Articles: emergency-department.
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To investigate whether the severity of acute recreation drug toxicity presentations to emergency departments (EDs) in Europe has changed in recent years and to uncover potential sex differences. ⋯ The severity of presentations to European EDs remained mainly unchanged during 2014-2019, but the risk of death may have decreased. Conversely, intubation in lone cocaine and ICU admission in lone heroin intoxications have increased. Although men and women exhibited a similar pattern over the period for the majority of comparisons, our data suggest that women exhibited a smaller decrease of the overall risk of death.
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Health systems invest in coordination and collaboration between emergency departments (ED) and after-hours primary care providers (AHPCs) to alleviate pressure on the acute care chain. There are substantial gaps in the existing evidence, limited in sample size, follow-up care, and costs. We assess whether acute care collaborations (ACCs) are associated with decreased ED utilization, hospital admission rates, and lower costs per patient journey, compared with stand-alone facilities. ⋯ ACCs were associated with higher total costs incurred during the patient journey (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 1.01-1.03). Collaboration between EDs and AHPCs was not associated with ED utilization, but was associated with increased hospital admission rates, and higher costs. These collaborations do not seem to improve health systems' financial sustainability.
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Pregnant women often seek care in an emergency department (ED). We sought to describe the frequency, characteristics, and factors associated with increased ED visits during pregnancy. ⋯ Approximately 1 in 3 women in our sample visited the ED during pregnancy. A higher number of visits occurred in those with rural/remote residence, younger maternal age, and concomitant health conditions.
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The pandemic has upended much clinical care, irrevocably changing our health systems and thrusting emergency physicians into a time of great uncertainty and change. This study is a follow-up to a survey that examined the early pandemic experience among Canadian emergency physicians and aimed to qualitatively describe the experiences of these physicians during the global pandemic. The study was conducted at a time when Canadian COVID-19 case numbers were low. ⋯ Canadian emergency physicians experienced emotional and psychological distress during the early COVID-19 pandemic, at a time when COVID-19 prevalence was low. This study's findings could guide future interventions to protect emergency physicians against pandemic-related distress.
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We report the impact of telemedicine virtual rounding in emergency department observation units (EDOU) on the effectiveness, safety, and cost relative to traditional observation care. ⋯ Using tele-obs to manage observation patients in an ED observation unit was not associated with significant differences in length of stay, admission status, measured adverse events, or total direct cost.