Behavioural 'nudging' interventions to reduce low-value care for low back pain in the emergency department (NUDG-ED): protocol for a 2×2 factorial, before-after, cluster randomised trial.

INTRODUCTION: Opioids and imaging are considered low-value care for most people with low back pain. Yet around one in three people presenting to the emergency department (ED) will receive imaging, and two in three will receive an opioid. NUDG-ED aims to determine the effectiveness of two different behavioural 'nudge' interventions on low-value care for ED patients with low back pain. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: NUDG-ED is a 2×2 factorial, open-label, before-after, cluster randomised controlled trial. The trial includes 8 ED sites in Sydney, Australia. Participants will be ED clinicians who manage back pain, and patients who are 18 years or over presenting to ED with musculoskeletal back pain. EDs will be randomly assigned to receive (i) patient nudges, (ii) clinician nudges, (iii) both interventions or (iv) no nudge control. The primary outcome will be the proportion of encounters in ED for musculoskeletal back pain where a person received a non-indicated lumbar imaging test, an opioid at discharge or both. We will require 2416 encounters over a 9-month study period (3-month before period and 6-month after period) to detect an absolute difference of 10% in use of low-value care due to either nudge, with 80% power, alpha set at 0.05 and assuming an intra-class correlation coefficient of 0.10, and an intraperiod correlation of 0.09. Patient-reported outcome measures will be collected in a subsample of patients (n≥456) 1 week after their initial ED visit. To estimate effects, we will use a multilevel regression model, with a random effect for cluster and patient, a fixed effect indicating the group assignment of each cluster and a fixed effect of time. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study has ethical approval from Southwestern Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee (2023/ETH00472). We will disseminate the results of this trial via media, presenting at conferences and scientific publications. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ACTRN12623001000695.

Efficacy of a short message service brief contact intervention (SMS-SOS) in reducing repetition of hospital-treated self-harm: randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Hospital-treated self-harm is common and costly, and is associated with repeated self-harm and suicide. AIMS: To investigate the effectiveness of a brief contact intervention delivered via short message service (SMS) text messages in reducing hospital-treated self-harm re-presentations in three hospitals in Sydney (2017-2019), Australia. Trial registration number: ACTRN12617000607370. METHOD: A randomised controlled trial with parallel arms allocated 804 participants presenting with self-harm, stratified by previous self-harm, to a control condition of treatment as usual (TAU) (n = 431) or an intervention condition of nine automated SMS contacts (plus TAU) (n = 373), over 12 months following the index self-harm episode. The primary outcomes were (a) repeat self-harm event rate (number of self-harm events per person per year) at 6-, 12- and 24-month follow-up and (b) the time to first repeat at 24-month follow-up. RESULTS: The event rate for self-harm repetition was lower for the SMS compared with TAU group at 6 months (IRR = 0.79, 95% CI 0.61-1.01), 12 months (IRR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.64-0.95) and 24 months (IRR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.66-0.91). There was no difference between the SMS and TAU groups in the time to first repeat self-harm event over 24 months (HR = 0.96, 95% CI 0.72-1.26). There were four suicides in the TAU group and none in the SMS group. CONCLUSIONS: The 22% reduction in repetition of hospital-treated self-harm was clinically meaningful. SMS text messages are an inexpensive, scalable and universal intervention that can be used in hospital-treated self-harm populations but further work is needed to establish efficacy and cost-effectiveness across settings.

A cluster of acute thebaine poisonings from non-food grade poppy seeds in the Australian food supply.

