The western journal of emergency medicine
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Multicenter Study
Predictors of psychiatric boarding in the emergency department.
The emergency psychiatric care is system is overburdened in the United States. Patients experiencing psychiatric emergencies often require resources not available at the initial treating facility and frequently require transfer to an appropriate psychiatric facility. Boarding of psychiatric patients, defined as a length of stay greater than four hours after medical clearance, is ubiquitous throughout emergency departments (EDs) nationwide. Boarding is recognized as a major cause of ambulance diversions and ED crowding and has a significant adverse impact on healthcare providers, patient satisfaction, and hospital costs. We sought to identify differences between patients who boarded versus patients who did not board, to identify factors amenable to change and identify interventions that could lead to a decrease in overall psychiatric patient length of stay and improve patient care. ⋯ This study found that unfunded patients boarded significantly longer than Medicare/Medicaid and privately insured patients. Patients with private insurance boarded longer than those with Medicare/Medicaid. Patients transferred to publicly funded facilities had significantly longer ED length of stay than patients transferred to private facilities.
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Observational Study
Factors associated with decision to hospitalize emergency department patients with skin and soft tissue infection.
Emergency department (ED) hospitalizations for skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) have increased, while concern for costs has grown and outpatient parenteral antibiotic options have expanded. To identify opportunities to reduce admissions, we explored factors that influence the decision to hospitalize an ED patient with a SSTI. ⋯ ED SSTI patients with fever, larger lesions, and co-morbidities tend to be hospitalized, almost all to non-critical areas and rarely do they suffer serious complications. The most common reason for admission is administration of intravenous antibiotics, which is frequently the only reason for hospitalization. With the increasing outpatient intravenous antibiotic therapy options, these results suggest that many hospitalized patients with SSTI could be managed safely and effectively as outpatients.
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Mandated patient surveys have become an integral part of Medicare remuneration, putting hundreds of millions of dollars in funding at risk. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced a patient experience survey for the emergency department (ED). Development of an ED Fast Track, where lower acuity patients are rapidly seen, has been shown to improve many of the metrics that CMS examines. This is the first study examining if ED Fast Track implementation affects Press-Ganey scores of patient satisfaction. ⋯ Implementation of an ED Fast Track more than doubled the odds of significant improvements in Press-Ganey patient satisfaction metrics and may play an important role in improving ED performance on CMS benchmarks.
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Previous literature has shown gender disparities in the care of acute ischemic stroke. Compared to men, women wait longer for brain imaging and are less likely to receive intravenous (IV) tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). Emergency department (ED) triage is an important step in the rapid assessment of stroke patients and is a possible contributor to disparities. It is unknown whether gender differences exist in ED triage of acute stroke patients. Our primary objective was to determine whether gender disparities exist in the triage of acute stroke patients as defined by Emergency Severity Index (ESI) levels and use of ED critical care beds. ⋯ In a large, urban, academic ED at a primary stroke center, there were no gender differences in triage to critical care beds or ESI levels among acute stroke patients arriving within six hours of symptom onset. These findings suggest that ED triage protocols for stroke patients may be effective in minimizing gender disparities in care.
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Prescription drug abuse is a leading cause of accidental death in the United States. Prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs) are a popular initiative among policy makers and a key tool to combat the prescription drug epidemic. This editorial discusses the limitations of PDMPs, future approaches needed to improve the effectiveness of PDMPs, and other approaches essential to curbing the rise of drug abuse and overdose.