Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital needed dependable VPS Registry abstraction during a period of staffing pressure, backlog risk, and rising pediatric intensive care unit volume. With American Data Network, the organization gained specialized pediatric abstraction support, clearer workflow visibility, and greater confidence that registry work would stay on track.
IN THIS CASE STUDY
The Problem: LLUCH Needed VPS Registry Support During Staffing and Volume Pressure
The Path: ADN Learned the VPS Registry and Adapted the Workflow
The Outcome: Less Deadline Pressure and More Confidence in the Registry Workflow
Extending Internal Capacity: Specialized Abstraction Support Reduced the Need to Rebuild Coverage
The Conclusion: A Specialized Pediatric Registry Partner for Complex Abstraction Needs
Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital (LLUCH) had long recognized the value of registry data for quality and patient safety, but the Virtual Pediatric Systems Registry had become difficult to sustain with limited internal coverage. By the time American Data Network (ADN) began supporting the work on Jan. 24, 2025, LLUCH had approximately 181 VPS backlog cases from 2024 and a Feb. 10 deadline. The hospital’s goal was to have patients entered into VPS within a month of discharge, yet staffing gaps, vacations, leave, turnover, increased pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) volume, and winter overflow into the cardiac ICU all made that goal harder to maintain.
Before partnering with ADN, the work depended heavily on one primary nurse abstractor. For Beth Rankin, AVP of Clinical Operations at LLUCH, that created an ongoing vulnerability. Any absence or change in availability could affect deadline readiness and the team’s ability to keep pace with new cases.
Julie Fluitt, Clinical Manager for Quality and Safety at LLUCH, saw the strain from the clinical quality side. Before ADN became involved, she described stress and frustration around whether the team would meet VPS registry submission deadlines.
LLUCH needed more than temporary coverage. It needed a clinical data abstraction partner that could learn VPS requirements, provide consistent support, and help the internal team move away from repeatedly piecing together coverage.
LLUCH already had experience with American Data Network through other pediatric and cardiac registry work, including the Pediatric Cardiac Critical Care Consortium (PC4). That prior implementation had gone well, which helped build confidence when the hospital needed outside support for VPS.
The VPS Registry required additional learning because ADN had not previously supported that specific registry. Onboarding was more complex than expected, with registry-specific requirements that had to be completed before ADN could fully support the work. Rankin pointed to ADN’s focus on the goal during that process.
ADN’s approach during onboarding stood out. “They were all very flexible and understanding,” Rankin said. “Their approach was always, ‘What do you need us to do?’ And then the team followed through. It was perfect.”
ADN also adapted the workflow to give LLUCH more visibility into case status and feedback. Crystal Hout, Assistant Manager, Data Abstraction Services at American Data Network, supported regular communication, case tracking, feedback review, and updates so LLUCH’s internal team could easily see what had been completed and what still needed attention.
That communication became one of the clearest strengths of the partnership. When questions or confusion came up, Fluitt said the ADN and LLUCH teams worked through them in an open back-and-forth conversation. She described Hout as “an excellent partner in quality.”
ADN completed all 181 cases by Feb. 8, two days ahead of the deadline. That early backlog work became proof of concept for the broader partnership: ADN could learn a specialized registry quickly, deliver under time-sensitive conditions, and continue supporting VPS as part of the hospital’s ongoing abstraction workflow.
ADN now supports approximately 60% of monthly VPS cases, while LLUCH manages the remaining 40%. Since ADN joined the work, LLUCH has continued meeting quarterly VPS submission deadlines, and the concerns that once surrounded each submission cycle have quieted. Rankin described the work as efficient and said she no longer had to carry the same level of worry. From Fluitt’s perspective, there was simply “a lot less stress.”
Rankin also pointed to timely entry as an important benefit. She described the process as more efficient than it had ever been and said her team is still generally meeting the goal of having patients entered within a month, even when longer patient stays affect timing.
The partnership gave Rankin confidence in data quality as well. Because ADN validates its data and processes, she felt comfortable that accurate information was going into the registry.
The added capacity also helped LLUCH preserve the value of VPS data for improvement work. Rankin said the PICU has a strong quality structure and uses VPS data for quality improvement projects, and that the ability to include additional data elements in VPS was one of the biggest benefits of the partnership.
For Rankin, ADN’s value was clear: the team took on a difficult-to-sustain body of work and committed to getting it done. That reliability gave her confidence that VPS abstraction would continue without constant oversight.
That mattered because adding and sustaining internal registry coverage was not simple. Rankin said the cost of partnering with ADN was close to what it would have taken to add full-time employee capacity, but with the added benefit that she did not have to micromanage the process and could trust that ADN’s commitments would be met.
The improved workflow also gave internal staff more flexibility. Fluitt said the team was able to redirect time toward other quality work, including review of a PICU sepsis patient timeline, because VPS abstraction was no longer consuming the same level of internal capacity.
LLUCH’s VPS work shows the value of having an abstraction partner that can adapt to a specialized registry, communicate clearly, and support internal teams through staffing and volume changes.
ADN learned the registry, worked through onboarding requirements, adapted the workflow, and helped reduce pressure around quarterly VPS submissions. For hospital leaders, that meant fewer worries about whether the work would get done and more confidence that registry data was being handled with care.
Rankin said ADN’s flexibility and commitment made the difference. The team did not simply agree to help. It stayed focused on what the hospital needed, adapted to the registry’s requirements, and helped make VPS abstraction more manageable.
For pediatric quality leaders, registry abstraction can become difficult to sustain when the work depends on a small number of internal experts. Staffing changes, rising volume, leave, and registry-specific requirements can quickly create pressure around submission timelines and data quality.
LLUCH’s experience shows how American Data Network’s clinical data abstraction services can help stabilize that work. With specialized abstraction support, clear communication, case tracking, feedback review, and validation processes, ADN helped the hospital keep VPS abstraction moving while giving leaders and staff more time to use the data for quality improvement.
For children’s hospitals managing complex registry work, the right abstraction partner helps protect more than deadlines. It helps preserve the time, trust, and data continuity quality teams need to turn registry requirements into useful information for better patient care.
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