Decision Support to Improve Critical Care Services Documentation in an Academic Emergency Department.

OBJECTIVES: Critical care services (CCS) documentation affects billing, operations, and research. No studies exist on documentation decision support (DDS) for CCS in the emergency department (ED). We describe the design, implementation, and evaluation of a DDS tool built to improve CCS documentation at an academic ED. METHODS: This quality improvement study reports the prospective design, implementation, and evaluation of a novel DDS tool for CCS documentation at an academic ED. CCS-associated ED diagnoses triggered a message to appear within the physician note attestation workflow for any patient seen in the adult ED. The alert raised awareness of CCS-associated diagnoses without recommending specific documentation practices. The message disappeared from the note automatically once signed. We measured current procedural terminology (CPT) codes 99291 or 99292 (representing CCS rendered) for 8 months before and after deployment to identify CCS documentation rates. We performed state-space Bayesian time-series analysis to evaluate the causal effect of our intervention on CCS documentation capture. We used monthly ED volume and monthly admission rates as covariate time-series for model generation. RESULTS: The study included 92,350 ED patients with an observed mean proportion CCS of 3.9% before the intervention and 5.8% afterward. The counterfactual model predicted an average response of 3.9% [95% CI 3.5-4.3%]. The estimated absolute causal effect of the intervention was 2.0% [95% CI 1.5-2.4%] (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: A DDS tool measurably increased ED CCS documentation. Attention to user workflows and collaboration with compliance and billing teams avoided alert fatigue and ensures compliance.

Simulation-Based Mastery Learning to Teach Distal Radius Fracture Reduction.

INTRODUCTION: Distal radius fractures are common orthopedic injuries managed in emergency departments. Simulation-based mastery learning is widely recognized to improve provider competence for bedside procedures but has not been studied to teach fracture management. This study evaluated the effectiveness of a simulation-based mastery learning curriculum to teach distal radius fracture reduction to novice orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine residents. METHODS: We created a novel mastery learning checklist using the Mastery Angoff method of standard setting, paired with a new simulation model designed for this project, to teach orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine interns (N = 22) at the study site. Orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine faculty members participated in checklist development, curriculum design, and implementation. Training included just-in-time asynchronous education with a readiness assessment test, in-classroom expert demonstration, and deliberate practice with feedback. Residents completed a pretest/posttest skills examination and a presurvey/postsurvey assessing procedural confidence. RESULTS: Standard setting resulted in a 41-item checklist with minimum passing score of 37/41 items. All participants met or surpassed the minimum passing score on postexamination. Postsurvey confidence levels were significantly higher than presurvey in all aspects of the distal radius fracture procedure (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a simulation-based mastery learning curriculum improved skills and confidence performing distal radius fracture reductions for orthopedic surgery and emergency medicine interns. Future planned studies include curriculum testing across additional institutions, examination of clinical impact, and application of mastery learning for other orthopedic procedures.

A model for rapid emergency department expansion for the COVID-19 pandemic.

COVID-19 has caused global dramatic change in medical practices including the introduction of temporary screening and assessment areas outside the footprint of the main hospital structures. Following the initial surge of patients with novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the United States, our medical center rapidly designed and constructed an alternative assessment and treatment site in a converted parking garage deck for emergency department patients with suspected or confirmed 2019-nCoV. During the first month after opening, 651 patients were treated in this alternative assessment area including 54 patients who tested positive for 2019-nCoV. This accounted for 55% of the 98 patients with confirmed novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) who were treated in our ED. This report provides a blueprint for the necessary steps, materials, labor needs and barriers, both anticipated and unanticipated, to rapidly construct an alternative ED treatment site during a pandemic.