scholarly journals LO28: Innovating for overcrowding: analyzing the impact of a novel emergency physician role on patient flow

CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S17-S17
Author(s):  
L. Green-Harrison ◽  
Z. Polsky ◽  
T. Fung ◽  
E. Lang ◽  
C. Patocka
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Emergency Physician ◽  
Patient Flow ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Relative Reduction ◽  
Patient Throughput ◽  
Early Management ◽  
Consulting Services ◽  
Physician Role ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: Overcrowding in the Emergency Department (ED) results in delays in care, and increased patient morbidity and mortality. Innovative departmental approaches have the potential to make patient flow through the ED more efficient and reduce overcrowding by improving patient throughput. The Calgary zone ED recently piloted a new physician role, the Emergency Physician Lead (EPL), a senior physician working closely with the charge nurse and consulting services to provide physician leadership, and to troubleshoot flow issues and safety breeches such as EMS offload delays and long emergency inpatient (EIP) stays. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the EPL by determining its effect on key metrics of patient flow, and by identifying which specific EPL interventions were most effective at improving patient throughput. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used to compare Foothills Medical Centre (FMC) ED patients seen by the EPL from March-June 2019 (n = 1343 patients) with a control group from the same period in 2018 (n = 5530). An EMR search was used to collect patient data and generate descriptive statistics, which were compared between groups by Mann-Whitney U-test. Patient handover notes left by the EPL were also collected and analyzed by two independent assessors to develop a list of actions taken by the EPL. Each patient was then coded based on the actions in the handover note, and means for each coded group were compared to control to find correlations between action and changes in key flow metrics. Results: Patients whose care involved the EPL had a 40% shorter average ED length of stay (ELOS) compared to control (515 vs 865 min, p < 0.001). The EPL was especially effective for patients with ELOS above the 90th percentile, with a 58% relative reduction. EPL patients also had lower average times from first contact with the department to first order being placed (79 vs 143 min, p < 0.001), and spent less time as EIPs after being admitted (390 vs 515 mins, p < 0.001). EPL actions aimed at early ordering of investigations or early management showed the largest relative reductions in ELOS, followed by actions related to resolving issues with consulting services (56% and 48% respectively, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The EPL role appears to be associated with improvements in several key metrics of patient flow. Specific EPL actions were correlated with marked decreases in length of stay. The EPL may be an effective strategy to improve patient throughput and combat ED overcrowding.

Palliative medicine consultation impacts DNR designation and length of stay for terminal medical MICU patients

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-406 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dana Lustbader ◽  
Renee Pekmezaris ◽  
Michael Frankenthaler ◽  
Rajni Walia ◽  
Frederick Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Palliative Medicine ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Hospital Length Of Stay ◽  
Rank Test ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Do Not Resuscitate ◽  
Log Rank Test ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Reduced Time

AbstractObjective:The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of a palliative medicine consultation on medical intensive care unit (MICU) and hospital length of stay, Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) designation, and location of death for MICU patients who died during hospitalization.Method:A comparison of two retrospective cohorts in a 17-bed MICU in a tertiary care university-affiliated hospital was conducted. Patients admitted to the MICU between January 1, 2003 and June 30, 2004 (N = 515) were compared to MICU patients who had had a palliative medicine consultation between January 1, 2005 and June 1, 2009 (N = 693). To control for disease severity, only patients in both cohorts who died during their hospitalization were considered for this study.Results:Palliative medicine consultation reduced time until death during the entire hospitalization (log-rank test,p < 0.01). Time from MICU admission until death was also reduced (log-rank test,p < 0.01), further demonstrating the impact of the palliative care consultation on the duration of dying for hospitalized patients. The intervention group contained a significantly higher percentage of patients with a DNR designation at death than did the control group (86% vs. 68%, χ2test,p < 0.0001).Significance of results:Palliative medicine consultation is associated with an increased rate of DNR designation and reduced time until death. Patients in the intervention group were also more likely to die outside the MICU as compared to controls in the usual care group.

scholarly journals The Use of Procalcitonin as a Sepsis Marker in a Community Hospital

