Appropriate use of blood cultures in the emergency department through machine learning (ABC): study protocol for a randomised controlled non-inferiority trial.

INTRODUCTION: The liberal use of blood cultures in emergency departments (EDs) leads to low yields and high numbers of false-positive results. False-positive, contaminated cultures are associated with prolonged hospital stays, increased antibiotic usage and even higher hospital mortality rates. This trial aims to investigate whether a recently developed and validated machine learning model for predicting blood culture outcomes can safely and effectively guide clinicians in withholding unnecessary blood culture analysis. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A randomised controlled, non-inferiority trial comparing current practice with a machine learning-guided approach. The primary objective is to determine whether the machine learning based approach is non-inferior to standard practice based on 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes include hospital length-of stay and hospital admission rates. Other outcomes include model performance and antibiotic usage. Participants will be recruited in the EDs of multiple hospitals in the Netherlands. A total of 7584 participants will be included. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Possible participants will receive verbal information and a paper information brochure regarding the trial. They will be given at least 1 hour consideration time before providing informed consent. Research results will be published in peer-reviewed journals. This study has been approved by the Amsterdam University Medical Centers' local medical ethics review committee (No 22.0567). The study will be conducted in concordance with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki and in accordance with the Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act, General Data Privacy Regulation and Medical Device Regulation. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT06163781.

Improving emergency department flow by introducing a simple time out moment (The TRAFFIC LIGHT study).

BACKGROUND AND IMPORTANCE: Long waiting times in the emergency department (ED) is an increasing problem in the recent years and is expected to become an even bigger problem in the future Objective: We aimed to test the hypothesis whether increasing awareness of the time lapse with the treating physician, 2 hours after patient arrival, can reduce long patient turnaround time (TAT). METHOD: In this prospective single-center cohort study we compared and analyzed patient TAT in the ED before and after implementation of a so called 'traffic light' moment 2 hours after patient arrival. At this 'traffic light' moment a team member contacted the treating physician to increased awareness over the time lapse. Difference in percentage of patients who stayed more than 4 hours in the ED before and after intervention was the primary outcome Results: Between October 2nd 2021 and January 2nd,2022 1494 patients were included for primary outcome analysis. A total of 419 patients (n=740, 56.6%) had a TAT of less than 4 hour in the ED before intervention, compared to 497 (n=754, 65.9%) after intervention (p <0.001). Median time spent in de ED before intervention was 3:40 (IQR 2:24 - 5:04) compared to 3:15 (IQR 2:03 - 4:38) after intervention (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: This simple and low-cost intervention reduces the ED length of stay significantly. Although multiple interventions will be required to ensure less patients spending more than 4-hours in the ED, a 'traffic light' moment can be a simple and an effective tool.

Optimal timing for the Modified Early Warning Score for prediction of short-term critical illness in the acute care chain: a prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: The Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is an effective tool to identify patients in the acute care chain who are likely to deteriorate. Although it is increasingly being implemented in the ED, the optimal moment to use the MEWS is unknown. This study aimed to determine at what moment in the acute care chain MEWS has the highest accuracy in predicting critical illness. METHODS: Adult patients brought by ambulance to the ED at both locations of the Amsterdam UMC, a level 1 trauma centre, were prospectively included between 11 March and 28 October 2021. MEWS was calculated using vital parameters measured prehospital, at ED presentation, 1 hour and 3 hours thereafter, imputing for missing temperature and/or consciousness, as these values were expected not to deviate. Critical illness was defined as requiring intensive care unit admission, myocardial infarction or death within 72 hours after ED presentation. Accuracy in predicting critical illness was assessed using the area under the receiver operating characteristics curve (AUROC). RESULTS: Of the 790 included patients, critical illness occurred in 90 (11.4%). MEWS based on vital parameters at ED presentation had the highest performance in predicting critical illness with an AUROC of 0.73 (95% CI 0.67 to 0.79) but did not significantly differ compared with other moments. Patients with an increasing MEWS over time are significantly more likely to become critical ill compared with patients with an improving MEWS. CONCLUSION: The performance of MEWS is moderate in predicting critical illness using vital parameters measured surrounding ED admission. However, an increase of MEWS during ED admission is correlated with the development of critical illness. Therefore, early recognition of deteriorating patients at the ED may be achieved by frequent MEWS calculation. Further studies should investigate the effect of continuous monitoring of these patients at the ED.