INTRODUCTION: Poppy seed tea is used for its opioid effects and contains multiple opium alkaloids, including morphine, codeine, papaverine, and thebaine. Animal studies indicate thebaine has strychnine-like properties, but there is limited literature describing human thebaine poisoning. We describe a cluster of acute thebaine poisoning in people ingesting tea made using poppy seeds with high thebaine content that entered the Australian food supply chain. METHODS: This is an observational study of patients poisoned after drinking poppy seed tea. Cases were identified by three prospective toxicovigilance systems: the Emerging Drug Network of Australia collaboration, the New South Wales Prescription, Recreational and Illicit Substance Evaluation program, and the Emerging Drugs Network of Australia Victoria study. We report characteristics of clinical toxicity in cases with reported ingestion of poppy seed tea and analytical confirmation of thebaine exposure. RESULTS: Forty cases presenting with multi-system toxicity following poppy seed tea ingestion were identified across seven Australian states/territories from November 2022 to January 2023. Blood testing in 23 cases confirmed high thebaine concentrations. All 23 were male (median age 35, range 16-71 years). All patients experienced muscle spasms. Rigidity was described in nine, convulsions in six, while rhabdomyolysis, acute kidney injury, and metabolic acidosis occurred in five patients. There were two cardiac arrests. The thebaine median admission blood concentration was 1.6 mg/L, with a range of 0.1-5.6 mg/L, and was the dominant opium alkaloid in all samples. Convulsions, acute kidney injury, metabolic acidosis, and cardiac arrest were associated with increasing median thebaine concentrations. Four patients were managed in the Intensive Care Unit, with two receiving continuous kidney replacement therapy (one also received intermittent haemodialysis) for kidney injury. There was one death. CONCLUSIONS: Thebaine toxicity, like strychnine poisoning, resulted in neuromuscular excitation characterized by muscle spasm, rigidity, and convulsions. Severe toxicity, including acute kidney injury, metabolic acidosis, and cardiac arrest, appears dose-dependent.

Toxicity and Adverse Effects in Clozapine-Related Presentations to a Medical Toxicology Service in Western Sydney.

BACKGROUND: Clozapine is an anti-psychotic agent, reserved for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, with demonstrated efficacy in an otherwise therapeutically challenging patient population. We aimed to review the full spectrum casemix of clozapine presentations to our tertiary toxicology service. METHODS: In this retrospective study, we reviewed consecutive clozapine related toxicity presentations to a tertiary medical toxicology inpatient and consultation service-including deliberate self-poisoning (DSP), adverse drug reaction (ADR), recreational use, and therapeutic misadventure over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021. Data were extracted for demographics, ingested dose, exposure characteristics, and patient outcome. RESULTS: We identified 83 patients with clozapine-related presentations over the 10-year period. Twenty-two patients were excluded. Of the remaining 61 patients, 28 patients presented with DSP, 20 patients with accidental overdose, and 13 patients with an ADR; no patients presented with recreational use. It was noted that ADRs were largely idiosyncratic reactions and not always related to dose adjustments. In the context of therapeutic misadventure and DSP, we noted that a lower mean dose achieved a higher poison severity score (PSS) in clozapine-naive patients when compared to those patients on regular clozapine. CONCLUSIONS: The presentation of clozapine-related toxicity differs depending on the modality of ingestion, whether DSP, accidental, or as a result of ADR. Patients naive to clozapine therapy tend to experience higher PSS with lower doses ingested either in a deliberate self-poisoning or accidental ingestion context. This is likely due to tolerance to the sedative properties of clozapine. No patients manifested clinical toxicity greater than 8 hours after ingestion, with an observation period of 6 hours accurately identifying toxicity in most patients.

The Impact of an Electronic Medication Management System on Medication Deviations on Admission and Discharge from Hospital.

Medication errors at transition of care remain a concerning issue. In recent times, the use of integrated electronic medication management systems (EMMS) has caused a reduction in medication errors, but its effectiveness in reducing medication deviations at transition of care has not been studied in hospital-wide settings in Australia. The aim of this study is to assess medication deviations, such as omissions and mismatches, pre-EMMS and post-EMMS implementation at transition of care across a hospital. In this study, patient records were reviewed retrospectively to identify medication deviations (medication omissions and medication mismatches) at admission and discharge from hospital. A total of 400 patient records were reviewed (200 patients in the pre-EMMS and 200 patients in the post-EMMS group). Out of 400 patients, 112 in the pre-EMMS group and 134 patients in post-EMMS group met the inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. A total of 105 out of 246 patients (42.7%) had any medication deviations on their medications. In the pre-EMMS group, 59 out of 112 (52.7%) patients had any deviations on their medications compared to 46 out of 134 patients (34.3%) from the post-EMMS group (p = 0.004). The proportion of patients with medication omitted from inpatient orders was 36.6% in the pre-EMMS cohort vs. 22.4% in the post-EMMS cohort (p = 0.014). Additionally, the proportion of patients with mismatches in medications on the inpatient charts compared to their medication history was 4.5% in the pre-EMMS group compared to 0% in the post-EMMS group (p = 0.019). Similarly, the proportion of patients with medications omitted from their discharge summary was 23.2% in the pre-EMMS group vs. 12.7% in the post-EMMS group (p = 0.03). Our study demonstrates a reduction in medication deviations after the implementation of the EMMS in hospital settings.

