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OBJECTIVE: To determine frequency that ED visits are needed, and the most common chief complaints and medications prescribed to Veterans with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D). METHODS: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) SCI and Disorders (SCI/D) Registry (VHA SCIDR) was used to identify Veterans with SCI/D over a five-year period (fiscal years 2018-2022). The primary outcome was the proportion of Veterans with SCI/D who had visits to the ED during the study period. Secondary outcomes included diagnostic codes and medications prescribed in the ED, and other healthcare encounters. RESULTS: Overall, 18,464 Veterans with SCI/D, including 80,661 patient-years were included. Of these Veterans, 10,234 (55.4%) had at least one ED visit and 8230 (44.6%) did not. ED visits were consistent, ranging from 33.5% to 36.4% annually. The number of in-person healthcare encounters decreased over the study period. The most common ED diagnostic codes were paraplegia or quadriplegia, discharge counseling, UTI, neuromuscular dysfunction of the bladder and low back pain. The most common medications prescribed in the ED were analgesics (e.g., acetaminophen, ketorolac), antimicrobials (e.g., ceftriaxone, vancomycin) and ondansetron. Antibiotics were among the most prescribed discharge medications, including ciprofloxacin, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, cephalexin, and doxycycline. CONCLUSION: This national study of Veterans with SCI/D characterized ED healthcare utilization. Overall, more than half of Veterans with SCI/D required an ED visit during the five-year study period and over one third of Veterans in each fiscal year required an ED visit. Interventions to target prevention of ED visits and subsequent hospitalizations could focus on these areas.
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DISCLAIMER: In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time. PURPOSE: Vasoactive medications are used during advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) to shunt oxygenated blood to vital organs and after return of spontaneous circulation (ROSC) to maintain hemodynamic goals. However, limited evidence exists to support vasoactive medication recommendations in such scenarios, and it is unknown how practices vary among emergency departments across the US. METHODS: A survey questionnaire (15 questions) was electronically distributed to emergency medicine pharmacists (EMPs) in the US through various professional listservs. Demographic information, American Heart Association ACLS algorithm medication use, and use of continuous vasopressor infusions and adjunct medications following ROSC were assessed and are reported descriptively. RESULTS: The survey was distributed to 764 EMPs, with a 23% response rate from a wide geographic distribution and 48% of respondents practicing in academic medical centers. Epinephrine dosing and administration during cardiac arrest were reported by most to be in accordance with ACLS cardiac arrest algorithms. Calcium, magnesium sulfate, and sodium bicarbonate were the most common adjunct intravenous medications given during cardiac arrest. Norepinephrine was the first-choice vasopressor (81%) for post-ROSC hypotension, while epinephrine was preferred less frequently (17%). Antibiotics and sodium bicarbonate were the most frequently administered post-ROSC adjunct medications. CONCLUSION: This survey of a geographically diverse group of EMPs demonstrated high ACLS algorithm adherence for epinephrine during cardiac arrest with frequent additional administration of nonalgorithm medications. Sodium bicarbonate and calcium were the most frequently administered adjunct medications during cardiac arrest, while sodium bicarbonate and antibiotics were the most frequently used adjunct medications following ROSC. Norepinephrine was the most commonly used vasopressor following ROSC.
