• CJEM · Mar 2022

    Implementation of a standardized pregnancy screening process to address gender disparities in radiology turn-around-time and ED length of stay.

    • Dana E Loke, Andra M Farcas, Justine S Ko, Laurie M Aluce, Valerie R McDonald, Nahzinine Shakeri, and Abra L Fant.
    • Department of Emergency Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, 211 E Ontario St, Suite 200, Chicago, IL, 60611, USA. dana.loke@northwestern.edu.
    • CJEM. 2022 Mar 1; 24 (2): 206-213.

    ObjectiveThe objective of this initiative was to quantify and intervene upon suspected gender disparities in CT turn-around-time and emergency department (ED) length of stay.MethodsThis was a single-site before-after quality improvement initiative including patients aged 12-50 who underwent CT chest and/or abdomen/pelvis. The intervention included protocolization of the pregnancy screening process in triage. Primary outcomes included the difference between women of childbearing age and similarly aged men in regards to CT turn-around-time and ED length of stay. Pre- and post-intervention data were analyzed, including an "intensive intervention period" subanalysis.ResultsCT turn-around-time for women of childbearing age was 19 min longer than for similarly aged men at baseline and did not change significantly post-intervention. ED length of stay was 27 min longer for women of childbearing age compared to similarly aged men at baseline and 7 min longer post-intervention, although this was still a significant difference. During the intensive intervention period, CT turn-around-time for women of childbearing age was 15 min longer than similarly aged men but the difference in ED length of stay of 10 min was no longer significant.ConclusionsThere is gender disparity in CT turn-around-time and ED length of stay in our ED, highlighting an important area for improvement to promote equitable care. A quality improvement initiative that aimed to protocolize pregnancy testing in triage did not show sustainable improvement in these outcomes but did result in increased pregnancy testing.© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians (CAEP)/ Association Canadienne de Médecine d'Urgence (ACMU).

      Pubmed     Full text   Copy Citation     Plaintext  

      Add institutional full text...

    Notes

     
    Knowledge, pearl, summary or comment to share?
    300 characters remaining
    help        
    You can also include formatting, links, images and footnotes in your notes
    • Simple formatting can be added to notes, such as *italics*, _underline_ or **bold**.
    • Superscript can be denoted by <sup>text</sup> and subscript <sub>text</sub>.
    • Numbered or bulleted lists can be created using either numbered lines 1. 2. 3., hyphens - or asterisks *.
    • Links can be included with: [my link to pubmed](http://pubmed.com)
    • Images can be included with: ![alt text](https://bestmedicaljournal.com/study_graph.jpg "Image Title Text")
    • For footnotes use [^1](This is a footnote.) inline.
    • Or use an inline reference [^1] to refer to a longer footnote elseweher in the document [^1]: This is a long footnote..

    hide…