Surveillance of Hospital-Presenting Intentional Self-Harm in Western Sydney, Australia, During the Implementation of a New Self-Harm Reporting Field.

Background: Hospital-presenting self-harm is a strong predictor of suicide and has substantial human and health service costs. Aims: We aimed to identify changes in case ascertainment after implementation of a new self-harm reporting field at a tertiary hospital in New South Wales, and to report event rates, demographic, and clinical characteristics. Method: Self-harm events presenting to the emergency department (October 2017 to August 2020) were identified using clinical documentation and a new reporting field. Changes in the frequency of self-harm in the period after implementation of the self-harm field were assessed through Poisson regression models. Results: A twofold increase in the frequency of self-harm was detected following the implementation of the new reporting field. The annual average age-standardized event rate of self-harm was 110.4 per 100,000 (120.8 per 100,000 for females; 100.1 per 100,000 for males). The highest rates by age and sex were for females aged 15-19 years (375 per 100,000) and males aged 20-24 years (175 per 100,000). Limitations: Self-harm identification relies on clinician coding practice, which is subject to variability and potential under-enumeration. Conclusion: These findings highlight the value of a self-harm reporting field in hospital record systems for accurate recording and long-term monitoring of self-harm event rates.

Toxicology presentations to a tertiary unit in New South Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic first wave: A retrospective comparison study.

OBJECTIVE: To compare presentation numbers, class of exposure, poison severity score (PSS) and drugs ingested by patients in a tertiary toxicology service during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic to the corresponding time periods in 2018 and 2019. METHODS: A retrospective cohort observational study of patients admitted or consulted to the Western Sydney Toxicology Service (WSTS) from ED during February to May in 2018-2020. Patient age, sex, triage category, time and date of arrival, mode of arrival, type of poisoning, discharge location, length of stay and PSS were collected from WSTS database and electronic medical records. The total number of ED presentations, hospital admissions and toxicology admissions were gathered from hospital-based data services. RESULTS: There was an overall increase in toxicology presentations in February to May 2020 (n = 441) compared to 2019 (n = 333) and 2018 (n = 255). The daily rate of presentations increased in March to May 2020 with an overall rate ratio of 1.42, 95% confidence interval 1.23-1.63, P < 0.001. There was an increase in presentations across all drug types. From March to April 2020, there was significantly higher number of daily presentations for recreational drugs use compared to 2018. CONCLUSION: There was a relative increase in toxicology presentations during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to an overall decrease in presentations to ED. Recreational drug use increased significantly during the pandemic compared to 2018.

Food-induced methemoglobinemia: A systematic review.

Methemoglobinemia is a sporadic, potentially fatal disease of poor tissue oxygenation in which ferrous hemoglobin (Fe2+ ) is oxidized to the ferric (Fe3+ ) state, rendering it incapable of binding oxygen (O2 ). Fortunately, it is diagnosable and treatable. Here, we present a systematic review of food-induced methemoglobinemia. PubMed and Embase databases were searched using the term "methemoglobin*," for articles up to December 31, 2020. Inclusion criteria were confirmed or probable cases of methemoglobinemia with an oxidant confirmed in food or body tissue samples, or the oxidant likely to have come from food. We found 97 articles describing 568 cases. Median age was 6 years (range: 2 weeks to 80 years). Median methemoglobin fraction was 30% (n = 142). Oxidizing agents were predominantly nitrites and nitrates. The commonest type of presentation was children eating vegetables (30%), followed by accidental ingestions (27%), and meat curing misadventures (22%). Favism was found to result in mild methemoglobinemia, highest fraction reported was 15.8%. Of the 35 deaths, 32 were from accidental ingestions (91%). In some fatal cases, diagnosis was likely delayed or missed, and antidote was not administered. The majority of cases survived, even with severe methemoglobin levels of up to 89%, provided that methylene blue was administered. Treatment with methylene blue alone resulted in an average methemoglobin drop of 39.1% (n = 22). Methemoglobinemia cases continue to occur due to accidental exposure, meat curing misadventures, and babies ingesting nitrate-rich vegetables which have been inappropriately stored. Early recognition of the toxidrome, instituting antidote treatment, and notifying public health authorities are key to improved outcomes.

