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Emergency Department Care (emergency + department_care)
Selected AbstractsUsing Data from Hospital Information Systems to Improve Emergency Department CareACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2004Gregg Husk MD Abstract The ubiquity of computerized hospital information systems, and of inexpensive computing power, has led to an unprecedented opportunity to use electronic data for quality improvement projects and for research. Although hospitals and emergency departments vary widely in their degree of integration of information technology into clinical operations, most have computer systems that manage emergency department registration, admission,discharge,transfer information, billing, and laboratory and radiology data. These systems are designed for specific tasks, but contain a wealth of detail that can be used to educate staff and improve the quality of care emergency physicians offer their patients. In this article, the authors describe five such projects that they have performed and use these examples as a basis for discussion of some of the methods and logistical challenges of undertaking such projects. [source] Do California Counties With Lower Socioeconomic Levels Have Less Access to Emergency Department Care?ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 5 2010Deepa Ravikumar Abstract Objectives:, The study objective was to examine the relationship between number of emergency departments (EDs) per capita in California counties and measures of socioeconomic status, to determine whether individuals living in areas with lower socioeconomic levels have decreased access to emergency care. Methods:, The authors linked 2005 data from the American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Survey of Hospitals with the Area Resource Files from the United States Department of Health and Human Services and performed Poisson regression analyses of the association between EDs per capita in individual California counties using the Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) county codes and three measures of socioeconomic status: median household income, percentage uninsured, and years of education for individuals over 25 years of age. Multivariate analyses using Poisson regression were also performed to determine if any of these measures of socioeconomic status were independently associated with access to EDs. Results:, Median household income is inversely related to the number of EDs per capita (rate ratio = 0.83; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.71 to 0.96). Controlling for income in the multivariate analysis demonstrates that there are more EDs per 100,000 population in FIPS codes with more insured residents when compared with areas having less insured residents with the same levels of household income. Similarly, FIPS codes whose residents have more education have more EDs per 100,000 compared with areas with the same income level whose residents have less education. Conclusions:, Counties whose residents are poorer have more EDs per 100,000 residents than those with higher median household incomes. However, for the same income level, counties with more insured and more highly educated residents have a greater number of EDs per capita than those with less insured and less educated residents. These findings warrant in-depth studies on disparities in access to care as they relate to socioeconomic status. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2010; 17:508,513 © 2010 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine [source] Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Emergency Department Care for Mild Traumatic Brain InjuryACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2003Jeffrey J. Bazarian MD Abstract Objectives: To identify racial, ethnic, and gender disparities in the emergency department (ED) care for mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI). Methods: A secondary analysis of ED visits in the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for the years 1998 through 2000 was performed. Cases of mTBI were identified using ICD-9 codes 800.0, 800.5, 850.9, 801.5, 803.0, 803.5, 804.0, 804.5, 850.0, 850.1, 850.5, 850.9, 854.0, and 959.01. ED care variables related to imaging, procedures, treatments, and disposition were analyzed along racial, ethnic, and gender categories. The relationship between race, ethnicity, and selected ED care variables was analyzed using multivariate logistic regression with control for associated injuries, geographic region, and insurance type. Results: The incidence of mTBI was highest among men (590/100,000), Native Americans/Alaska Natives (1026.2/100,000), and non-Hispanics (391.1/100,000). After controlling for important confounders, Hispanics were more likely than non-Hispanics to receive a nasogastric tube (OR, 6.36; 95% CI = 1.2 to 33.6); nonwhites were more likely to receive ED care by a resident (OR, 3.09; 95% CI = 1.9 to 5.0) and less likely to be sent back to the referring physician after ED discharge (OR, 0.47; 95% CI = 0.3 to 0.9). Men and women received equivalent ED care. Conclusions: There are significant racial and ethnic but not gender disparities in ED care for mTBI. The causes of these disparities and the relationship between these disparities and post-mTBI outcome need to be examined. [source] Effect of Ethnicity on Denial of Authorization for Emergency Department Care by Managed Care GatekeepersACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2001Robert A. Lowe MD Abstract. Objective: After a pilot study suggested that African American patients enrolled in managed care organizations (MCOs) were more likely than whites to be denied authorization for emergency department (ED) care through gatekeeping, the authors sought to determine the association between ethnicity and denial of authorization in a second, larger study at another hospital. Methods: A retrospective cohort design was used, with adjustment for triage score, age, gender, day and time of arrival at the ED, and type of MCO. Results: African Americans were more likely to be denied authorization for ED visits by the gatekeepers representing their MCOs even after adjusting for confounders, with an odds ratio of 1.52 (95% CI = 1.18 to 1.94). Conclusions: African Americans were more likely than whites to be denied authorization for ED visits. The observational study design raises the possibility that incomplete control of confounding contributed to or accounted for the association between ethnicity and gatekeeping decisions. Nevertheless, the questions that these findings raise about equity of gatekeeping indicate a need for additional research in this area. [source] Preventable Deaths from Quality Failures in Emergency Department Care for Pneumonia and Myocardial Infarction: An OverestimationACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 3 2008Christopher Fee MD No abstract is available for this article. [source] Hospital Characteristics and Emergency Department Care of Older Patients Are Associated with Return VisitsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 5 2007DrPH, Jane McCusker MD ObjectivesTo explore hospital characteristics and indicators of emergency department (ED) care of older patients associated with return visits to the ED. MethodsProvincial databases in the province of Quebec, Canada, and a survey of ED geriatric services were linked at the individual and hospital level, respectively. All general acute care adult hospitals with at least 100 eligible patients who visited an ED during 2001 were included (N= 80). The study population (N= 140,379) comprised community-dwelling individuals aged 65 years and older who made an initial ED visit in 2001 and were discharged home. Characteristics of the hospitals included location, number of ED beds, ED resources, and geriatric services in the hospital and the ED. Indicators of ED care at the initial visit included day of the visit, availability of hospital beds, and relative crowding. The main outcome was time to first return ED visit; the authors also analyzed the type of return visit (with or without hospital admission at return visit, and return visits within seven days). ResultsIn multilevel multivariate analyses adjusting for patient characteristics (sociodemographic, ED diagnosis, comorbidity, prior health services utilization), the following variables were independently associated (p < 0.05) with a shorter time to first return ED visit: more limited ED resources, fewer than 12 ED beds, no geriatric unit, no social worker in the ED, fewer available hospital beds at the time of the ED visit, and an ED visit on a weekend. ConclusionsIn general, more limited ED resources and indicators of ED care (weekend visits, fewer available hospital beds) are associated with return ED visits in seniors, although the magnitude of the effects is generally small. [source] Prehospital Electrocardiograms (ECGs) Do Not Improve the Process of Emergency Department Care in Hospitals with Higher Usage of ECGs in Non,ST-segment Elevation Myocardial Infarction PatientsCLINICAL CARDIOLOGY, Issue 12 2009Michael T. Cudnik Background This article will describe the impact of prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG) use on emergency department (ED) processes of care for non,ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI) patients and assess the characteristics associated with prehospital ECG use. Methods This is a retrospective, multicenter, observational analysis of NSTEMI patients captured by the National Cardiovascular Data Registry-Acute Coronary Treatment and Intervention Outcomes Network Registry,Get with the Guidelines (NCDR ACTION-GWTG) in 2007. Patient and hospital data were stratified by documentation of a prehospital ECG (pECG). Hospitals were stratified into tertiles of pECG use by higher pECG (>5.6%, n 91), lower pECG (, 5.6%, n = 83), or no pECG (n = 100). Statistical evaluation was done via Wilcoxon rank sum and ,2 tests. Results There were 21 251 patients eligible for analysis. A pECG was documented in 1609 (7.6%) patients. Of 274 hospitals, 100 (36.5%) had no pECGs recorded. Median ED length of stay (LOS) was shorter at no pECG hospitals vs lower pECG hospitals (3.97 h vs 4.12 h, P < 0.05), but not higher pECG hospitals vs no pECG hospitals (3.85 h vs 3.97 h, P = not significant [NS]). A pECG was not associated with an improvement in ED performance metrics (use of aspirin, ,-blocker, any heparin) in the higher pECG hospitals vs no pECG hospitals or the lower pECG hospitals vs no pECG hospitals. Conclusions Use of prehospital ECG in NSTEMI patients is uncommon. In contrast to its impact on reperfusion times in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients, its use does not appear to be associated with an improvement in ED processes of care at the hospital level. Copyright © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] The Demands of 24/7 Coverage: Using Faculty Perceptions