Endocrinology

At Phoenix Children’s, we develop state-of-the-art programs and processes to help children manage their endocrine disorders and live healthy lives.

Our team works to improve patient outcomes in every facet of endocrinology, including diabetes, congenital hypothyroidism, bone disorders, adrenal insufficiency, growth issues, early and delayed puberty, and more.

To innovate our treatment programs and ensure the highest level of care, we use a systematic process that combines:

  • The latest data
  • Analytics
  • Clinical acumen 
  • Clinical team building

Our innovative work is a partnership between the Endocrinology leadership and the Information Technology leadership at Phoenix Children’s. We use a combination of Power-BI dashboards, weekly automated targeted emails and monthly meetings to achieve our goals.

Would You Like To Collaborate and Innovate?

We invite our colleagues at Phoenix Children’s to join us. We’re always interested. To discuss potential projects, please reach out to us at endocrine [at] phoenixchildrens.com (endocrine[at]phoenixchildrens[dot]com). Let’s innovate together.

Major Projects and Publications

View highlights of our major projects and publications.

  • We care for more than 2,000 patients with T1DM every year.
  • Quality efforts to ensure the highest level of care for our patients include:
    • Diabetes education – measuring frequency and adequacy
    • Median A1C tracking for the practice, by subgroups, with an aim to get A1C closer to target overall
    • Continuous glucose monitors and the utilization team
    • Hospital readmissions – measured jointly with the inpatient utilization team

  • We take care of 400 to 500 patients with T2DM every year.
  • Quality efforts to ensure the highest level of care for our patients include:
    • Decreasing the percentage of patients not seen for >180 days in clinic visits 
    • Reducing median A1C in Type 2 diabetes
    • Proper use of diabetes agents such as GLP-1 and SGLT-2. 
      i.  GLP-1 drugs are non-insulin treatments for people with Type 2 diabetes. 
      ii.  SGLT-2 inhibitors lower blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through the urine.

  • The primary goal is to increase the percentage of patients under 3 years old with at least two normal thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) values each year.
    • The TSH blood test looks at how well the thyroid gland is working by measuring levels of TSH.
    • Between 2021 and 2023, we significantly increased our percentage of patients with normal TSH ranges from 75% to 93%, which is not only significant for our patients, but has also helped to improve our division’s U.S. News & World Report scores.

  • We created a PowerBI dashboard that allows us to track patients with osteogenesis imperfecta.
  • The primary aim is to make sure bisphosphonate infusions happen at appropriate time intervals.
    • Bisphosphonates are drugs that work to increase bone density and improve strength.
       

  • We standardized documentation and management of adrenal insufficiency within the Endocrinology division.
  • We created hospital-wide protocols for stress dosing within the institution, paired with complex care alerts for children with adrenal insufficiency in the electronic medical records (EMR) system. 
  • We track the percentage of our AI patients that has steroids ordered, and given, for any emergency room arrival or hospitalization.

  • We use predictive technology, based on certain parameters. These include the family or caregiver response to text messages and previous no-show appointments. With this data, we create a no-show risk score.
  • Providers who have two or more patients at high risk of no-show each day are notified and can investigate it with their teams.

Helping Children and Families with Quality and Innovative Care

The programs we create benefit patients and their families every day. We are dedicated to continuous growth and improvement of processes. To join in our innovation of endocrinological care, please contact us at endocrine [at] phoenixchildrens.com (endocrine[at]phoenixchildrens[dot]com).

Journal Publications:

  1. Chambers et al., Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Efficacy of an Intensive Clinic-Based Intervention for Children with Poorly Controlled Type 1 Diabetes, Endocrine Practice 2022
  2. Sandblom et al., Electronic Dashboard to Improve Outcomes in Pediatric Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology 2023
  3. Chakravarthy et al., Implementation of IT supported standardization of individualized hydrocortisone management for treatment of adrenal insufficiency, Journal of Ped Endocrinology and Metabolism 2023

Special Thanks to:

  • Thomas J. Beatson, Jr. Foundation, for assistance in launching and maintaining the Type 1 diabetes efforts
  • Jonathan and Elisa Pinkus, for their assistance in launching and maintaining the non-Type 1 diabetes efforts