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Objectives: While our understanding of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has evolved, uncertainty remains regarding utility of previously established pulmonary embolism (PE) screening guidelines in patients with COVID-19. Many studies have investigated the efficacy of D-dimer (DD) screenings for patients with COVID-19 admitted to inpatient services, but few have evaluated patients in the emergency department (ED). The purpose of this study was to investigate utility of DD threshold for PE screening in patients with COVID-19 presenting to the ED. Methods: This was a retrospective, multicenter cohort including patients presenting to three EDs between March 1, 2020 and February 1, 2021 who tested positive for COVID-19 during ED visit or in 60 days prior to presentation and had DD ordered in ED. Patients were grouped by those who underwent computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA) to evaluate for PE and those who did not, and descriptive statistics were performed. Those who underwent CTPA were further divided into PE-positive and PE-negative groups. The discriminative ability of DD in predicting PE in patients with COVID-19 was analyzed using the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results: A total of 570 patients with COVID-19 were included in the study, of which 107 underwent CTPA to evaluate for PE. History of diabetes, elevated glucose, elevated lactate dehydrogenase, elevated white blood cell count, elevated platelets, elevated respiratory rate, and lower temperature were associated with increased risk for PE. Compared to those without PE, patients with PE were significantly more likely to be hospitalized (100% vs. 82%, p = 0.020) and admitted to the ICU (64% vs. 24%, p = 0.002). Those with PE had a significantly higher median DD value (21,177 ng/mL) compared to PE-negative group (952 ng/mL, p < 0.001). The ROC curve for DD in predicting PE had an area under the curve of 0.91 (95% confidence interval [0.84, 0.98]). In our study population, the optimal DD threshold for predicting PE was 1815 ng/mL (sensitivity 93% and specificity 80%). A conservative threshold of 1089 ng/mL could be used with sensitivity 100% and specificity 58%. Conclusion: DD is often elevated in patients with COVID-19, regardless of PE. While the classically used DD cutoff is 500 ng/mL, our study demonstrated a threshold of 1089 ng/mL safely predicted PE in patients with COVID-19 .
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The purpose of this article is to summarize pharmacotherapy related emergency medicine (EM) literature indexed in 2023. Articles were selected utilizing a modified Delphi approach. The table of contents from pre-determined journals were reviewed and independently evaluated via the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system by paired authors. Pharmacotherapy-related publications deemed to be GRADE 1A and 1B were reviewed by the collective group for inclusion in the review. In all, this article summarizes and provides commentary on the potential clinical impact of 13 articles, 6 guidelines, and 5 meta-analyses covering topics including guideline releases and updates on rapid sequence intubation in the critically ill, managing cardiac arrest or life-threatening toxicity due to poisoning, and management of major bleeding following trauma. Also discussed are ongoing controversies surrounding fluid resuscitation, time and treatment modalities for ischemic stroke, steroid use in community-acquired pneumonia, targeted blood product administration, and much more.
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Medicina de Emergência , Humanos , Tratamento Farmacológico/métodos , Guias de Prática Clínica como AssuntoRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are commonly treated in the emergency department (ED), and unfortunately, resistance to first-line agents is increasing. OBJECTIVES: To characterize treatment of pyelonephritis in a nationally representative sample of ED patients and to identify patient- and treatment-specific factors associated with receiving initial inactive antibiotics. METHODS: We conducted a multicentre, observational cohort study utilizing the Emergency Medicine PHARMacotherapy Research NETwork (EMPHARM-NET), comprising 15 geographically diverse US EDs. All patients ≥18â years of age with a diagnosis of pyelonephritis between 2018 and 2020 were included. The primary endpoint was the proportion of patients who received initial inactive empirical antibiotic therapy and to identify predictive factors of inactive antibiotic therapy. RESULTS: Of the 3714 patients evaluated, 223 had culture-positive pyelonephritis. Median patient age was 50.1â years and patients were mostly female (78.3%). Overall, 40.4% of patients received an IV antibiotic, most commonly ceftriaxone (86.7%). The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were cefalexin (31.8%), ciprofloxacin (14.3%), cefdinir (13.5%) and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole (12.6%). Overall, 10.3% of patients received initial inactive therapy. After adjustment in a multivariable analysis, long-acting IV antibiotic was predictive of inactive therapy (OR 0.23, 95% CI 0.07-0.83). CONCLUSIONS: In our prospective, multicentre observational study, we found that only 40.4% of patients with pyelonephritis received empirical IV antibiotics in the ED, contributing to inactive therapy. Receipt of long-acting IV antibiotics was independently associated with a decreased rate of initial inactive therapy. This reinforces guideline recommendations to administer long-acting IV antibiotics empirically in the ED upon suspicion of pyelonephritis.
