Assessment of Hospital Emergency Department Response to Potentially Infectious Diseases Using Unannounced Mystery Patient Drills - New York City, 2016.

Recent outbreaks of infectious diseases have revealed significant health care system vulnerabilities and highlighted the importance of rapid recognition and isolation of patients with potentially severe infectious diseases. During December 2015-May 2016, a series of unannounced "mystery patient drills" was carried out to assess New York City Emergency Departments' (EDs) abilities to identify and respond to patients with communicable diseases of public health concern. Drill scenarios presented a patient reporting signs or symptoms and travel history consistent with possible measles or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). Evaluators captured key infection control performance measures, including time to patient masking and isolation. Ninety-five drills (53 measles and 42 MERS) were conducted in 49 EDs with patients masked and isolated in 78% of drills. Median time from entry to masking was 1.5 minutes (range = 0-47 minutes) and from entry to isolation was 8.5 minutes (range = 1-57). Hospitals varied in their ability to identify potentially infectious patients and implement recommended infection control measures in a timely manner. Drill findings were used to inform hospital improvement planning to more rapidly and consistently identify and isolate patients with a potentially highly infectious disease.

Preparing the Health System to Respond to Ebola Virus Disease in New York City, 2014.

The world's largest outbreak of Ebola virus disease began in West Africa in 2014. Although few cases were identified in the United States, the possibility of imported cases led US public health systems and health care facilities to focus on preparing the health care system to quickly and safely identify and respond to emerging infectious diseases. In New York City, early, coordinated planning among city and state agencies and the health care delivery system led to a successful response to a single case diagnosed in a returned health care worker. In this article we describe public health and health care system preparedness efforts in New York City to respond to Ebola and conclude that coordinated public health emergency response relies on joint planning and sustained resources for public health emergency response, epidemiology and laboratory capacity, and health care emergency management. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2017;11:370-374).

Impact of the 5As brief counseling on smoking cessation among pregnant clients of Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) clinics in Ohio.

OBJECTIVES: We assessed whether smoking cessation improved among pregnant smokers who attended Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Supplemental Nutrition Program clinics trained to implement a brief smoking cessation counseling intervention, the 5As: ask, advise, assess, assist, arrange. METHODS: In Ohio, staff in 38 WIC clinics were trained to deliver the 5As from 2006 through 2010. Using 2005-2011 Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System data, we performed conditional logistic regression, stratified on clinic, to estimate the relationship between women's exposure to the 5As and the odds of self-reported quitting during pregnancy. Reporting bias for quitting was assessed by examining whether differences in infants' birth weight by quit status differed by clinic training status. RESULTS: Of 71,526 pregnant smokers at WIC enrollment, 23% quit. Odds of quitting were higher among women who attended a clinic after versus before clinic staff was trained (adjusted odds ratio, 1.16; 95% confidence interval, 1.04-1.29). The adjusted mean infant birth weight was, on average, 96 g higher among women who reported quitting (P<0.0001), regardless of clinic training status. CONCLUSIONS: Training all Ohio WIC clinics to deliver the 5As may promote quitting among pregnant smokers, and thus is an important strategy to improve maternal and child health outcomes.

A Mixed-Methods Assessment of a Brief Smoking Cessation Intervention Implemented in Ohio Public Health Clinics, 2013.

OBJECTIVES: In 2006, the state of Ohio initiated the implementation of a brief smoking cessation intervention (5As: Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, and Arrange) in select public health clinics that serve low-income pregnant and post-partum women. Funds later became available to expand the program statewide by 2015. However, close to half of the clinics initially trained stopped implementation of the 5As. To help guide the proposed statewide expansion plan for implementation of the 5As, this study assessed barriers and facilitators related to 5As implementation among clinics that had ever received training. METHODS: A mixed-methods approach was used, comprising semi-structured interviews with clinic program directors (n = 21) and a survey of clinic staff members (n = 120), to assess implementation-related barriers, facilitators, training needs, and staff confidence in delivering the 5As. RESULTS: Semi-structured interviews of program directors elucidated implementation barriers including time constraints, low self-efficacy in engaging resistant clients, and paperwork-related documentation challenges. Facilitators included availability of community referral resources, and integration of cessation interventions into the clinic workflow. Program directors believed they would benefit from more hands-on training in delivering the 5As. The survey results showed that a majority of staff felt confident advising (61%) or referring clients for tobacco dependence treatment (74%), but fewer felt confident about discussing treatment options with clients (29%) or providing support to clients who had relapsed (30%). CONCLUSIONS: Time constraints and documentation issues were major barriers to implementing the 5As. Simplified documentation processes and training enhancements, coupled with systems change, may enhance delivery of evidence-based smoking cessation interventions.

Ebola virus disease in a humanitarian aid worker - New York City, October 2014.

In late October 2014, Ebola virus disease (Ebola) was diagnosed in a humanitarian aid worker who recently returned from West Africa to New York City (NYC). The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) actively monitored three close contacts of the patient and 114 health care personnel. No secondary cases of Ebola were detected. In collaboration with local and state partners, DOHMH had developed protocols to respond to such an event beginning in July 2014. These protocols included safely transporting a person at the first report of symptoms to a local hospital prepared to treat a patient with Ebola, laboratory testing for Ebola, and monitoring of contacts. In response to this single case of Ebola, initial health care worker active monitoring protocols needed modification to improve clarity about what types of exposure should be monitored. The response costs were high in both human resources and money: DOHMH alone spent $4.3 million. However, preparedness activities that include planning and practice in effectively monitoring the health of workers involved in Ebola patient care can help prevent transmission of Ebola.

Identifying breastfeeding-sensitive conditions by expert consensus.

BACKGROUND: Infant feeding-related health outcomes need to be consistently defined prior to inclusion in health services research. OBJECTIVE: To categorize conditions common in infants under 12 months old by their association with breastfeeding for use as outcome measures in a randomized, controlled trial of breastfeeding promotion. METHODS: A modified Delphi consensus method synthesized opinions of 13 physician experts on breastfeeding's association with ICD-9 infant diagnosis codes derived from literature review and medical center experience. A pilot round and 2 subsequent Delphi rounds were used. For the first round, consensus was achieved when more than 80% of experts agreed on a classification for a particular condition, with a predetermined level of certainty based on a 7-point Likert scale. For the second round, consensus was achieved when a majority of experts agreed on the classification from Round 1. RESULTS: An initial 68 diagnosis codes were identified for evaluation by the expert panel. After a pilot round, the codes were refined and condensed, which resulted in 38 diagnoses for categorization into 1 of 3 categories: (1) breastfeeding protects against the condition; (2) breastfeeding may cause or worsen the condition; and (3) breastfeeding is unrelated to the condition. At the conclusion of the process, consensus was achieved on the classification of 31 conditions, and 7 conditions remained unclassified because of a lack of consensus. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides a list of conditions common in infants under 12 months of age classified based on relationship to infant feeding method and validated by expert consensus. These conditions, based on readily available insurance claims data, contribute to the standardization of outcome measures used for health services research related to breastfeeding promotion.