of the discussions in September at the first SCCMPIWG meeting regarding a search for a foundation to support an electronic Journal of Pediatric Critical Care?
     • Could SCCM become the supporting body for such a journal?
     • More questions than answers were offered.
     • Followup: Barry Markovitz, Carl Weigle.
   • EBM
     • Adrienne Randolph (unable to attend this meeting) has been working hard to develop an EBM database for Pediatric Critical Care
     • Barry Markovitz and Adrienne will establish a WWW site to house this database and encourage others to participate
     • Followup: Barry Markovitz and Adrienne Randolph
   • The Electronics Committee of the SCCM
   • Barry Markovitz and Carl Weigle have been invited to serve on this committee, Barry attended the meeting at this Symposium.
     • SCCM has upgraded its own LAN and PC's, and strengthened its in-house IS support.
     • SCCM will be pushing to use the Internet more effectively to:
       • Publish information about the Society
       • Allow ordering of SCCM materials
       • Enhance other interaction with SCCM (e.g. e-mail)
       • Begin electronic publishing - at least the table of contents for CCM
     • All of this will be guided by professional consultant(s) so as to create a high-quality presence

Posted April 1997 by Carl Weigle

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