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Antibacterianos , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Pielonefrite , Humanos , Pielonefrite/tratamento farmacológico , Pielonefrite/microbiologia , Feminino , Masculino , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência/estatística & dados numéricos , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Antibacterianos/uso terapêutico , Adulto , Estados Unidos , Idoso , Infecções Urinárias/tratamento farmacológico , Infecções Urinárias/microbiologia , Alta do Paciente , Estudos de Coortes , Padrões de Prática Médica/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Sugammadex rapidly reverses the nondepolarizing neuromuscular blocking agents (NMBAs) rocuronium and vecuronium. The role of sugammadex is not well-defined outside of the postoperative setting. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to describe sugammadex use outside the postoperative setting for the reversal of nondepolarizing NMBAs. METHODS: This was a single-center, retrospective cohort study conducted in patients who received sugammadex outside of the postoperative setting at an academic medical center between June 2016 and November 2022. The primary outcome was the effect of sugammadex use for rocuronium reversal, defined as any increase in train-of-four (TOF) after sugammadex administration and/or progress note documentation if TOF was unavailable. Secondary outcomes included adverse events and documentation of contraceptive counseling in patients taking hormonal contraceptives with child-bearing ability. RESULTS: A total of 14 383 patients received sugammadex during the study period. Of those patients, 39 (0.3%) were outside of the postoperative setting for the reversal of rocuronium and included in the study. Twenty-nine (74%) patients had an increase in TOF after sugammadex administration and/or progress note documentation if TOF was unavailable. Ten (26%) patients lacked documentation regarding the effect of sugammadex. No adverse reactions were reported. Three (8%) patients included in the study were of child-bearing ability, and 1 of the 3 patients was counseled on using an alternative method of contraception following sugammadex administration. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: There is a paucity of literature for the use of sugammadex outside of the postoperative setting. This study found that while the use of sugammadex was rare, overall, it was safe and well-tolerated.
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PURPOSE: Emergency department (ED) pharmacists commonly perform positive culture follow-ups that result in optimized antibiotic prescribing. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential positive impact on the outcome of antibiotic-free days through an ED pharmacist-driven protocol to contact patients with negative urine cultures and sexually transmitted infection (STI) test results who were discharged with antibiotics. METHODS: This was a single-center, prospective, observational, pre-post intervention study to determine antibiotic use in patients with negative urine cultures who were discharged from the Loyola Medical University Center ED with antibiotics prescribed. Patients were identified through daily positive culture reports. The primary outcome was days free of antibiotics, defined as the number of calendar days within 28 days after urine culture or STI test collection on which the patient did not receive any antibiotic treatments. RESULTS: One hundred ninety-two patients were screened. Sixty-three and twenty-six patients met the inclusion criteria in the pre- and postintervention groups, respectively. The study identified 163/465 (35.1%) antibiotic free days for the preintervention group, compared to 150.5/187 (80.5%) antibiotic-free days for the postintervention group. A majority of the patients did not have urinary tract infection as the chief complaint. The most common urinary and STI symptoms upon ED admission in the pre- and postintervention groups were dysuria (19.2% vs 28.1%) and unusual discharge (30.8% vs 28.6%), respectively. CONCLUSION: This study showed that a pharmacist-driven protocol increased the number of antibiotic-free days for patients prescribed empiric antibiotic therapy and discharged from the ED with subsequent negative urine cultures and STI results. We propose taking a novel approach in discontinuation of antibiotics by implementing an expansion of ED culture programs to include negative cultures that promote antimicrobial stewardship.
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Desprescrições , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis , Humanos , Antibacterianos/uso terapêutico , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Estudos Observacionais como Assunto , Farmacêuticos , Estudos Prospectivos , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/diagnóstico , Infecções Sexualmente Transmissíveis/tratamento farmacológicoRESUMO
PURPOSE: The preferred vasopressor in post-cardiac arrest shock has not been established with robust clinical outcomes data. Our goal was to perform a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing rates of in-hospital mortality, refractory shock, and hemodynamic parameters in post-cardiac arrest patients who received either norepinephrine or epinephrine as primary vasopressor support. METHODS: We conducted a search of PubMed, Cochrane Library, and CINAHL from 2000 to 2022. Included studies were prospective, retrospective, or published abstracts comparing norepinephrine and epinephrine in adults with post-cardiac arrest shock or with cardiogenic shock and extractable post-cardiac arrest data. The primary outcome of interest was in-hospital mortality. Other outcomes included incidence of arrhythmias or refractory shock. RESULTS: The database search returned 2646 studies. Two studies involving 853 participants were included in the systematic review. The proposed meta-analysis was deferred due to low yield. Crude incidence of in-hospital mortality was numerically higher in the epinephrine group compared with norepinephrine in both studies, but only statistically significant in one. Risk of bias was moderate to severe for in-hospital mortality. Additional outcomes were reported differently between studies, minimizing direct comparison. CONCLUSION: The vasopressor with the best mortality and hemodynamic outcomes in post-cardiac arrest shock remains unclear. Randomized studies are crucial to remedy this.