Diagnostic and prognostic performance of the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio in acute coronary syndromes: A meta-analysis of 90 studies including 45 990 patients.

BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality worldwide and is likely to rise. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is consequent on inflammation. As a common and cost-effective inflammatory biomarker, the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) may be beneficial in cardiovascular medicine. AIMS: This meta-analysis examines the diagnostic and prognostic performance of the NLR in ACS. METHODS: We systematically searched PubMed Central, Medline, Scopus, EMBASE, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Clinicaltrial.gov databases. The search spanned from databases inception to January 10, 2024. The findings were aggregated into normalized mean differences with 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Ninety articles, with 45 990 participants, were included. Pooled analysis of the NLR varied and was higher in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) vs. non-ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction patients (4.94 ± 3.24 vs. 3.24 ± 2.74), acute myocardial infarction vs. unstable angina (4.47 ± 3.43 vs. 2.97 ± 1.58), ACS vs. stable angina (SA) (5.45 ± 4.28 vs. 2.46 ± 2.15), and ACS vs. controls (5.31 ± 4.01 vs. 2.46 ± 2.45). The NLR also was associated with ACS mortality, with survivors having lower results (3.67 ± 2.72 vs. 5.56 ± 3.93). Subanalysis showed that differences in the NLR were observed in STEMI survivors (4.28 ± 3.24 vs. 6.79 ± 3.98). Of ACS patients with major cardiovascular events (MACE) vs. without MACE, the NLR was 6.29 ± 4.89 vs. 3.82 ± 4.12. In STEMI patients, the NLR differed between those with and without MACE (6.99 ± 5.27 vs. 4.99 ± 4.12). CONCLUSIONS: The NLR is an effective tool for differentiating between different types of ACS. A high NLR is associated with ACS and increased MACE at 30 days. The NLR also appears to be a good predictor of MACE risk, at least in STEMI patients.

A Comparative Analysis of Local and Systemic Immunological Biomarkers in Females With Breast Implants and Capsular Contracture.

Background: The etiology of capsular contracture (CC), the most common complication following breast augmentation, remains unclear. Chronic, fibrotic inflammation resulting in excessive fibrosis has been proposed as a potential mechanism. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to investigate the relation between biomarkers that are associated with inflammation and fibrosis and the severity of CC. Methods: Fifty healthy females were categorized into 3 groups: females with no-to-mild CC (Baker 1-2; n = 15), females with severe CC (Baker 3-4; n = 20), and a control group awaiting breast augmentation (n = 15). We assessed 5 biomarkers (galectin-1 [Gal-1], interferon-ß [INF-ß], interferon-γ [INF-γ], interleukin-6 [IL-6], and tumor necrosis factor-α [TNF-α]) in breast implant capsules and serum samples. Results: No significant differences in intracapsular cytokine levels were observed between the Baker 1-2 and the Baker 3-4 groups, as the levels were generally low and, in some cases, almost undetectable. In the blood samples, no significant differences in Gal-1, INF-γ, IL-6, or TNF-α levels were found within the 3 groups. We identified significantly increased levels of INF-ß (P = .009) in the blood samples of females with severe CC, driven mainly by 3 extremely high values. Conclusions: The cytokines assessed in this study did not reflect the degree of CC among females with silicone breast implants. However, 3 females with severe CC, who all had prolonged silicone exposure, showed extremely elevated levels of INF-ß in their serum samples. This possible association between prolonged silicone exposure and systemic inflammation in some females should be further investigated.

Fatal Adverse Events in Femoral Neck Fracture Patients Undergoing Hemiarthroplasty or Total Hip Arthroplasty-A Retrospective Record Review Study in a Nationwide Sample of Deceased Patients.