Can existing electronic medical records be used to quantify cardiovascular risk at point of care?

BACKGROUND: Using electronic data for cardiovascular risk stratification could help in prioritising healthcare access and optimise cardiovascular prevention. AIMS: To determine whether assessment of absolute cardiovascular risk (Australian absolute cardiovascular disease risk (ACVDR)) and short-term ischaemic risk (History, ECG, Age, Risk factors, and Troponin (HEART) score) is possible from available data in Electronic Medical Record (EMR) and My Health Record (MHR) of patients presenting with acute cardiac symptoms to a Rapid Access Cardiology Clinic (RACC). METHODS: Audit of EMR and MHR on 200 randomly selected adults who presented to RACC between 1 March 2017 and 4 February 2020. The main outcomes were the proportion of patients for which ACVDR score and HEART score could be calculated. RESULTS: Mean age was 55.2 ± 17.8 years and 43% were female. Most (85%) were referred from emergency for chest pain (52%). Forty-six percent had hypertension, 35% obesity, 20% diabetes mellitus, 17% ischaemic heart disease and 18% were current smokers. There was no significant difference in MHR accessibility with age, gender and number of comorbidities. An ACVDR score could be estimated for 17.5% (EMR) and 0% (MHR) of patients. None had complete data to estimate HEART score in either EMR or MHR. Most commonly missing variables for ACVDR score were blood pressure (MHR) and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (EMR), and for HEART score the missing variables were body mass index and comorbidities (MHR and EMR). CONCLUSIONS: Significant gaps are apparent in electronic medical data capture of key variables to perform cardiovascular risk assessment. Medical data capture should prioritise the collection of clinically important data to help address gaps in cardiovascular management.

Implementation of an Electronic Medication Management System in a large tertiary hospital: a case of qualitative inquiry.

BACKGROUND: Hospitals across Australia are implementing Clinical Information Systems, e.g. Electronic Medication Management Systems (EMMS) at a rapid pace to moderate health services. The benefits of the EMMS depend on the acceptance of the system by the clinicians. The study hospital used a unique patient-centric implementation strategy that was based on the guiding principle of "one patient, one chart" to avoid a patient being on a hybrid medication chart. This paper aims to study the factors facilitating or hindering the adoption of the EMMS as viewed by clinicians and the implementation team. METHODS: Four focus groups (FG), one each for (1) doctors, (2) nurses, (3) pharmacists, and (4) implementation team, were conducted. A guide for the FG was based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). RESULTS: A total of 23 unique subthemes were identified and were grouped into five main themes (1) implementation strategy, (2) organisational outcome of EMMS, (3) individual impact of EMMS, (4) IT product, and (5) organisational culture. Clinicians reported improvement in their workflow efficiency post-EMMS implementation. They also reported some challenges in using the EMMS that centered around the area of infrastructure, technical and design issues. Additionally, the implementation team highlighted two crucial factors influencing the success of EMMS implementation, namely: (1) the patient-centric implementation strategy, and (2) the organisation readiness. CONCLUSION: Overall, this study outlines the implementation process of the EMMS in a large healthcare facility from the clinicians' and the implementation team's perspectives using UTAUT model. The result suggests that clinicians' acceptance of the EMMS was highly influenced by the unique implementation strategy (namely, patient-centric approach and clinical leadership in the implementation team). Whereas the level of adoption of EMMS by clinicians was determined by their level of perceived and realised benefits. On the other hand, a number of barriers to the adoption of EMMS were discovered, namely, general training instead of customised training based on local needs, technical and design issues and lack of availability of computer systems. It is suggested that promptly resolving these issues can improve the adoption of the EMMS.