to Measure Fairness of the ScheduleACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 1 2004Frank L. Zwemer Jr. MD Objectives: Ensuring fair, equitable scheduling of faculty who work 24-hour, 7-day-per-week (24/7) clinical coverage is a challenge for academic emergency medicine (EM). Because most emergency department care is at personally valuable times (evenings, weekends, nights), optimizing clinical work is essential for the academic mission. To evaluate schedule fairness, the authors developed objective criteria for stress of the schedule, modified the schedule to improve equality, and evaluated faculty perceptions. They hypothesized that improved equality would increase faculty satisfaction. Methods: Perceived stress was measured for types of clinical shifts. The seven daily shifts were classified as weekday, weekend, or holiday (plus one unique teaching-conference coverage shift). Faculty assigned perceived stress to shifts (ShiftStress) utilizing visual analog scales (VAS). Faculty schedules were measured (ShiftScores) for two years (1998,1999), and ShiftScore distribution of faculty was determined quarterly. Schedules were modified (1999) to reduce interindividual ShiftScore standard deviation (SD). The survey was performed pre- and postintervention. Results: Preintervention, 26 faculty (100% of eligible) assigned VAS to 22 shifts. Increased stress was perceived in progression (weekday data, 0,10 scale) from day to evening to night (2.07, 5.00, 6.67, respectively) and from weekday to weekend to holiday (day-shift data, 2.07, 4.93, 5.87). The intervention reduced interindividual ShiftScore SD by 21%. Postintervention survey revealed no change in perceived equality or satisfaction. Conclusions: Faculty perceived no improvement despite scheduling modifications that improved equality of the schedule and provided objective measures. Other predictors of stress, fairness, and satisfaction with the demanding clinical schedule must be identified to ensure the success of EM faculty. [source] Anxiety as a factor influencing satisfaction with emergency department care: perspectives of accompanying personsJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 24 2009Anna Ekwall Aim., To measure levels of anxiety among people accompanying consumers to the emergency department and to explore how anxiety influences satisfaction with care. Background., When people seek treatment in an emergency department they are often accompanied by a next-of-kin, family member or friend. While the accompanying person plays a vital role in providing psycho-social support to consumers, little is known about how they perceive the quality of care. Learning more about how accompanying persons perceive care may inform the development of strategies to enhance communication processes between staff, consumers and accompanying persons. Design., A prospective cross-sectional survey design. Methods., Data were collected from a consecutive sample of accompanying persons at one Australian metropolitan teaching hospital. Of all eligible individuals approached, 128/153 (83·7%) returned completed questionnaires. The questionnaire comprised a series of open- and close-ended questions about perceptions of medical need, urgency and satisfaction with the overall visit. Anxiety was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A). Results., There was a significant association between the accompanying person's levels of anxiety and satisfaction at point of discharge. In the satisfied group, mean VAS-A scores were 17·4 (SD 17·5) compared to 42·9 (SD 26·6) in the not satisfied group (p = 0·011). Moreover, those participants who were not satisfied with the visit did not show a significant reduction in VAS-A scores from triage to point of discharge. Conclusion., The lower the level of anxiety reported by accompanying persons when leaving the emergency department, the more satisfied they are likely to be with their emergency department visit. Ultimately, well informed and confident accompanying persons are beneficial for ensuring quality patient support. Relevance to clinical practice., Asking accompanying persons about their anxiety level before discharge gives them the opportunity to pose clarifying questions and is, therefore, an effective way of improving their satisfaction with the emergency department visit. [source] Implementing Early Goal-directed Therapy in the Emergency Setting: The Challenges and Experiences of Translating Research Innovations into Clinical Reality in Academic and Community SettingsACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 11 2007Alan E. Jones MD Research knowledge translation into clinical practice pathways is a complex process that is often time-consuming and resource-intensive. Recent evidence suggests that the use of early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) in the emergency department care of patients with severe sepsis and septic shock results in a substantial mortality benefit; however, EGDT is a time- and resource-intensive intervention. The feasibility with which institutions may translate EGDT from a research protocol into routine clinical care, among settings with varying resources, staff, and training, is largely unknown. The authors report the individual experiences of EGDT protocol development, as well as preimplementation and postimplementation experiences, at three institutions with different emergency department, intensive care unit, and hospital organization schemes. [source] | ||||||||||