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Epinefrina , Hemodinâmica , Mortalidade Hospitalar , Norepinefrina , Vasoconstritores , Humanos , Epinefrina/uso terapêutico , Norepinefrina/uso terapêutico , Vasoconstritores/uso terapêutico , Hemodinâmica/efeitos dos fármacos , Parada Cardíaca/tratamento farmacológico , Parada Cardíaca/mortalidade , Parada Cardíaca/terapia , Choque Cardiogênico/tratamento farmacológico , Choque Cardiogênico/etiologia , Choque Cardiogênico/mortalidade , Choque/tratamento farmacológico , Choque/etiologiaRESUMO
OBJECTIVES: To comprehensively classify interventions performed by pediatric critical care clinical pharmacists and quantify cost avoidance (CA) generated through their accepted interventions. DESIGN: A multicenter, prospective, observational study performed between August 2018 and January 2019. SETTING: Academic and community hospitals in the United States with pediatric critical care units. SUBJECTS: Pediatric clinical pharmacists. INTERVENTIONS: Pharmacist recommendations were classified into one of 38 total intervention categories associated with CA. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Nineteen pediatric pharmacists at five centers documented 1,458 accepted interventions during 112 shifts on 861 critically ill pediatric patients. This calculated to an associated CA of $450,590. The accepted interventions and associated CA in the six established categories included as follows: adverse drug event prevention (155 interventions, $118,901 CA), resource utilization (267 interventions; $59,020), individualization of patient care (898 interventions, $217,949 CA), prophylaxis (8 interventions, $453 CA), hands-on care (30 interventions, $35,509 CA), and administrative/supportive tasks (108 interventions, $18,758 CA). The average associated CA was $309 per accepted intervention, $523 per patient day, and $4,023.13 per pediatric clinical pharmacist shift. The calculated potential annualized CA of accepted interventions from a pediatric pharmacist was $965,550, resulting in a potential monetary-associated CA-to-pharmacist salary ratio between $1.5:1 and $5.2:1. CONCLUSIONS: There is potential for significant avoidance of healthcare costs when pediatric pharmacists are involved in the care of critically and emergently ill pediatric patients, with a monetary potential CA-to-pediatric pharmacist salary ratio to be between $1.5:1 and $5.2:1.
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The Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) Reviewer Academy seeks to train and establish a community of trusted, reliable, and skilled peer reviewers with diverse backgrounds and interests to promote high-quality reviews for each of the SCCM journals. Goals of the Academy include building accessible resources to highlight qualities of excellent manuscript reviews; educating and mentoring a diverse group of healthcare professionals; and establishing and upholding standards for insightful and informative reviews. This manuscript will map the mission of the Reviewer Academy with a succinct summary of the importance of peer review, process of reviewing a manuscript, and the expected ethical standards of reviewers. We will equip readers to target concise, thoughtful feedback as peer reviewers, advance their understanding of the editorial process and inspire readers to integrate medical journalism into diverse professional careers.
