Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Atrial fibrillation (AFib) is the most common dysrhythmia in the United States. Patients seen in the emergency department (ED) in rapid AFib are often started on intravenous rate-controlling agents and admitted for several days. Although underlying and triggering illnesses must be addressed, AFib, intrinsically, is rarely life-threatening and can often be safely managed in an outpatient setting. At our academic community hospital, we implemented an algorithm to decrease hospital admissions for individuals presenting with a primary diagnosis of AFib. We focused on lenient oral rate control and discharge home. Our study evaluates outcomes after implementation of this algorithm. ⋯ Implementation of a novel algorithm to identify and treat low-risk patients with AFib can significantly decrease the rate of hospital admissions without increased ED returns. This simple algorithm could be adopted by other community hospitals and help lower costs.