• Sunhui Choi, Jinmi Lee, Yujung Shin, JuRy Lee, JiYoung Jung, Myongja Han, JeongSuk Son, YounKyung Jung, Soon-Haeng Lee, Sang-Bum Hong, and Jin-Won Huh.
• Medical Emergency Team, Asan Medical Center, Seoul, South Korea.
• J Eval Clin Pract. 2016 Jun 1; 22 (3): 356-62.

Rationale, Aims And ObjectivesThe aim of this study was to analyse the effects of the follow-up programme implemented by the Asan Medical Center Medical Emergency Team (MET).MethodA quasi-experimental pre-post intervention design was used, retrospectively reviewed. The follow-up programme includes respiratory care, regular visits and communication between the attending doctors and MET nurse for patients discharged from the medical intensive care unit (MICU) to the general ward. This programme has been implemented since February 2013. Outcomes of patients before and at 1 year after the introduction of the programme were retrospectively reviewed.ResultsA total of 1229 patients were enrolled and divided two groups (Before, n = 624; After the introduction of the programme, n = 625). Forty-six patients (3.7%) were readmitted to the ICU within 72 hours, and there was no significant difference found between the two groups (3.7% versus 3.7%, P = 0.996). Respiratory distress was the most common reason for readmission (67.4%). Cardiac arrest developed in four (0.6%) Before patients; whereas, no cardiac arrest occurred in the After group (0.0%, P = 0.062) cases. A total of 223 patients were discharged to the step-down units. The SOFA (sequential organ failure assessment) score was significantly higher in the step-down unit patients than general ward patients (4.9 ± 2.8 versus 6.2 ± 3.1, P = 0.000). In the analysis restricted to patients discharged to step-down units, unplanned ICU readmissions significantly decreased in the After group (9.3% versus 2.6%, P = 0.034).ConclusionsThe implementation of the MET follow-up programme did not change the rate of ICU readmission and cardiac arrest; however, its introduction was associated with the reduced ICU readmission of the high-risk patient populations discharged to the step-down unit.© 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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