Emergency Department Use by Young Adults With Chronic Illness Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: There was a significant decrease in emergency department encounters during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our large urban emergency department observed decreased encounters and admissions by youths with chronic health conditions. This study aimed to compare the frequency of emergency department encounters for certain young adults before the pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using medical records of patients ages 20 to 26 years from October 2018 to September 2019 and February 2020 to February 2021. Files set for inclusion were those with a primary diagnosis of human immunodeficiency virus, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, cerebral palsy, sickle cell disease, asthma, and certain psychiatric disorders for potentially preventable health events. RESULTS: We included 1203 total encounters (853 before the pandemic and 350 during the pandemic), with the total number of subjects included in the study 568 (293 before the pandemic to 239 during the pandemic). During the pandemic, young adults with mental health conditions (53.1%) accounted for most encounters. Encounters requiring hospital admissions increased from 27.4% to 52.5% during the pandemic, primarily among patients with diabetes (41.8% vs 61.1%) and mental health conditions (50% vs 73.3%). DISCUSSION: The number of young adults with certain chronic health conditions decreased during COVID-19, with encounters for subjects with mental health conditions increasing significantly. The proportion of admissions increased during the pandemic with increases for subjects with mental health disorders and diabetes. The number of frequent users decreased during COVID-19. Future research is needed to understand better the causes for these disparities in young adults with chronic conditions who use the emergency department as a source of care.

Measuring Acuity and Patient Progress for Youth With Special Health Care Needs in Transition Care Utilizing Nursing Outcomes.

Implementation of a nursing outcomes classification system (NOC) for youth with special health care needs (YSHCN) to support a transition care program may help describe the acuity and measure effectiveness of outcomes. Legislation mandates that care for YSHCN demonstrates effective coordination of care that is patient centered and age appropriate. Transition programs are recommended by leading authorities. In order to provide fair and equable care a universal rating process needs to be implemented to describe the patients' functional status and progress. NOC has the potential to measure patient acuity and outcomes for YSHCN that potentially may guide care needs.

Interdisciplinary Design to Improve Fast Track in the Emergency Department.

Delays in medical care will increase risks for patients. For this reason, timeliness of care is a public health priority and the one of the missions for this facility. The goal of this process improvement project was to enhance timeliness of care by restructuring fast track. Door-to-provider time, treat and release time, and the number of patients who left without being seen by a provider were monitored. Nurse practitioners were introduced into advanced practice provider mix and the development of care teams was implemented. The number of fast-track visits increased significantly to a projected 23,710 in 2017, whereas the door-to-provider time decreased to 48 min, treat and release times decreased to 162 min, and the number of patients who left without being seen decreased to 4.7%. Work needs to continue in these areas in to exceed Medicare and Medicaid Services benchmarks.