OBJECTIVES: Patient safety is a core component of quality of hospital care and measurable through adverse event (AE) rates. A high-risk group are femoral neck fracture patients. The Dutch clinical guideline states that the treatment of choice is cemented total hip arthroplasty (THA) or hemiarthroplasty (HA). We aimed to identify the prevalence of AEs related to THA/HA in a sample of patients who died in the hospital. METHODS: We used data of a nationwide retrospective record review study. Records were systematically reviewed for AEs, preventability and contribution to the patient's death. We drew a subsample of THA/HA AEs and analyzed these cases. RESULTS: Of the 2998 reviewed records, 38 patients underwent THA/HA, of whom 24 patients suffered 25 AEs (prevalence = 68.1%; 95% confidence interval, 51.4-81.2), and 24 contributed to death. Patients with a THA/HA AE were of high age (median = 82.5 y) and had severe comorbidity (Charlson score ≥5). The majority of THA/HA AEs had a patient-related cause and was considered partly preventable. Examples of suggested actions that might have prevented the AEs: refraining from surgery, adhering to medication guidelines, uncemented procedures, comprehensive presurgical geriatric assessment, and better postsurgical monitoring. DISCUSSION: Our study shows a high prevalence of (fatal) adverse events in patients undergoing THA/HA. This seems particularly valid for cemented implants in frail old patients, indicating room for improvement of patient safety in this group. Therefore, we recommend physicians to engage in comprehensive shared decision making with these patients and decide on a treatment fitting to a patient's preexisting health status, preferences, and values.

Correlation between Serum Biomarkers and Lung Ultrasound in COVID-19: An Observational Study.

Serum biomarkers and lung ultrasound are important measures for prognostication and treatment allocation in patients with COVID-19. Currently, there is a paucity of studies investigating relationships between serum biomarkers and ultrasonographic biomarkers derived from lung ultrasound. This study aims to assess correlations between serum biomarkers and lung ultrasound findings. This study is a secondary analysis of four prospective observational studies in adult patients with COVID-19. Serum biomarkers included markers of epithelial injury, endothelial dysfunction and immune activation. The primary outcome was the correlation between biomarker concentrations and lung ultrasound score assessed with Pearson's (r) or Spearman's (rs) correlations. Forty-four patients (67 [41-88] years old, 25% female, 52% ICU patients) were included. GAS6 (rs = 0.39), CRP (rs = 0.42) and SP-D (rs = 0.36) were correlated with lung ultrasound scores. ANG-1 (rs = -0.39) was inversely correlated with lung ultrasound scores. No correlations were found between lung ultrasound score and several other serum biomarkers. In patients with COVID-19, several serum biomarkers of epithelial injury, endothelial dysfunction and immune activation correlated with lung ultrasound findings. The lack of correlations with certain biomarkers could offer opportunities for precise prognostication and targeted therapeutic interventions by integrating these unlinked biomarkers.

Silicone Migration from Intact Saline Breast Implants.

Breast augmentation is a widely performed surgical procedure worldwide, predominantly using silicone gel-filled implants. Concerns have primarily revolved around ruptures and the potential health risks associated with leaked silicone from silicone gel-filled implants. Cases of silicone migration from the shell of saline breast implants remain scarce. This case report introduces a unique case of a 66-year-old patient with silicone migration from intact saline breast implants. The patient presented with a range of symptoms consistent with breast implant illness. Radiological findings suggested the presence of silicone in the axillary lymph nodes, despite the integrity of the implants, thereby confirming silicone migration. Histopathological evaluation revealed a foreign body reaction and the presence of silicone in the axillary lymph nodes. Given the saline filling, the source is likely the polydimethylsiloxane shell. The rarity of documented silicone migration from intact saline breast implants, especially in patients with breast implant illness, underscores the need for more research into the health implications of leaked silicone particles from breast implants.

Impact of Blood Culture Contamination on Antibiotic Use, Resource Utilization, and Clinical Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study in Dutch and US Hospitals.

