Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Housing insecurity is prevalent among emergency department (ED) patients. Despite a surge of interest in screening for patients' social needs including housing insecurity, little research has examined ED social needs interventions. We worked together with government and community partners to develop and pilot test a homelessness prevention intervention targeted to ED patients with drug or unhealthy alcohol use. ⋯ This pilot intervention was feasible and well received by participants though it required a large amount of screening to identify potentially eligible patients. Our findings will inform a larger future trial and may be informative for others seeking to develop similar interventions.
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Review Meta Analysis
Interventions to improve consultations in the emergency department: A systematic review.
Emergency department (ED) consultations with specialists are necessary for safe and effective patient care. Delays in the ED consultation process, however, have been shown to increase ED length of stay (LOS) and contribute to ED crowding. This review aims to describe and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions to improve the ED consultation process. ⋯ The various interventions impacting the consultation process were predominately successful in reducing ED LOS, with evidence suggesting that interventions improving consult responsiveness and improving access to consultants in the ED also improve consult response times. Health care providers looking to implement interventions to improve the ED consultation process should identify key areas in their setting that could be targeted.