Utility of non-contrast head computed tomography in poisoned patients.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the utility of non-contrast head computed tomography (CT) in poisoned patients. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study of patients referred to a toxicology unit between August 2010 and December 2017. Our database yielded patients who underwent head CT at presentation to the ED. Pre-specified information was compiled from the medical records. RESULTS: There were 6261 presentations of which 1142 underwent head CT (17%). Median age was 41 years, and 437 (38%) were female. There were 492 (43%) recreational ingestions and 466 (41%) deliberate self-poisonings. The commonest agents were sedatives 376 (33%) and opioids 282 (24%); 334 (29%) cases were intubated. Signs of head injury were found in 153 cases (13%) and focal neurological signs in 68 (6%). No acute pathology was reported in 884 head CTs (77%), chronic changes in 193 (17%) and incidental findings in 26 (2%). Acute pathology was found in 39 (4%) patients: 15 with hypoxic-ischaemic injury, three infarctions, nine with intra-cranial haemorrhage, 11 facial bone fractures and one retro-bulbar haematoma. No patient required an immediate surgical intervention, and only one patient had a change to clinical treatment. Acute head CT pathology was associated with at least one of the following clinical features: need for intubation, signs of head injury, seizure, headache, and unexpected neurological signs. CONCLUSION: Non-contrast head CT is a low-yield investigation in patients presenting with poisoning. Consideration should be given as to whether the clinical presentation is consistent with the expected toxidrome and whether the patient would benefit from head CT.

Evaluation of an augmented emergency department electronic medical record-based sepsis alert.

OBJECTIVE: Electronic medical records-based alerts have shown mixed results in identifying ED sepsis. Augmenting clinical patient-flagging with automated alert systems may improve sepsis screening. We evaluate the performance of a hybrid alert to identify patients in ED with sepsis or in-hospital secondary outcomes from infection. METHODS: We extracted a dataset of all patients with sepsis during the study period at five participating Western Sydney EDs. We evaluated the hybrid alert's performance for identifying patients with a discharge diagnosis related to infection and modified sequential sepsis-related organ functional assessment (mSOFA) score ≥2 in ED and also compared the alert to rapid bedside screening tools to identify patients with infection for secondary outcomes of all-cause in-hospital death and/or intensive care unit admission. RESULTS: A total of 118 178 adult patients presented to participating EDs during study period with 1546 patients meeting ED sepsis criteria. The hybrid alert had a sensitivity - 71.2% (95% confidence interval 68.8-73.4), specificity - 96.4% (95% confidence interval 96.3-96.5) for identifying ED sepsis. Clinician flagging identified additional alert-negative 232 ED sepsis and 63 patients with secondary outcomes and 112 alert-positive patients with infection and ED mSOFA score <2 went on to die in hospital. CONCLUSION: The hybrid alert performed modestly in identifying ED sepsis and secondary outcomes from infection. Not all infected patients with a secondary outcome were identified by the alert or mSOFA score ≥2 threshold. Augmenting clinical practice with auto-alerts rather than pure automation should be considered as a potential for sepsis alerting until more reliable algorithms are available for safe use in clinical practice.

Efficacy of a two bag acetylcysteine regimen to treat paracetamol overdose (2NAC study).