Background: Blood culture contamination (BCC) has been associated with prolonged antibiotic use (AU) and increased health care utilization; however, this has not been widely reevaluated in the era of increased attention to antibiotic stewardship. We evaluated the impact of BCC on AU, resource utilization, and length of stay in Dutch and US patients. Methods: This retrospective observational study examined adults admitted to 2 hospitals in the Netherlands and 5 hospitals in the United States undergoing ≥2 blood culture (BC) sets. Exclusion criteria included neutropenia, no hospital admission, or death within 48 hours of hospitalization. The impact of BCC on clinical outcomes-overall inpatient days of antibiotic therapy, test utilization, length of stay, and mortality-was determined via a multivariable regression model. Results: An overall 22 927 patient admissions were evaluated: 650 (4.1%) and 339 (4.8%) with BCC and 11 437 (71.8%) and 4648 (66.3%) with negative BC results from the Netherlands and the United States, respectively. Dutch and US patients with BCC had a mean ± SE 1.74 ± 0.27 (P < .001) and 1.58 ± 0.45 (P < .001) more days of antibiotic therapy than patients with negative BC results. They also had 0.6 ± 0.1 (P < .001) more BCs drawn. Dutch but not US patients with BCC had longer hospital stays (3.36 days; P < .001). There was no difference in mortality between groups in either cohort. AU remained higher in US but not Dutch patients with BCC in a subanalysis limited to BC obtained within the first 24 hours of admission. Conclusions: BCC remains associated with higher inpatient AU and health care utilization as compared with patients with negative BC results, although the impact on these outcomes differs by country.

Can acutely ill patients predict their outcomes? A scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: The full impact of an acute illness on subsequent health is seldom explicitly discussed with patients. Patients' estimates of their likely prognosis have been explored in chronic care settings and can contribute to the improvement of clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction. This scoping review aimed to identify studies of acutely ill patients' estimates of their outcomes and potential benefits for their care. METHODS: A search was conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science and Google Scholar, using terms related to prognostication and acute care. After removal of duplicates, all articles were assessed for relevance by six investigator pairs; disagreements were resolved by a third investigator. Risk of bias was assessed according to the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions. RESULTS: Our search identified 3265 articles, of which 10 were included. The methods of assessing self-prognostication were very heterogeneous. Patients seem to be able to predict their need for hospital admission in certain settings, but not their length of stay. The severity of their symptoms and the burden of their disease are often overestimated or underestimated by patients. Patients with severe health conditions and their relatives tend to be overoptimistic about the likely outcome. CONCLUSION: The understanding of acutely ill patients of their likely outcomes and benefits of treatment has not been adequately studied and is a major knowledge gap. Limited published literature suggests patients may be able to predict their need for hospital admission. Illness perception may influence help-seeking behaviour, speed of recovery and subsequent quality of life. Knowledge of patients' self-prognosis may enhance communication between patients and their physicians, which improves patient-centred care.

Detecting changes in the performance of a clinical machine learning tool over time.

BACKGROUND: Excessive use of blood cultures (BCs) in Emergency Departments (EDs) results in low yields and high contamination rates, associated with increased antibiotic use and unnecessary diagnostics. Our team previously developed and validated a machine learning model to predict BC outcomes and enhance diagnostic stewardship. While the model showed promising initial results, concerns over performance drift due to evolving patient demographics, clinical practices, and outcome rates warrant continual monitoring and evaluation of such models. METHODS: A real-time evaluation of the model's performance was conducted between October 2021 and September 2022. The model was integrated into Amsterdam UMC's Electronic Health Record system, predicting BC outcomes for all adult patients with BC draws in real time. The model's performance was assessed monthly using metrics including the Area Under the Curve (AUC), Area Under the Precision-Recall Curve (AUPRC), and Brier scores. Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts were used to monitor variation over time. FINDINGS: Across 3.035 unique adult patient visits, the model achieved an average AUC of 0.78, AUPRC of 0.41, and a Brier score of 0.10 for predicting the outcome of BCs drawn in the ED. While specific population characteristics changed over time, no statistical points outside the statistical control range were detected in the AUC, AUPRC, and Brier scores, indicating stable model performance. The average BC positivity rate during the study period was 13.4%. INTERPRETATION: Despite significant changes in clinical practice, our BC stewardship tool exhibited stable performance, suggesting its robustness to changing environments. Using SPC charts for various metrics enables simple and effective monitoring of potential performance drift. The assessment of the variation of outcome rates and population changes may guide the specific interventions, such as intercept correction or recalibration, that may be needed to maintain a stable model performance over time. This study suggested no need to recalibrate or correct our BC stewardship tool. FUNDING: No funding to disclose.

