Utilization of a multidisciplinary emergency department sepsis huddle to reduce time to antibiotics and improve SEP-1 compliance.

Sepsis is a significant public health crisis in the United States, contributing to 50% of inpatient hospital deaths. Given its dramatic health effects and implications in the setting of new CMS care guidelines, ED leaders have renewed focus on appropriate and timely sepsis care, including timely administration of antibiotics in patients at risk for sepsis. Modeling the success of multidisciplinary bedside huddles in improving compliance with appropriate care in other healthcare settings, a Sepsis Huddle was implemented in a large, academic ED, with the goal of driving compliance with standardized sepsis care as described in the CMS SEP-1 measure. A retrospective cohort analysis was performed, with the primary finding that utilization of the Sepsis Huddle resulted in antibiotics being administered on average 41 min sooner than when the Sepsis Huddle was not performed. Given that literature suggests that early administration of appropriate antibiotic therapy is a major driver of mortality reduction in patients with sepsis, this study represents a proof of concept that utilization of a Sepsis Huddle may serve to improve outcomes among ED patients at risk for sepsis.

Use of imaging in the emergency department: physicians have limited effect on variation.

PURPOSE: To quantify interphysician variation in imaging use during emergency department (ED) visits and examine the contribution of factors to this variation at the patient, visit, and physician level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study was HIPAA compliant and approved by the institutional review board of Partners Healthcare System (Boston, Mass), with waiver of informed consent. In this retrospective study of 88 851 consecutive ED visits during 2011 at a large urban teaching hospital, a hierarchical logistic regression model was used to identify multiple predictors for the probability that low- or high-cost imaging would be ordered during a given visit. Physician-specific random effects were estimated to articulate (by odds ratio) and quantify (by intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC]) interphysician variation. RESULTS: Patient- and visit-level factors found to be statistically significant predictors of imaging use included measures of ED busyness, prior ED visit, referral source to the ED, and ED arrival mode. Physician-level factors (eg, sex, years since graduation, annual workload, and residency training) did not correlate with imaging use. The remaining amount of interphysician variation was very low (ICC, 0.97% for low-cost imaging; ICC, 1.07% for high-cost imaging). These physician-specific odds ratios of imaging estimates were moderately reliable at 0.78 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.77, 0.79) for low-cost imaging and 0.76 (95% CI: 0.74, 0.78) for high-cost imaging. CONCLUSION: After careful and comprehensive case-mix adjustment by using hierarchical logistic regression, only about 1% of the variability in ED imaging utilization was attributable to physicians.

Implementation of point-of-care rapid urine testing for drugs of abuse in the emergency department of an academic medical center: impact on test utilization and ED length of stay.

We evaluated the impact of implementing a point-of-care (POC) rapid urine test panel for drugs of abuse on turnaround time (TAT), emergency department length of stay (LOS), and laboratory test utilization patterns. The mean TAT from sample collection to results reporting decreased by 69.4%, from 108 to 33 minutes, the mean LOS from 11.1 to 8.1 hours (27% P < .0001), and the median LOS from 8.0 to 7.0 hours (13% P = .0017). A method crossover between the POC and central laboratory methods revealed differences in sensitivity and specificity. Overall, there was no clear preference for either method. Differences in performance for individual drug classes were reconciled by providing interpretive comments with POC results. Following implementation, use of urine testing for drugs of abuse increased by 30%, which was offset by fewer requests for extended toxicology testing in the central laboratory and more selective ordering of toxicology tests not on the POC panel (alcohols and analgesics). The implementation of a POC urine test panel for drugs of abuse decreased LOS and TAT and essentially replaced central laboratory testing for drugs of abuse. Differences in sensitivity and specificity between POC and central laboratory results require provision of interpretive comments with results.

Behavioral Health Factors as Predictors of Emergency Department Use in the High-Risk, High-Cost Medicare Population.

OBJECTIVE: This study measured the presence, extent, and type of behavioral health factors in a high-cost Medicare population and their association with the probability and intensity of emergency department (ED) use. METHODS: Retrospective claims analysis and a comprehensive electronic medical record-based review were conducted for patients enrolled in a 65-month prospective care management program at an academic tertiary medical center (N=3,620). A two-part model used multivariable logistic regression to evaluate the effect of behavioral health factors on the probability of ED use, complemented by a Poisson model to measure the number of ED visits. Control variables included demographic characteristics, poststudy survival, and hierarchical condition category risk score. RESULTS: After analyses controlled for comorbidities and other relevant variables, patients with two or more behavioral health diagnosis categories or two or more behavioral health medications were about twice as likely as those without such categories or medications to use the ED. Patients with a diagnosis category of psychosis, neuropsychiatric disorders, sleep disorders, or adjustment disorders were significantly more likely than those without these disorders to use the ED. Most primary ED diagnoses were not of behavioral health conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Behavioral health factors had a substantial and significant effect on the likelihood and number of ED visits in a population of high-cost Medicare patients. Attention to behavioral health factors as independent predictors of ED use may be useful in influencing ED use in high-cost populations.