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 545-552
Author(s):  
Nathalia De Oro ◽  
Maria E Gauthreaux ◽  
Julie Lamoureux ◽  
Joseph Scott
Keyword(s):  
Lactic Acid ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Community Hospital ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Quasi Experimental ◽  
Current Cutoff ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Procalcitonin (PCT) is a biomarker that shows good sensitivity and specificity in identifying septic patients. Methods This study investigated the diagnostic accuracy of PCT in a community hospital setting and how it compared to that of lactic acid. It explored the impact on patient care before and after PCT implementation regarding costs and length of stay. Two comparative groups were analyzed using an exploratory descriptive case–control study with data from a 19-month period after PCT implementation and a retrospective quasi-experimental study using a control group of emergency department patients diagnosed with sepsis using data before PCT implementation. Results Post-procalcitonin implementation samples included 165 cases and pre-procalcitonin implementation sample included 69 cases. From the 165 sepsis cases who had positive blood cultures, PCT had a sensitivity of 89.7%. In comparison, lactic acid's sensitivity at the current cutoff of 18.02 mg/dL (2.0 mmol/L) was 64.9%. There was a 32% decrease in median cost before and after PCT implementation, even with the length of stay remaining at 5 days in both time periods. Conclusions There was a significant decrease after the implementation of PCT in cost of hospitalization compared to costs before implementation. This cost is highly correlated with length of stay; neither the hospital nor the intensive care unit length of stay showed a difference with before and after implementation. There was a positive correlation between lactic acid and PCT values. PCT values had a higher predictive usefulness than the lactic acid values.

scholarly journals The Infant Cuddler Study: Evaluating the effectiveness of volunteer cuddling in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (7) ◽  
pp. 414-418
Author(s):  
Amanda Hignell ◽  
Karen Carlyle ◽  
Catherine Bishop ◽  
Mary Murphy ◽  
Teresa Valenzano ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Surrogate Marker ◽  
Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Abstinence Syndrome ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Objectives St. Michael’s Hospital launched a volunteer cuddling program for all infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit in October 2015. The program utilizes trained volunteers to cuddle infants when caregivers are not available. This was a pilot study to assess the impact of a volunteer cuddle program on length of stay (LOS) and feasibility of implementation of the program. Methods A mixed methods approach was utilized to measure both quantitative and qualitative impact. A pilot cohort study with a retrospective control group assessed the feasibility of implementing a volunteer cuddling program for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Length of stay was used as a surrogate marker to measure the impact of cuddling on infants being treated for Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome. Focus groups using semi-structured interviews were conducted with volunteers and nurses at the end of the pilot study. Results LOS was reduced by 6.36 days (U=34, P=0.072) for infants with NAS in the volunteer cuddling program. Focus groups with both bedside nurses and program volunteers described a positive impact of cuddling programs on infants, families, staff, and volunteers alike. Conclusions The study results suggest that the volunteer cuddling program may reduce LOS in infants with NAS and have potential economic savings on hospital resources. However, larger prospective cohort studies are needed to confirm these results.

scholarly journals LO007: A pragmatic randomized and controlled evaluation of nurse-initiated protocols

CJEM ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S32-S32
Author(s):  
M.J. Douma ◽  
D. O Dochartiagh ◽  
C.A. Drake ◽  
K.E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Patient Flow ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Emergency Nurses ◽  
Specific Patient ◽  
Patient Allocation ◽  
Ed Overcrowding ◽  
Controlled Evaluation