[Take a seat when talking with a patient]. / Ga zitten als je met een patiënt praat.

The quality of communication influences the patient-doctor relationship. Patient satisfaction and compliance improve when a healthcare professional shows empathy and compassion. A substantial part of communication is non-verbal, especially in more complex conversations. A physician's physical posture during interaction with the patient is therefore crucial. Although sitting at the bedside is considered as best practice, we increasingly tend to stand during bedside interactions. This might be caused by time constraints and the idea that sitting down may be more time consuming. In this article we discuss the importance of posture. The psychological background of certain body language is reviewed. In addition, we give a concise review of the literature which shows that patient outcomes such as satisfaction are better in a sitting interactions, and that this interaction is not more time consuming.

Leaving the hospital on time: hospital bed utilization and reasons for discharge delay in the Netherlands.

Inappropriate bed occupancy due to delayed hospital discharge affects both physical and psychological well-being in patients and can disrupt patient flow. The Dutch healthcare system is facing ongoing pressure, especially during the current coronavirus disease pandemic, intensifying the need for optimal use of hospital beds. The aim of this study was to quantify inappropriate patient stays and describe the underlying reasons for the delays in discharge. The Day of Care Survey (DoCS) is a validated tool used to gain information about appropriate and inappropriate bed occupancy in hospitals. Between February 2019 and January 2021, the DoCS was performed five times in three different hospitals within the region of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. All inpatients were screened, using standardized criteria, for their need for in-hospital care at the time of survey and reasons for discharge delay. A total of 782 inpatients were surveyed. Of these patients, 94 (12%) were planned for definite discharge that day. Of all other patients, 145 (21%, ranging from 14% to 35%) were without the need for acute in-hospital care. In 74% (107/145) of patients, the reason for discharge delay was due to issues outside the hospital; most frequently due to a shortage of available places in care homes (26%, 37/145). The most frequent reason for discharge delay inside the hospital was patients awaiting a decision or review by the treating physician (14%, 20/145). Patients who did not meet the criteria for hospital stay were, in general, older [median 75, interquartile range (IQR) 65-84 years, and 67, IQR 55-75 years, respectively, P < .001] and had spent more days in hospital (7, IQR 5-14 days, and 3, IQR 1-8 days respectively, P < .001). Approximately one in five admitted patients occupying hospital beds did not meet the criteria for acute in-hospital stay or care at the time of the survey. Most delays were related to issues outside the immediate control of the hospital. Improvement programmes working with stakeholders focusing on the transfer from hospital to outside areas of care need to be further developed and may offer potential for the greatest gain. The DoCS can be a tool to periodically monitor changes and improvements in patient flow.

Embracing cohort heterogeneity in clinical machine learning development: a step toward generalizable models.

This study is a simple illustration of the benefit of averaging over cohorts, rather than developing a prediction model from a single cohort. We show that models trained on data from multiple cohorts can perform significantly better in new settings than models based on the same amount of training data but from just a single cohort. Although this concept seems simple and obvious, no current prediction model development guidelines recommend such an approach.

Recognition of Critically Ill Patients by Acute Healthcare Providers: A Multicenter Observational Study.