BACKGROUND: Previous studies of paracetamol overdose treatment show that a 2-bag, 20-h intravenous (IV) acetylcysteine regimen decreased the incidence of non-allergic anaphylactic reactions compared to the 3-bag, 21 h IV regimen, but have not examined efficacy of the 20-h 2 bag regimen. METHODS: This was a multi-centre observational study of paracetamol overdose presentations treated with a 2-bag IV acetylcysteine regimen (200 mg/kg over 4 h, 100 mg/kg over 16 h) compared to a 3-bag regimen, performed from 2009 to 2019. Patients were referred from the emergency department to the inpatient toxicology units for continued management. For the primary non-inferiority analysis: subjects had single, acute ingestions, a serum paracetamol-concentration performed 4 to 8-h post-ingestion. The primary outcome was development of acute liver injury (ALI), defined as peak ALT>150 U/L; and > double admission baseline ALT (for presentations within 24 h post-overdose). Secondary outcomes included adverse reactions to acetylcysteine (cutaneous and systemic). FINDING: Out of 6419 paracetamol overdoses, 2763 received acetylcysteine. For the primary analysis, 1003 received the 2-bag and 783 the 3-bag acetylcysteine regimen. When presentation bloods were performed 4 to 8-h post-overdose, 21 (3.1%) developed ALI with the 2-bag regimen vs 16 (2.9%) with the 3-bag regimen (Difference: 0.2%, 95%CI:-1.6 to 2.2). The incidence of hepatotoxicity was: 1.2% (n = 8) with the two-bag regimen and 1.6% (n = 9) with the three-bag regimen (Difference -0.4%, 95%CI -1.75, 0.91). When presentation bloods were performed 8 to 24-h post-overdose, 70 (21%) developed ALI with the 2-bag regimen vs 46 (23%) with the 3-bag regimen (Difference: -2%, 95%CI -9.12 to 5.36). There were significantly less cutaneous and systemic non-allergic anaphylactic reactions recorded after treatment with the two-bag than the three-bag regimen (1.3% [n = 17] and 7.1% [n = 65], Difference: -5.8%, 95%CI -7.6 to -4.0, p < 0.0001), respectively. INTERPRETATION: A two-bag intravenous acetylcysteine regimen was found to be non-inferior to the three-bag regimen with regards to efficacy in preventing acute liver injury for early presentations of paracetamol overdose. No important differences were seen for any other presentations. The two-bag regimen also decreased the incidence of both non-allergic anaphylactic reactions and gastrointestinal adverse events from acetylcysteine treatment. FUNDING: AW is funded by a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Early Career Fellowship ID 1159907. GI is funded by a NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship ID 1061041. The NHMRC had no role in the design, writing of this manuscript. The corresponding author (AW) had full access to all the data in the study and final responsibility for the decision to submit the manuscript for publication.

SMS SOS: a randomized controlled trial to reduce self-harm and suicide attempts using SMS text messaging.

BACKGROUND: Hospital-treated deliberate self-harm (DSH) is common, costly and has high repetition rates. Since brief contact interventions (BCIs) may reduce the risk of DSH repetition, we aim to evaluate whether a SMS (Short Message Service) text message Intervention plus Treatment As Usual (TAU) compared to TAU alone will reduce hospital DSH re-presentation rates in Western Sydney public hospitals in Australia. METHODS/DESIGN: Our study is a 24-month randomized controlled trial (RCT). Adult patients who present with DSH to hospital emergency, psychiatric, and mental health triage and assessment departments will be randomly assigned to an Intervention condition plus TAU receiving nine SMS text messages at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10 and 12-months post-discharge. Each message will contain telephone numbers for two mental health crises support tele-services. Primary outcomes will be the difference in the number of DSH re-presentations, and the time to first re-presentation, within 12-months of discharge. DISCUSSION: This study protocol describes the design and implementation of an RCT using SMS text messages, which aim to reduce hospital re-presentation rates for DSH. Positive study findings would support the translation of an SMS-aftercare protocol into mental health services at minimal expense. TRIAL REGISTRATION AND ETHICS APPROVAL: This trial has been registered with the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial registration: ACTRN12617000607370 . Registered 28 April 2017) and has been approved by two Local Health Districts (LHDs). Western Sydney LHD Human Research Ethics Committee approved the study for Westmead Hospital and Blacktown Hospital (Protocol: HREC/16/WMEAD/336). Nepean Blue Mountains LHD Research Governance Office approved the study for Nepean Hospital (SSA/16/Nepean/170).

Attitudes of health professionals to using routinely collected clinical data for performance feedback and personalised professional development.