Appropriateness of Extremity Magnetic Resonance Imaging Examinations in an Academic Emergency Department Observation Unit.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency departments (ED) and hospitals face increasing challenges related to capacity, throughput, and stewardship of limited resources while maintaining high quality. Appropriate utilization of extremity magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations within the emergency setting is not well known. Therefore, this study aimed to determine indications for and appropriateness of MRI of the extremities for musculoskeletal conditions in the ED observation unit (EDOU). METHODS: We conducted this institutional review board-approved, retrospective study in a large, quaternary care academic center and Level I trauma center. An institutional database was queried retrospectively to identify all adult patients undergoing an extremity MRI while in the EDOU during the two-year study period from October 2013 through September 2015. We compared clinical history with the American College of Radiology (ACR) Appropriateness Criteria® for musculoskeletal indications. The primary outcome was appropriateness of musculoskeletal MRI exams of the extremities; examinations with an ACR Criteria score of seven or higher were deemed appropriate. Secondary measures included MRI utilization and imaging findings. RESULTS: During the study period, 22,713 patients were evaluated in the EDOU. Of those patients, 4,409 had at least one MRI performed, and 88 MRIs met inclusion criteria as musculoskeletal extremity examinations (2% of all patients undergoing an MRI exam in the EDOU during the study period). The most common exams were foot (27, 31%); knee (26, 30%); leg/femur (10, 11%); and shoulder (10, 11%). The most common indications were suspected infection (42, 48%) and acute trauma (23, 26%). Fifty-six percent of exams were performed with intravenous contrast; and 83% (73) of all MRIs were deemed appropriate based on ACR Criteria. The most common reason for inappropriate imaging was lack of performance of radiographs prior to MRI. CONCLUSION: The majority of musculoskeletal extremity MRI examinations performed in the EDOU were appropriate based on ACR Appropriateness Criteria. However, the optimal timing and most-appropriate site for performance of many clinically appropriate musculoskeletal extremity MRIs performed in the EDOU remains unclear. Potential deferral to the outpatient setting may be a preferred population health management strategy.

Magnetic Resonance Imaging Utilization in an Emergency Department Observation Unit.

INTRODUCTION: Emergency department observation units (EDOUs) are a valuable alternative to inpatient admissions for ED patients needing extended care. However, while the use of advanced imaging is becoming more common in the ED, there are no studies characterizing the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examinations in the EDOU. METHODS: This institutional review board-approved, retrospective study was performed at a 999-bed quaternary care academic Level I adult and pediatric trauma center, with approximately 114,000 ED visits annually and a 32-bed adult EDOU. We retrospectively reviewed the EDOU patient database for all MRI examinations done from October 1, 2013, to September 30, 2015. We sought to describe the most frequent uses for MRI during EDOU admissions and reviewed EDOU length of stay (LOS) to determine whether the use of MRI was associated with any change in LOS. RESULTS: A total of 22,840 EDOU admissions were recorded during the two-year study period, and 4,437 (19%) of these patients had a least one MRI examination during their stay; 2,730 (62%) of these studies were of the brain, head, or neck, and an additional 1,392 (31%) were of the spine. There was no significant difference between the median LOS of admissions in which an MRI study was performed (17.5 hours) and the median LOS (17.7 hours) of admissions in which an MRI study was not performed [p=0.33]. CONCLUSION: Neuroimaging makes up the clear majority of MRI examinations from our EDOU, and the use of MRI does not appear to prolong EDOU LOS. Future work should focus on the appropriateness of these MRI examinations to determine potential resource and cost savings.

Implementation of a point-of-care satellite laboratory in the emergency department of an academic medical center. Impact on test turnaround time and patient emergency department length of stay.

CONTEXT: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding has reached crisis proportions in the United States. Many hospitals are seeking to identify process reengineering efforts to reduce crowding and ED patient length of stay (LOS). OBJECTIVES: To investigate the impact of a point-of-care testing (POCT) satellite laboratory in the ED of a large academic medical center. SETTING: The ED of the Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, Mass. DESIGN AND OUTCOME MEASURES: Evaluation of physician satisfaction, turnaround time (TAT), and ED LOS before and after implementation of a POCT laboratory. ED LOS was measured by patient chart audits. TAT was assessed by manual and computer audits. Clinician satisfaction surveys measured satisfaction with test TAT and test accuracy. RESULTS: Blood glucose, urine human chorionic gonadotropin, urine dipstick, creatine kinase-MB, and troponin tests were performed in the ED POCT laboratory. Test TAT declined an average of 87% after the institution of POCT. The ED LOS decreased for patients who received pregnancy testing, urine dipstick, and cardiac markers. Although these differences were not significant for individual tests, when the tests were combined, the decreased LOS was, on average, 41.3 minutes (P =.006). Clinician satisfaction surveys documented equivalent satisfaction with test accuracy between the central laboratory and the POCT laboratory. These surveys also documented dissatisfaction with central laboratory TAT and increased satisfaction with TAT of the POCT program (P <.001). CONCLUSIONS: The POCT satellite laboratory decreased test TAT and decreased ED LOS. There was excellent satisfaction with test accuracy and TAT.