OBJECTIVES: Although the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) is increasingly being used in the acute care chain to recognize disease severity, its superiority compared with clinical gestalt remains unproven. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the accuracy of medical caregivers and MEWS in predicting the development of critical illness. DESIGN: This was a multicenter observational prospective study. SETTING: It was performed in a level-1 trauma center with two different sites and emergency departments (EDs) with a combined capacity of about 50.000 patients annually. PATIENTS: It included all adult patients presented to the ED by Emergency Medical Services (EMS). INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: For all patients, the acute caregivers were asked several standardized questions regarding clinical predicted outcome (clinical gestalt), and the MEWS was calculated. The primary outcome was the occurrence of critical illness, defined as ICU admission, serious adverse events, and mortality within 72 hours. The sensitivity, specificity, and discriminative power of both clinical gestalt and MEWS for the occurrence of critical illness were calculated as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC). Among the total of 800 included patients, 113 patients (14.1%) suffered from critical illness. The specificity for predicting three-day critical illness for all caregivers (for EMS nurses, ED nurses, and physicians) was 93.2%; 97.3%, and 96.8%, respectively, and was significantly ( p < 0.01) better than an MEWS score of 3 or higher (70.4%). The sensitivity was significantly lower for EMS and ED nurses, but not significantly different for physicians compared with MEWS. The AUROCs for prediction of 3-day critical illness by both the ED nurses (AUROC = 0.809) and the physicians (AUROC = 0.848) were significantly higher ( p = 0.032 and p = 0.010, respectively) compared with MEWS (AUROC = 0.731). CONCLUSIONS: For patients admitted to the ED by EMS, medical professionals can predict the development of critical illness within 3 days significantly better than the MEWS. Although MEWS is able to correctly predict those patients that become critically ill, its use leads to overestimation due to a substantial number of false positives.

Monitoring of pulmonary involvement in critically ill COVID-19 patients - should lung ultrasound be preferred over CT?

BACKGROUND: It is unclear if relevant changes in pulmonary involvement in critically ill COVID-19 patients can be reliably detected by the CT severity score (CTSS) and lung ultrasound score (LUSS), or if these changes have prognostic implications. In addition, it has been argued that adding pleural abnormalities to the LUSS could improve its prognostic value. The objective of this study was to compare LUSS and CTSS for the monitoring of COVID-19 pulmonary involvement through: first, establishing the correlation of LUSS (± pleural abnormalities) and CTSS throughout admission; second, assessing agreement and measurement error between raters for LUSS, pleural abnormalities, and CTSS; third, evaluating the association of the LUSS (± pleural abnormalities) and CTSS with mortality at different timepoints. METHODS: This is a prospective, observational study, conducted during the second COVID-19 wave at the AmsterdamUMC, location VUmc. Adult COVID-19 ICU patients were prospectively included when a CT or a 12-zone LUS was performed at admission or at weekly intervals according to local protocol. Patients were followed 90 days or until death. We calculated the: (1) Correlation of the LUSS (± pleural abnormalities) and CTSS throughout admission with mixed models; (2) Intra-class correlation coefficients (ICCs) and smallest detectable changes (SDCs) between raters; (3) Association between the LUSS (± pleural abnormalities) and CTSS with mixed models. RESULTS: 82 consecutive patients were included. Correlation between LUSS and CTSS was 0.45 (95% CI 0.31-0.59). ICCs for LUSS, pleural abnormalities, and CTSS were 0.88 (95% CI 0.73-0.95), 0.94 (95% CI 0.90-0.96), and 0.84 (95% CI 0.65-0.93), with SDCs of 4.8, 1.4, and 3.9. The LUSS was associated with mortality in week 2, with a score difference between patients who survived or died greater than its SDC. Addition of pleural abnormalities was not beneficial. The CTSS was associated with mortality only in week 1, but with a score difference less than its SDC. CONCLUSIONS: LUSS correlated with CTSS throughout ICU admission but performed similar or better at agreement between raters and mortality prognostication. Given the benefits of LUS over CT, it should be preferred as initial monitoring tool.

The usefulness of implementing minimum retest intervals in reducing inappropriate laboratory test requests in a Dutch hospital.

