How Connecticut health directors deal with public health budget cuts at the local level.

OBJECTIVES: We investigated the perspectives of local health jurisdiction (LHJ) directors on coping mechanisms used to respond to budget reductions and constraints on their decision-making. METHODS: We conducted in-depth interviews with 17 LHJ directors. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: LHJ directors use a range of coping mechanisms, including identifying alternative revenue sources, adjusting services, amending staffing arrangements, appealing to local political leaders, and forming strategic partnerships. LHJs also face constraints on their decision-making because of state and local statutory requirements, political priorities, pressures from other LHJs, and LHJ structure. CONCLUSIONS: LHJs respond creatively to budget cuts to maintain important public health services. Some LHJ adjustments to administrative resources may obscure the long-term costs of public health budget cuts in such areas as staff morale and turnover. Not all coping strategies are available to each LHJ because of the contextual constraints of its locality, pointing to important policy questions on identifying optimum jurisdiction size and improving efficiency.

Navigating the boundaries of emergency department care: addressing the medical and social needs of patients who are homeless.

OBJECTIVES: We sought to understand interpersonal and systems-level factors relevant to delivering health care to emergency department (ED) patients who are homeless. METHODS: We conducted semistructured interviews with emergency medicine residents from 2 residency programs, 1 in New York City and 1 in a medium-sized northeastern city, from February to September 2012. A team of researchers reviewed transcripts independently and coded text segments using a grounded theory approach. They reconciled differences in code interpretations and generated themes inductively. Data collection and analysis occurred iteratively, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. RESULTS: From 23 interviews, 3 key themes emerged: (1) use of pattern recognition in identifying and treating patients who are homeless, (2) variations from standard ED care for patients who are homeless, and (3) tensions in navigating the boundaries of ED social care. CONCLUSIONS: Our study revealed practical and philosophical tensions in providing social care to patients in the ED who are homeless. Screening for homelessness in the ED and admission practices for patients who are homeless are important areas for future research and intervention with implications for health care costs and patient outcomes.

"Rewarding and challenging at the same time": emergency medicine residents' experiences caring for patients who are homeless.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives were to examine how emergency medicine (EM) residents learn to care for patients in the emergency department (ED) who are homeless and how providing care for patients who are homeless influences residents' education and professional development as emergency physicians. METHODS: We conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with EM residents from two programs. A random sample of residents stratified by training year was selected from each site. Interviews were digitally recorded and professionally transcribed. A team of researchers with diverse content-relevant expertise reviewed transcripts independently and applied codes to text segments using a grounded theory approach. The team met regularly to reconcile differences in code interpretations. Data collection and analysis occurred iteratively, and interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. RESULTS: Three recurring themes emerged from 23 resident interviews. First, residents learn unique aspects of EM by caring for patients who are homeless. This learning encompasses both specific knowledge and skills (e.g., disease processes infrequently seen in other populations) and professional development as an emergency physician (e.g., the core value of service in EM). Second, residents learn how to care for patients who are homeless through experience and informal teaching rather than through a formal curriculum. Residents noted little formal curricular time dedicated to homelessness and instead learned during clinical shifts through personal experience and by observing more senior physicians. One unique method of learning was through stories of "misses," in which patients who were homeless had bad outcomes. Third, caring for patients who are homeless affects residents emotionally in complex, multifaceted ways. Emotions were dominated by feelings of frustration. This frustration was often related to feelings of futility in truly helping homeless patients, particularly for patients who were frequent visitors to the ED and who had concomitant alcohol dependence. CONCLUSIONS: Caring for ED patients who are homeless is an important part of EM residency training. Our findings suggest the need for increased formal curricular time dedicated to the unique medical and social challenges inherent in treating patients who are homeless, as well as enhanced support and resources to improve the ability of residents to care for this vulnerable population. Future research is needed to determine if such interventions improve EM resident education and, ultimately, result in improved care for ED patients who are homeless.

Pandemic planning and response in academic pediatric emergency departments during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

OBJECTIVES: The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, initiated a shift toward a comprehensive, or "all-hazards," framework of emergency preparedness in the United States. Since then, the threat of H5N1 avian influenza, the severe acute respiratory syndrome epidemic, and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic have underscored the importance of considering infectious events within such a framework. Pediatric emergency departments (EDs) were disproportionately burdened by the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and therefore serve as a robust context for evaluation of pandemic preparedness. The objective of this study was to explore pediatric ED leaders' experiences with preparedness, response, and postincident actions related to the H1N1 pandemic to inform future pandemic and all-hazards planning and policy for EDs. METHODS: The authors selected a qualitative design, well suited for exploring complex, multifaceted organizational processes such as planning for and responding to a pandemic and learning from institutional experiences. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit medical directors or their designated physician respondents from pediatric emergency medicine training institutions representing a range of geographic regions across the United States, hospital types, and annual ED volumes; snowball sampling identified additional information-rich respondents. Recruitment began in May 2011 and continued until thematic saturation was reached in January 2012 (n = 20). Data were collected through in-depth individual phone interviews that were recorded and professionally transcribed. Using a standard interview guide, respondents were asked open-ended questions about pandemic planning, response, and institutional learning related to the H1N1 pandemic. Data analysis was performed by a multidisciplinary team using a grounded theory approach to generate themes inductively from respondents' expressed perspectives. The constant comparative method was used to identify emerging themes. RESULTS: Five common themes characterized respondents' experiences with pandemic planning and response: 1) national pandemic influenza preparedness guidance has not fully penetrated to the level of pediatric emergency physician (EP) leaders, leading to variable states of preparedness; 2) pediatric EDs that maintained strong relationships with local public health and other health care entities found those relationships to be beneficial to pandemic response; 3) pediatric EP leaders reported difficulty reconciling public health guidance with the reality of ED practice; 4) although many anticipated obstacles did not materialize, in some cases pediatric EP leaders experienced unexpected institutional challenges; and 5) pediatric EP leaders described varied experiences with organizational learning following the H1N1 pandemic experience. CONCLUSIONS: Despite a decade of investment in hospital preparedness, gaps in pediatric ED pandemic preparedness remain. This work suggests that raising awareness of pandemic planning standards and promoting strategies to overcome barriers to their adoption could enhance ED and hospital preparedness. Helping hospitals better prepare for pandemic events may lead to strengthened all-hazards preparedness.