OBJECTIVES: To learn the attitudes of health professionals, health informaticians and information communication technology professionals to using data in electronic health records (eHRs) for performance feedback and professional development. DESIGN: Qualitative research in a co-design framework. Health professionals' perceptions of the accessibility of data in eHRs, and barriers to and enablers of using these data in performance feedback and professional development were explored in co-design workshops. Audio recordings of the workshops were transcribed, de-identified, and thematically analysed. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: A total of nine co-design workshops were held in two major public hospitals in Sydney: three for nursing staff (ten participants), three for doctors (15 participants), and one each for information communication technology professionals (six participants), health informaticians (four participants), and allied health professionals (13 participants). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Key themes related to attitudes of participants to the secondary use of eHR data for improving health care practice. RESULTS: Six themes emerged from the discussions in the workshops: enthusiasm for feeding back clinical data; formative rather than punitive use; peer comparison, benchmarking, and collaborative learning; data access and use; capturing complex clinical narratives; and system design challenges. Barriers to secondary use of eHR data included access to information, measuring performance on the basis of eHR data, and technical questions. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings will inform the development of programs designed to utilise routinely collected eHR data for performance feedback and professional development.

The NACSTOP Trial: A Multicenter, Cluster-Controlled Trial of Early Cessation of Acetylcysteine in Acetaminophen Overdose.

Historically, intravenous acetylcysteine has been delivered at a fixed dose and duration of 300 mg/kg over 20 to 21 hours to nearly every patient deemed to be at any risk for hepatotoxicity following acetaminophen overdose. We investigated a 12-hour treatment regimen for selected low-risk patients. This was a multicenter, open-label, cluster-controlled trial at six metropolitan emergency departments. We enrolled subjects following single or staggered acetaminophen overdose with normal serum alanine transaminase (ALT) and creatinine on presentation and at 12 hours, and less than 20 mg/L acetaminophen at 12 hours. Patients were allocated to intervention (250 mg/kg over 12-hour) or control (300 mg/kg over 20-hour) regimens by site. The primary outcome was incidence of "hepatic injury" 20 hours following initiation of acetylcysteine treatment, defined as ALT doubling and peak ALT greater than 100 IU/L, indicating the need for further antidotal treatment. Secondary outcomes included incidence of hepatotoxicity (ALT > 1,000 IU/L), peak international normalized ratio (INR), and adverse drug reactions. Of the 449 acetaminophen overdoses receiving acetylcysteine, 100 were recruited to the study. Time to acetylcysteine (median 7 hours [interquartile ratio 6,12] versus 7 hours [6,10]) and initial acetaminophen (124 mg/L [58,171] versus 146 mg/L [66,204]) were similar between intervention and control groups. There was no difference in ALT (18 IU/L [13,22] versus 16 IU/L [13,21]) or INR (1.2 versus 1.2) 20 hours after starting acetylcysteine between groups. No patients developed hepatic injury or hepatotoxicity in either group (odds ratio 1.0 [95% confidence interval 0.02, 50]). No patients represented with liver injury, none died, and 96 of 96 were well at 14-day telephone follow-up. Conclusion: Discontinuing acetylcysteine based on laboratory testing after 12 hours of treatment is feasible and likely safe in selected patients at very low risk of liver injury from acetaminophen overdose.

Patient-centric implementation of an electronic medication management system at a tertiary hospital in Western Sydney.

BACKGROUND: Traditional implementations of electronic medication management (EMM) systems have involved two common formats - a 'big bang' approach on the day of go-live, or a phased ward-by-ward approach over months. OBJECTIVE: To describe the patient-centric roll-out, a novel implementation model in converting from paper to EMM. METHOD: This model iteratively converted a large tertiary teaching hospital to electronic from paper medication charts, commencing the roll-out in the emergency department (ED). The tenet of 'one patient, one chart' was maintained with new patients commenced on EMM, while existing inpatients were maintained on paper charts until their discharge. In the second week, all other intake points commenced patients on EMM, and in the third week, all remaining patients were manually converted to EMM. The implementation was assessed with training completion rates, staff satisfaction surveys, focus group interviews and incident logs. RESULTS: At go-live, 79% of doctors, 68% of nurses and 90% of pharmacists were trained in the EMM system. The ED converted to electronic prescribing within 24 hours; by day 20, all patients were on EMM. Two hundred and thirty issues were logged, none critical, of which 22 were escalated. Of the 51,063 medications administered, there were 13 EMM-related clinical incidents including three double dosing errors, none of which led to an adverse event or death. Overall, 77% of staff surveyed were satisfied with the EMM implementation. CONCLUSIONS: The patient-centric roll-out model represents an innovative and safe approach with a single medication chart reducing transcription and improved medication safety for the patient and the organisation.