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Tutoria , Revisão por Pares , Humanos , Pessoal de Saúde , Mentores , Grupo Associado , Revisão da Pesquisa por Pares , Sociedades MédicasRESUMO
PURPOSE: Massive transfusion protocols (MTP) commonly result in severe hypocalcemia due to the calcium-binding affinity of citrate in blood components. The purpose of this study is to determine the optimal grams (g) of citrate to repletion calcium (Ca) milliequivalents (mEq) (Citrate:Ca) ratio to reduce 30-day mortality. METHODS: This was a retrospective, single-centered, cohort study at a level 1 trauma center evaluating trauma and surgical patients in need of MTP activation from January 1, 2010-July 31, 2021. Patients with severe hypocalcemia at baseline, defined as ionized calcium (iCa) <0.9 mmol/L, were compared to patients without severe hypocalcemia. The primary endpoint was to determine the optimal ratio of grams of citrate to calcium mEq to reduce mortality in patients receiving a MTP. Secondary endpoints included mortality at 24 h and 30 days, blood components used in MTP, and type of calcium used. RESULTS: Overall, 501 patients were screened for inclusion. Of these patients, 193 were excluded, leaving 308 patients, of which 165 patients (53.6%) had an iCa <0.9 mmol/L within 24 h and 143 patients (46.4%) had iCa ≥0.9 mmol/L within 24 h. The ratio of Citrate:Ca for each patient was not significantly associated with mortality at 24 h (P = 0.79) or 30 days (P = 0.91) at a repletion Citrate:Ca ratio of median 1.97 (IQR 1.14-2.91). The rate of mortality was lowest at a Citrate:Ca of 2 in both <24-h mortality and 30-day mortality. CONCLUSIONS: There were no differences in 24 h or 30 day mortality based on repletion ratios seen in this study. A Citrate:Ca ratio between 2 and 3 in patients undergoing MTP was sufficient to obtain a normalized iCa within 24 h of MTP activation regardless of baseline iCa level. Further prospective studies will be needed to determine the optimal Citrate:Ca ratio.
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Cálcio , Cálcio/sangue , Cálcio/uso terapêutico , Transfusão de Sangue , Humanos , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto Jovem , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Idoso , Estudos Retrospectivos , Ácido Cítrico , Hipocalcemia/tratamento farmacológicoRESUMO
PURPOSE: Rapid-sequence intubation (RSI) is the process of administering a sedative and neuromuscular blocking agent (NMBA) in rapid succession to facilitate endotracheal intubation. It is the most common and preferred method for intubation of patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). The selection and use of medications to facilitate RSI is critical for success. The purpose of this review is to describe pharmacotherapies used during the RSI process, discuss current clinical controversies in RSI medication selection, and review pharmacotherapy considerations for alternative intubation methods. SUMMARY: There are several steps to the intubation process requiring medication considerations, including pretreatment, induction, paralysis, and post-intubation sedation and analgesia. Pretreatment medications include atropine, lidocaine, and fentanyl; but use of these agents in clinical practice has fallen out of favor as there is limited evidence for their use outside of select clinical scenarios. There are several options for induction agents, though etomidate and ketamine are the most used due to their more favorable hemodynamic profiles. Currently there is retrospective evidence that etomidate may produce less hypotension than ketamine in patients presenting with shock or sepsis. Succinylcholine and rocuronium are the preferred neuromuscular blocking agents, and the literature suggests minimal differences between succinylcholine and high dose rocuronium in first-pass success rates. Selection between the two is based on patient specific factors, half-life and adverse effect profiles. Finally, medication-assisted preoxygenation and awake intubation are less common methods for intubation in the ED but require different considerations for medication use. AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH: The optimal selection, dosing, and administration of RSI medications is complicated, and further research is needed in several areas. Additional prospective studies are needed to determine optimal induction agent selection and dosing in patients presenting with shock or sepsis. Controversy exists over optimal medication administration order (paralytic first vs induction first) and medication dosing in obese patients, but there is insufficient evidence to significantly alter current practices regarding medication dosing and administration. Further research examining awareness with paralysis during RSI is needed before definitive and widespread practice changes to medication use during RSI can be made.
