Curēus
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Background Emergency department overutilization is a known contributor to the high per-capita healthcare cost in the United States. There is a knowledge gap regarding the substitution effect of walk-in clinic availability in primary care provider (PCP) offices and emergency department utilization (EDU). This study evaluates associations between PCP availability and EDU and analyzes the potential cost savings for health systems. ⋯ Conclusion Extended walk-in availability in primary care offices provides non-ED capacity for low acuity management and might mitigate low acuity ED utilization while providing more cost-effective care. This study supports similarly described pre-hospital diversions in reducing ED over-utilization by increasing access to care. Higher levels of evidence are needed to establish causality.
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Background Tracheal intubation carries an elevated risk of exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) due to the generation of aerosols containing high concentrations of the virus. An airway box was designed to mitigate the exposure of healthcare professionals performing intubations. Aim We evaluated usability and sustainability in the routine practice of the "airway box" as a protective device during high-risk airway procedures. Materials and methods After institutional review board approval, clinicians were educated on using the device through simulation, intranet learning modules, and emailed resources. ⋯ Conclusion Intubation boxes may effectively mitigate high-risk viral exposure during airway procedures. Survey responses show that devices were easy to use and did not significantly affect visualization of the airway. Similar to mask use, enclosure devices in clinical practice could become a vital part of medical protective equipment even after the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic if they are effectively implemented.
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Introduction Canadian emergency departments (EDs) are struggling under the weight of increased use by a growing population of elderly patients; those who lack proper housing; and those who lack family physicians to provide primary care. The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement projected a possible ED service utilization increase in Canada at a rate of 40% over three decades. This calls for local-level information on the time trends to understand demographic and temporal variations in the different geographical locations in the country. This study sought to identify and quantify acuity level-based per capita ED visit annual time trends for the 10-year period of 2006-2015 (by age, gender, and housing status). The aim is to provide detailed information on the time trends for demographically targeted ED planning locally. ⋯ The highest annual homeless increment rate was shown for <30-year-old group high acuity CTAS-2 level visits (219/year, CI:193-246, per 100,000). Conclusion Neither the city population increase nor increased homeless visits contributed to ED visit annual per capita incremental trends in the city of Halifax. The increasing trend was chiefly driven by high-acuity-level visits by >50-year-old patients. Our findings suggest one way to make this escalating ED visit rates stable in the future is by maintaining the declining semi-urgent and non-urgent visit trends at the same rates estimated within the years 2012-2015. These findings highlight the potential directions for ED services planning to keep up with the growing demand for high-acuity-level ED services by the aging population.
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Background Preventing end-organ failure in patients with shock requires rapid and easily accessible measurements of fluid responsiveness. Unlike septic shock, not all patients in cardiogenic shock are preload responsive. We conducted this study to determine the discriminant power of changes in end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2), systolic blood pressure (SBP), inferior vena cava (IVC) collapsibility index (IVC-CI), and venous to arterial carbon dioxide (Pv-aCO2) gap after a fluid challenge and compared it to increases in cardiac output. ⋯ Changes in SBP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), IVC-CI weren't significant; 0.431 (p=0.367), 0.437 (p=0.410), 0.569 (p=0.367) respectively. The discriminant value identified for ETCO2 was more than equal to 2 mmHg, with sensitivity 58.6%, specificity 80.7%, positive predictive value 73.9% [95% CI; 56.5% to 86.1%], negative predictive value 69.7% [95% CI; 56.7% to 76.9%]. Conclusions Change in ETCO2 is a useful bedside test to predict fluid responsiveness in cardiogenic shock.
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Introduction To predict patient outcomes in traumatic brain injury (TBI) lesions, various scores have been proposed, which use objective assessments. These scores, however, rely on the observer's ability to determine them. This study presents a comprehensive, reproducible, and more anatomically stratified objective measurement of the degree of basal cistern effacement in brain computed tomographic (CT) scan images. ⋯ The CR also showed a difference between the TBI and the control groups (p 0.0001). Conclusions The automated CR is a useful objective variable to determine the degree of basal cistern effacement. The proposed ratio has a good correlation with the classical basal cistern effacement classification and TBI severity.