Introduction: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a common and complicated challenge for EDs worldwide. Nurse-initiated protocols, diagnostics and/or treatments implemented by nurses prior to patients being seen by a physician or nurse practitioner, have been suggested as a potential strategy to improve patient flow. Methods: This randomized, pragmatic, controlled evaluation of 5 nurse-initiated protocols occured in a crowded inner-city ED. Six physicians and 44 registered nurses, 3 clinical nurse educators and 3 unit managers were involved in revising 5 patient-complaint focused protocols prior to evaluation. Thirty (30/180) emergency nurses were provided 1 hour of training on inclusion and exclusion criteria, procedure and evaluation methods. Data was abstracted in a manner concealing patient allocation. Primary outcomes evaluated included time to diagnostic test, treatment, consultation or ED length of stay. This evaluation was completed following both the CONSORT and SQUIRE guidelines. Results: Time to acetaminophen for the intervention group (n=11) was 1h:04 min on average (95%CI 30min to 1h:37min) whereas the control group (n=9) was 3h:35min (95%CI 2h:21min to 4h:48min). The average length of stay of a suspected fractured-hip in the intervention group (n=5) was 3h:34min (95%CI 1h:49min to 5h:19min) and 7h:34min for the control group (n=4) was (95%CI 5h:26min to 9h:42min). Time to troponin in the intervention group (n=29) was one quarter (average 48min, 95% CI 32min to 64min) of the time it was in the control group (n=14) (average 3h:16min, 95%CI 1h:53min to 4h:39min; p < 0.001). The vaginal bleeding in pregnancy protocol reduced length of stay by roughly fifty-percent; the intervention group (n=11) had a length of stay of 4h:57min (95%CI 3h:46min to 6h:08min) compared to 8h:33min (95% CI 6h:23min to 10h:44min) for the control (n=7) (p < 0.001). There was no statistical difference in the length of stay for patients who received protocolized diagnostics for abdominal pain. Conclusion: Targeting specific patient groups with carefully written protocols can improve the timeliness of care. A cooperative and collaborative interdisciplinary group are essential to success. Having a system in place to ensure ongoing quality in protocol application and interdisciplinary support has proven more difficult than improving the primary outcomes in this evaluation.

Early rehabilitation after hospital admission for road trauma using an in-reach multidisciplinary team: a randomised controlled trial

2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1189-1200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Wu ◽  
Steven G Faux ◽  
John Estell ◽  
Stephen Wilson ◽  
Ian Harris ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Usual Care ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Psychological Status ◽  
Randomised Control Trial ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Rehabilitation Team ◽  
Secondary Outcomes ◽  
The Impact

Objective: To investigate the impact of an in-reach rehabilitation team for patients admitted after road trauma. Design: Randomised control trial of usual care versus early involvement of in-reach rehabilitation team. Telephone follow-up was conducted by a blind assessor at three months for those with minor/moderate injuries and six months for serious/severe injuries. Setting: Four participating trauma services in New South Wales, Australia. Subjects: A total of 214 patients admitted during 2012-2015 with a length of stay of at least five days. Intervention: Provision of rehabilitation services in parallel with ward based therapy using an in-reach team for the intervention group. The control group could still access the ward based therapy (usual care). Main measures: The primary outcome was acute length of stay. Secondary outcomes included percentage requiring inpatient rehabilitation, function (Functional Independence Measure and Timed Up and Go Test), psychological status (Depression Anxiety and Stress Score 21), pain (Orebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire) and quality of life (Short Form-12 v2). Results: Median length of stay in acute care was 13 days (IQR 8-21). The intervention group, compared to the control group, received more physiotherapy and occupational therapy sessions (median number of sessions 16.0 versus 11.5, P=0.003). However, acute length of stay did not differ between the intervention and control groups (median 15 vs 12 days, P=0.37). There were no significant differences observed in the secondary outcomes at hospital discharge and follow-up. Conclusion: No additional benefit was found from the routine use of acute rehabilitation teams for trauma patients over and above usual care.

scholarly journals MP38: The impact of physician handoffs on the outcomes of emergency department patients: a medical administrative database retrospective cohort study

CJEM ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (S1) ◽  
pp. S56-S56
Author(s):  
A. Mokhtari ◽  
D. Simonyan ◽  
A. Pineault ◽  
M. Mallet ◽  
S. Blais ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Emergency Physician ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
Independent Predictor ◽  
Hospital Length ◽  
Hospital Length Of Stay ◽  
Emergency Physicians ◽  
Icu Admission ◽  
The Impact