Analysis of an 8-hour acetylcysteine infusion protocol for repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSTI) of paracetamol.

OBJECTIVES: In Australia, the treatment guideline for patients with repeated supratherapeutic ingestion (RSTI) of paracetamol recommends an abbreviated acetylcysteine regimen if the paracetamol concentration is low (<10 mg/L) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) is normal or static after 8 hours of infusion. There are currently no studies of this recommendation. METHOD: A retrospective review of paracetamol overdose presentations from October 2009 to August 2016 in two hospital toxicology networks was performed. All cases of RSTI treated with acetylcysteine were extracted. RESULTS: Of the 2249 paracetamol overdose presentations, 91 cases of RSTI were treated with acetylcysteine. Median time to initial blood tests was 6 hours post-last paracetamol dose (IQR 4-6). Sixty-three (69%) presentations had an initial detectable paracetamol concentration, median 30 mg/L (IQR 18-60). Median ALT on presentation was 48 IU/L (IQR 18-109). After 8 hours of acetylcysteine infusion, median ALT was 34 IU/L (IQR 16-71) in those receiving abbreviated treatment and 74 IU/L (IQR 40-231) in those continuing acetylcysteine. Thirty-nine presentations (43%) had an abbreviated regimen. Nine (10%) patients had an initial ALT ≥50 IU/L and subsequently developed hepatotoxicity (ALT >1000 IU/L). No patients with an initial ALT <50 IU/L developed hepatotoxicity. Median duration of acetylcysteine infusion for those receiving a non-abbreviated regimen was 20 hours (IQR 20-25) vs. 10.4 hours (IQR 4.8-12.0) who received an abbreviated regimen. There were no re-presentations with hepatotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: An 8-hour acetylcysteine infusion regimen for treatment of paracetamol RSTI may be safe and is likely to reduce length of stay for patients at low risk of hepatotoxicity. Larger prospective studies are needed to examine the efficacy of this abbreviated acetylcysteine protocol.

Fewer adverse effects with a modified two-bag acetylcysteine protocol in paracetamol overdose.

OBJECTIVE: Acetylcysteine (NAC), an effective antidote for paracetamol poisoning, is commonly associated with adverse reactions. This has been postulated to be related to the rapid initial infusion rate (150 mg/kg over 1 h) of the traditional three-bag protocol. We hypothesized that a slower rate would result in fewer adverse reactions. Our institution in Western Sydney moved to a modified two-bag protocol in February 2015 - first bag: 200 mg/kg over 4 h (50 mg/kg/h) and second bag: (100 mg/kg over 16 h). METHODS: Data was extracted from our database on paracetamol overdoses treated with NAC from August 2010 to September 2016. We compared adverse reactions in patients receiving the modified two-bag protocol with a historical control (traditional three-bag regimen with initial bolus of 150 mg/kg/h). RESULTS: Over the study period 1011 paracetamol poisonings presented to our toxicology service, of which 476 required NAC (three-bag = 313, two-bag = 163). Demographic characteristics of the two groups were similar. Fewer anaphylactoid reactions (itch, rash, and swelling) occurred using the two-bag regimen (14% versus 5%, p = .002), a relative reduction of 66%. Similarly, there were fewer prescriptions of anti-allergy medications in the two-bag group (11% versus 4%, p = .01). There was no difference in incidence of hepatotoxicity. CONCLUSIONS: Adverse reactions to NAC were less common with the two-bag regimen. These results add to the accumulating evidence that reducing the initial NAC infusion rate reduces the risk of adverse reactions.