Annals of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Diagnosed and Undiagnosed COVID-19 in US Emergency Department Health Care Personnel: A Cross-sectional Analysis.
We determine the percentage of diagnosed and undiagnosed severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection among a sample of US emergency department (ED) health care personnel before July 2020. ⋯ In late spring and early summer 2020, the estimated prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 infection was 4.6%, and greater than one third of infections were undiagnosed. Undiagnosed SARS-CoV-2 infection may pose substantial risk for transmission to other staff and patients.
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Observational Study
The NSW Pathology Atlas of Variation: Part I-Identifying Emergency Departments With Outlying Laboratory Test-Ordering Practices.
Abdominal pain and chest pain are leading reasons for emergency department (ED) presentations, with laboratory tests frequently ordered to aid the diagnostic process. Our study aims to identify EDs with outlying laboratory ordering practices for patients presenting with undifferentiated abdominal pain and chest pain. ⋯ Identifying EDs with outlying laboratory-ordering practices is the first step in initiating context-specific evaluation of whether outlying variations are unwarranted.
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Observational Study
Emergency Department and Ambulatory Care Visits in the First Twelve Months of Coverage Under Medicaid Expansion: A Group-Based Trajectory Analysis.
More than 17 million people have gained health insurance coverage through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion. Few studies have examined heterogeneity within the Medicaid expansion population. We do so based on time-varying patterns of emergency department (ED) and ambulatory care use, and characterize diagnoses associated with ED and ambulatory care visits to evaluate whether certain diagnoses predominate in individual trajectories. ⋯ We found substantial variation in rates of ED and ambulatory care use across empirically defined subgroups of Medicaid expansion enrollees. We also identified heterogeneity among the diagnoses associated with these visits. This data-driven approach may be used to target resources to encourage efficient use of ED services and support engagement with ambulatory care clinicians.