Introduction: A physician handoff is the process through which physicians transfer the primary responsibility of a care unit. The emergency department (ED) is a fast-paced and crowded environment where the risk of information loss between shifts is significant. Yet, the impact of handoffs between emergency physicians on patient outcomes remains understudied. We performed a retrospective cohort study in the ED to determine if handed-off patients, when compared to non-handed-off patients, were at higher risk of negative outcomes. Methods: We included every adult patient first assessed by an emergency physician and subsequently admitted to hospital in one of the five sites of the CHU de Québec-Université Laval during fiscal year 2016-17. Data were extracted from the local hospital discharge database and the ED information system. Primary outcome was mortality. Secondary outcomes were incidence of ICU admission and surgery and hospital length of stay. We conducted multilevel multivariate regression analyses, accounting for patient and hospital clusters and adjusting for demographics, CTAS score, comorbidities, admitting department delay before evaluation by an emergency physician and by another specialty, emergency department crowding, initial ED orientation and handoff timing. We conducted sensitivity analyses excluding patients that had an ED length of stay > 24 hours or events that happened after 72 hours of hospitalization. Results: 21,136 ED visits and 17,150 unique individuals were included in the study. Median[Q1-Q3] age, Charlson index score, door-to-emergency-physician time and ED length of stay were 71[55-83] years old, 3[1-4], 48 [24,90] minutes, 20.8[9.9,32.7] hours, respectively. In multilevel multivariate analysis (OR handoff/no handoff [CI95%] or GMR[SE]), handoff status was not associated with mortality 0.89[0.77,1.02], surgery 0.95[0.85,1.07] or hospital length of stay (-0.02[0.03]). Non-handed-off patients had an increased risk of ICU admission (0.75[0.64,0.87]). ED occupancy rate was an independent predictor of mortality and ICU admission rate irrespectively of handoff status. Sensitivity and sub-group based analyses yielded no further information. Conclusion: Emergency physicians’ handoffs do not seem to increase the risk of severe in-hospital adverse events. ED occupancy rate is an independent predictor of mortality. Further studies are needed to explore the impact of ED handoffs on adverse events of low and moderate severity.

scholarly journals 2148. Performance of the BioFire FilmArray Gastrointestinal Panel in a Clinical Setting of Infectious Diarrhea

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S728-S728
Author(s):  
Gloria Mayela Aguirre-García ◽  
Alejandra Moraila-Baez ◽  
Adrian Camacho-Ortiz
Keyword(s):  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Antibiotic Therapy ◽  
Acute Diarrhea ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Length Of Hospital Stay ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Infectious Diarrhea ◽  
Conventional Methods ◽  
Therapy Modification ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background Infectious diarrhea remains as one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide among all age groups. Conventional methods for diagnosis are time consuming and expensive. The BioFire FilmArray gastrointestinal panel (FA-GIP) tests for 22 enteric pathogens, provides results in a few hours and improves healthcare costs. The impact on antibiotic stewardship is unknown. Methods We conducted a retrospective cohort, multi-center study to evaluate FA-GIP clinical performance in hospitalized patients with acute diarrhea. Patients from 3 hospitals from the Christus Muguerza health group were included between January 2017 and August 2018. The FA-GIP was ordered by the treating physician and was not influenced by the study. Duration of antibiotic therapy, length of hospital stay, and therapy modification were assessed. The comparison group consisted of patients with acute diarrhea in which no FA-GIP was ordered. Results Data from 130 patients with FA-GIP and 107 patients with conventional methods were collected. Pathogens were detected by FA-GIP in 72.3% of the cases. The median of duration of antibiotic therapy in FA-GIP group was 5 days (IQR 0–8) vs. 3 days (IQR 0–6) in conventional methods group, (P < 0.05). The mean length of stay was 3.3(SD ± 2.4) in FA-GIP group vs. 1.9 (SD ± 1.0) in the control group (P < 0.05). Patients in FA-GIP group had more days with diarrhea, lower hemoglobin levels, and higher creatinine levels at admission (Table 1). The most frequent pathogens detected were enteropathogenic Escherichia coli in 24.4%, norovirus in 19.1%, Clostridium difficile in 17.0% and Campylobacter jejuni in 15.9% (Table 2). Therapy modification after FA-GIP results was made in 51.1% of the patients with a detected pathogen, and in 42.8% of patients with no pathogen detected in FA-GIP the antibiotic was stopped. Conclusion Patients in the FA-GIP group had a more complex clinical scenario upon admission, they also had a longer duration of antibiotic therapies and longer length of stay. Although antibiotic therapy was positively influenced by the FA-GIP result, and no pathogen detection leads to withdrawal of unnecessary antibiotics. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Pain management consultation for acute pancreatitis: impact on length of stay and opioid utilization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tendai Ushe ◽  
Shaheen E Lakhan ◽  
Tonja Locklear ◽  
Ronex Muthukattil ◽  
Phyllis Whitehead ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Acute Pancreatitis ◽  
Pain Management ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Pain Scores ◽  
Management Consult ◽  
Management Consultation ◽  
And Control ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Inpatient Length Of Stay

