Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
Reduction in observation unit length of stay with coronary computed tomography angiography depends on time of emergency department presentation.
Prior studies demonstrating shorter length of stay (LOS) from coronary computed tomography angiography (CCTA) relative to stress testing in emergency department (ED) patients have not considered time of patient presentation. The objectives of this study were to determine whether low-risk chest pain patients receiving stress testing or CCTA have differences in ED plus observation unit (OU) LOS and if there are disparities in testing modality use, based on the time of patient presentation to the ED. ⋯ In an OU setting with weekday and standard business hours CCTA availability, CCTA testing was associated with shorter LOS among low-risk chest pain patients only in patients presenting to the ED between 08:00 and 11:59 hours. That time period was also associated with a greater likelihood of being tested by CCTA, suggesting that ED providers may have intuited the inability of CCTA to shorten LOS during other times.
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Guidelines recommend that patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain who are at low risk for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) receive an objective cardiac evaluation with a stress test or coronary imaging. It is uncertain whether all women derive benefit from this process. The study aim was to determine the incremental value of objective cardiac testing after serial cardiac markers and physician risk assessment. ⋯ In the era of contemporary troponin assays, objective cardiac testing after an ED clinician risk assessment of non-high risk and negative troponin I results at 0 and 90 minutes does not improve the prediction of 30-day AMI or revascularization in women presenting with chest pain or other symptoms of cardiac ischemia.
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Of the 1.1 million people in the United States infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), more than 20% are unaware of their infection. To increase early diagnosis and treatment, New York State recently passed legislation mandating that HIV testing be offered to all patients, ages 13 to 64 years, receiving health care services. Implementation of this legislation is complex, especially in the emergency department (ED). This study explores ED providers' perceptions of the factors affecting the implementation of the law. ⋯ Understanding the factors influencing the practice of ED providers charged with carrying out this mandate is critical. Despite earlier research that indicated that offering HIV testing to ED patients is largely influenced by cost, this study found additional factors that are important to consider to effectively implementing HIV testing in the ED.