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Etomidato , Ketamina , Bloqueadores Neuromusculares , Humanos , Succinilcolina , Etomidato/uso terapêutico , Rocurônio , Indução e Intubação de Sequência Rápida , Ketamina/uso terapêutico , Estudos Retrospectivos , Hipnóticos e Sedativos/uso terapêutico , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Bloqueadores Neuromusculares/uso terapêutico , Intubação Intratraqueal/métodosRESUMO
The purpose of this article is to summarize pharmacotherapy related emergency medicine (EM) literature indexed in 2022. Articles were selected utilizing a modified Delphi approach. The table of contents from pre-determined journals were reviewed and independently evaluated via the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) system by paired authors, with disagreements adjudicated by a third author. Pharmacotherapy-related publications deemed to be GRADE 1A and 1B were reviewed by the group for inclusion in the review. In all, this article summarizes and provides commentary on the potential clinical impact of 13 articles, 4 guidelines, and 3 meta-analyses covering topics including anticoagulant reversal, tenecteplase in acute ischemic stroke, guideline updates for heart failure and aortic aneurysm, magnesium in atrial fibrillation, sedation in mechanically ventilated patients and pain management strategies in the Emergency Department (ED), and tranexamic acid use in epistaxis and GI bleed.
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Medicina de Emergência , AVC Isquêmico , HumanosRESUMO
Pneumonia is common in the intensive care unit (ICU), infecting 27% of all critically ill patients. Given the high prevalence of this disease state in the ICU, optimizing antimicrobial therapy while minimizing toxicities is of utmost importance. Inappropriate antimicrobial use can increase the risk of antimicrobial resistance, Clostridiodes difficile infection, allergic reaction, and other complications from antimicrobial use (e.g., QTc prolongation, thrombocytopenia). This review article aims to discuss methods to optimize antimicrobial treatment in patients with pneumonia, including the following: procalcitonin use, utilization of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus nares testing to determine need for vancomycin therapy, utilization of the Biofire® FilmArray® pneumonia polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and microbiology reporting techniques.
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INTRODUCTION: In 2015, the Severe Sepsis and Early Septic Shock Management Bundle (SEP-1) tied hospital reimbursement to performance on a series of time sensitive indicators, including ordering blood cultures on patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. This metric could have broadly shaped ordering practices in the Emergency Department (ED), including for patients who did not have severe sepsis or septic shock. In this study, we sought to evaluate whether the frequency of blood culture orders on adult patients discharged from the ED changed after the SEP-1 metric, whether the rates of positivity for pathogens or contaminants changed after the SEP-1 metric, and whether similar changes were seen in orders for other laboratory tests. METHODS: This was a retrospective evaluation of blood culture orders from discharged adult ED patients from a suburban academic hospital between January 1, 2012 and June 30, 2019. We compared the number of blood cultures per discharged adult patient before and after the SEP-1 metric. We categorized each culture that grew an organism as a pathogen or a contaminant, and we compared rates of pathogen and contaminant growth before and after SEP-1. We compared rates of orders of blood cultures and lactates as labs related to SEP-1 with rates of orders of D-dimers, lipases, human chorionic gonadotropins (HCGs), and brain natriuretic peptides (BNPs) as labs unrelated to SEP-1 before and after the implementation of the SEP-1 metric. RESULTS: There were 144,343 adult patients discharged from the ED during the study period. A total of 6754 blood cultures were drawn from 3827 of those patient visits. The rate increased from 43.1 cultures per 1000 discharged patients before the SEP-1 metric to 75.9 blood cultures per 1000 discharged patients, an increase of 76.2% (p < 0.001). The cultures had a decreased rate of positivity (from 3.93% before SEP-1 to 3.03% after SEP-1, p = 0.044) and an unchanged rate of blood cultures resulting in a contaminant (2.49% to 1.85%, p = 0.071). Overall, orders of the labs unrelated to SEP-1 increased by an average of 16.8% after the SEP-1 metric and orders of the labs related to SEP-1 increased by an average of 81.0%. CONCLUSION: After the SEP-1 bundle, blood cultures were ordered more frequently on discharged ED patients. These cultures had a lower rate of positivity for pathogens and an unchanged rate of growth of contaminants. This increase was not matched by a similar increase in other labs. Taken together, these findings suggest that the SEP-1 metric had the unintended consequence of increasing orders of blood cultures on patients healthy enough to be discharged from the ED.