Aim: The purpose of the study was to understand the impact of a pain management consult for acute pancreatitis patients on their inpatient length of stay, morphine milligram equivalences (MMEs) and pancreatitis severity. Materials & methods: Adult patient data were extracted from the electronic health records from 1 October 2016 to 31 December 2018. Results & conclusion: Of 277 patients with a single acute pancreatitis hospitalization, 23 had a pain consultation (treatment group), whereas 254 did not (control group). There were statistically significant differences in median length of stay, median MME total and median MME per day between the treatment and control groups with comparable severity and pain scores (6.8 vs 3.1 days, 196.5 vs 33.8 MMEs, 30.9 vs 12.1 MMEs, respectively, p < 0.0001). This study emphasizes the complexity of pain management and the importance of further research in the field.

The impact of electronic health record implementation on emergency physician efficiency and patient throughput

Healthcare ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Risko ◽  
David Anderson ◽  
Bruce Golden ◽  
Edward Wasil ◽  
Fermin Barrueto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Electronic Health Record ◽  
Emergency Physician ◽  
Health Record ◽  
Patient Throughput ◽  
Electronic Health ◽  
The Impact

scholarly journals The association between the transfer of emergency department admitted patients to inpatient hallways and outcomes of oncology patients

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Lim ◽  
Matthew C. Cheung ◽  
Maureen E. Trudeau ◽  
Kevin R. Imrie ◽  
Ben De Mendonca ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Patient Flow ◽  
Vital Signs ◽  
Medication Administration ◽  
Oncology Patients ◽  
Flow Quality ◽  
Ed Crowding ◽  
The Impact

Objective: A protocol was implemented to ease Emergency Department (ED) crowding by moving suitable admitted patients into inpatient hallway beds (HALL) or off-service beds (OFF) when beds on an admitting service’s designated ward (ON) were not available. This study assessed the impact of hallway and off-service oncology admissions on ED patient flow, quality of care and patient satisfaction.Methods: Retrospective and prospective data were collected on patients admitted to the medical oncology service from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2011. Data on clinician assessments and time performance measures were collected. Satisfaction surveys were prospectively administered to all patients. Results: Two hundred and ninty-seven patients (117 HALL, 90 OFF, 90 ON) were included in this study. There were no significant differences between groups for frequency of physician assessments, physical exam maneuvers at initial physician visit, time to complete vital signs or time to medication administration. The median (IQR) time spent admitted in the ED prior to departure from the ED was significantly longer for HALL patients (5.53 hrs [1.59-13.03 hrs]) compared to OFF patients (2.00 hrs [0.37-3.69 hrs]) and ON patients (2.18 hrs [0.15-5.57 hrs]) (p < .01). Similarly, the median (IQR) total ED length of stay was significantly longer for HALL patients (13.82 hrs [7.43-20.72 hrs]) compared to OFF patients (7.18 hrs [5.72-11.42 hrs]) and ON patients (9.34 hrs [5.43-14.06 hrs]) (p < .01). HALL patients gave significantly lower overall satisfaction scores with mean (SD) satisfaction scores for HALL, OFF and ON patients being 3.58 (1.20), 4.23 (0.58) and 4.29 (0.69) respectively (p < .01). Among HALL patients, 58% were not comfortable being transferred into the hallway and 4% discharged themselves against medical advice. Conclusions: The protocol for transferring ED admitted patients to inpatient hallway beds did not reduce ED length of stay for oncology patients. The timeliness and frequency of clinical assessments were not compromised; however, patient satisfaction was decreased.

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