OBJECTIVES: Inappropriate use of laboratory testing remains a challenging problem worldwide. Minimum retest intervals (MRI) are used to reduce inappropriate laboratory testing. However, their effectiveness and the usefulness in reducing inappropriate laboratory testing is still a matter of debate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of broadly implemented MRIs as a means of reducing inappropriate laboratory test requests. METHODS: We performed a retrospective study in a general care and teaching hospital in the Netherlands, where MRI alerts have been implemented as standard care since June 7th 2017. Clinical chemistry test orders in adult internal medicine patients placed between July 13th 2017 and December 31st 2019 were included. The primary outcome was the effectiveness of MRIs, expressed as percentages of tests ordered and barred as a result of MRIs. RESULTS: Of a total of 218,511 test requests, 4,159 (1.90%) got an MRI alert. These MRIs were overruled by physicians in 21.76% of the cases. As a result of implementing MRIs, 3,254 (1.49%) tests were barred. The financial savings for the department of internal medicine directly related to the included barred laboratory tests during this period were 11,880 euros on a total amount of 636,598 euros for all performed tests. CONCLUSIONS: Only a small proportion of laboratory tests are barred after implementation of MRIs, with a limited impact on the annual costs. However, MRIs provide a continuous reminder to focus on appropriate testing and the effectiveness of MRIs is potentially higher than described in this study.

The impact of a sepsis performance improvement program in the emergency department: a before-after intervention study.

PURPOSE: The latest Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines advocate that all hospitals use sepsis performance improvement programs. However, there is a limited evidence about how to structure such programs and what their potential impact is on sepsis management and outcomes in the emergency department (ED). In this study, we evaluated the implementation of a sepsis performance improvement program in the ED including a dedicated sepsis response team and analyzed the management and outcomes of sepsis patients before and after. METHODS: We conducted a before-after interventional study in the ED of the Amsterdam University Medical Centers, the Netherlands. The sepsis performance improvement program included regular educational meetings, daily audits and weekly feedback, a screening tool, and a dedicated multidisciplinary sepsis response team. We studied all adult patients who presented to the ED with a suspected infection and a Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) ≥ 3 during their stay. In the postintervention phase, these patients were seen by the sepsis team. Process-related and patient-related outcomes were measured between November 2019 and February 2020 (preintervention) and December 2021-May 2022 (postintervention). RESULTS: A total of 265 patients were included in the primary study, 132 patients preintervention and 133 patients postintervention. The postintervention phase was associated with improvements in nearly all process-related outcomes, such as a shorter time to antibiotics (66 vs. 143 min; p < 0.001), increased number of lactate measurements (72.9 vs. 46.2%; p < 0.001), and improved completeness of documented MEWS scores (85.0 vs. 62.9%; p < 0.001). Except for an improvement in the number of immediate versus delayed ICU admissions (100% immediate vs. 64.3% immediate; p = 0.012), there was no improvement in the other patient-related outcomes such as 28 days mortality (14.3 vs. 9.1%; p = 0.261), during the postintervention phase. CONCLUSION: Our program stimulated physicians to make timely decisions regarding diagnostics and treatment of sepsis in the ED. Implementing the sepsis performance improvement program was associated with significant improvements in most process-related outcomes but with minimal improvements in patient-related outcomes in our cohort.

[Unplanned Emergency Department return visits by older patients]. / Ongeplande herhaalbezoeken van ouderen op de SEH.

The majority of older patients' Emergency Department (ED) repeat visits are disease-related or caused by new complaints. Whether these repeat visits should and can be avoided is debated, given the vulnerability of this patient category. A proportion of patients still returns despite careful discharge planning. However, this number represents only a small fraction of the total of ED visits. In conclusion, this situation is likely to persist because the number of patients is growing, the problem is unpredictable and the care capacity is limited. For the small part that we can prevent, there is a shared responsibility for both the ED, but also for the entire care network due to the chronic nature of a large proportion of the complaints in the ED. Advance care planning is crucial in shifting to appropriate, timely and patient-centered care.