A Case Report of Opisthotonos Associated with Administration of Intramuscular Ketamine.

INTRODUCTION: Ketamine, a commonly used medication to treat agitation, has known adverse effects such as emergence reactions, vomiting, and laryngospasm. Opisthotonos has not been a commonly reported adverse reaction. CASE REPORT: We report a case of opisthotonos brought on by administration of ketamine. A 24-year-old male with a history of schizophrenia was brought in by emergency medical services with opisthotonos shortly after treatment with 250 milligrams intramuscular ketamine by paramedics. He had become increasingly paranoid after being off his aripiprazole for a few weeks, and his family had become afraid for his and their safety. Paramedics administered ketamine to control his combative agitation, per protocol. The patient's extreme neck and back extension rapidly resolved with the administration of midazolam. Further history and workup did not reveal another cause for opisthotonos. CONCLUSION: This is the first reported case to our knowledge of ketamine-associated opisthotonos in the emergency setting. Emergency care providers should be aware of this potential side effect.

An Analysis of Changes in Emergency Department Visits After a State Declaration During the Time of COVID-19.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: In the initial period of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, there has been a substantial decrease in the number of patients seeking care in the emergency department. A first step in estimating the impact of these changes is to characterize the patients, visits, and diagnoses for whom care is being delayed or deferred. METHODS: We conducted an observational study, examining demographics, visit characteristics, and diagnoses for all ED patient visits to an urban level 1 trauma center before and after a state emergency declaration and comparing them with a similar period in 2019. We estimated percent change on the basis of the ratios of before and after periods with respect to 2019 and the decline per week using Poisson regression. Finally, we evaluated whether each factor modified the change in overall ED visits. RESULTS: After the state declaration, there was a 49.3% decline in ED visits overall, 35.2% (95% confidence interval -38.4 to -31.9) as compared with 2019. Disproportionate declines were seen in visits by pediatric and older patients, women, and Medicare recipients, as well as for presentations of syncope, cerebrovascular accidents, urolithiasis, and abdominal and back pain. Significant proportional increases were seen in ED visits for upper respiratory infections, shortness of breath, and chest pain. CONCLUSION: There have been significant changes in patterns of care seeking during the COVID-19 pandemic. Declines in ED visits, especially for certain demographic groups and disease processes, should prompt efforts to understand these phenomena, encourage appropriate care seeking, and monitor for the morbidity and mortality that may result from delayed or deferred care.

Demographic, Operational, and Healthcare Utilization Factors Associated with Emergency Department Patient Satisfaction.

INTRODUCTION: The primary aim of this study was to determine which objectively-measured patient demographics, emergency department (ED) operational characteristics, and healthcare utilization frequencies (care factors) were associated with patient satisfaction ratings obtained from phone surveys conducted by a third-party vendor for patients discharged from our ED. METHODS: This is a retrospective, observational analysis of data obtained between September 2011 and August 2012 from all English- and Spanish-speaking patients discharged from our ED who were contacted by a third-party patient satisfaction vendor to complete a standardized nine-item telephone survey by a trained phone surveyor. We linked data from completed surveys to the patient's electronic medical record to abstract additional demographic, ED operational, and healthcare utilization data. We used univariate ordinal logistic regression, followed by two multivariate models, to identify significant predictors of patient satisfaction. RESULTS: We included 20,940 patients for analysis. The overall patient satisfaction ratings were as follows: 1=471 (2%); 2=558 (3%); 3=2,014 (10%), 4=5,347 (26%); 5=12,550 (60%). Factors associated with higher satisfaction included race/ethnicity (Non-Hispanic Black; Hispanic patients), age (patients ≥65), insurance (Medicare), mode of arrival (arrived by bus or on foot), and having a medication ordered in the ED. Patients who felt their medical condition did not improve, those treated in our ED behavioral health area, and those experiencing longer wait times had reduced satisfaction. CONCLUSION: These findings provide a basis for development and evaluation of targeted interventions that could be used to improve patient satisfaction in our ED.

Impact of an innovative inpatient patient navigator program on length of stay and 30-day readmission.

BACKGROUND: The current climate of increasing patient complexity coupled with rising costs have prompted the need for adaptive innovation. There are limited data describing inpatient interventions targeting improvements in both communication and transitional care. OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the patient navigator (PN) program, an innovative inpatient intervention intended to enhance navigation through the complexity of hospital admissions for patients and providers. INTERVENTION: PNs were dedicated patient-care facilitators without clinical responsibilities integrated as full members of the inpatient care team responsible for enhancing communication between and among patients and providers. DESIGN: Observational retrospective cohort study. PATIENTS: All patients admitted to the general medical service between July 2010 and March 2014. SETTING: Academic medical center. MEASUREMENTS: Primary outcomes were hospital length of stay (LOS) and 30-day readmission rate matched by case mix group, age category, and resource intensity weight. RESULTS: Our matched cohort included 5628 admissions (4592 patients) exposed and 2213 admissions (1920 patients) not exposed to PNs. Admissions with PNs were 1.3 days (21%) shorter than admission without PNs (6.2 vs 7.5 days, P < 0.001). Thirty-day readmission rate was not different between the 2 groups (13.1 vs 13.8%, P = 0.48). CONCLUSION: Implementation of this intervention was associated with a reduction in LOS without an increase in 30-day readmission.

Do post discharge phone calls improve care transitions? A cluster-randomized trial.

IMPORTANCE: The transition from hospital to home can expose patients to adverse events during the post discharge period. Post discharge care including phone calls may provide support for patients returning home but the impact on care transitions is unknown. OBJECTIVE: To examine the effect of a 72-hour post discharge phone call on the patient's transition of care experience. DESIGN: Cluster-randomized control trial. SETTING: Urban, academic medical center. PARTICIPANTS: General medical patients age 18 and older discharged home after hospitalization. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Primary outcome measure was the Care Transition Measure (CTM-3) score, a validated measure of the quality of care transitions. Secondary measures included self-reported adherence to medication and follow up plans, and 30-day composite of emergency department (ED) visits and hospital readmission. RESULTS: 328 patients were included in the study over an 6-month period. 114 (69%) received a post discharge phone call, and 214 of all patients in the study completed the follow outcome survey (65% response rate). A small difference in CTM-3 scores was observed between the intervention and control groups (1.87 points, 95% CI 0.47-3.27, p = 0.01). Self-reported adherence to treatment plans, ED visits, and emergency readmission rates were similar between the two groups (odds ratio 0.57, 95% CI 0.13-2.45, 1.20, 95% CI 0.61-2.37, and 1.18, 95% CI 0.53-2.61, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: A single post discharge phone call had a small impact on the quality of care transitions and no effect on hospital utilization. Higher intensity post discharge support may be required to improve the patient experience upon returning home. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01580774.

A novel approach to improving emergency department consultant response times.

BACKGROUND: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is a threat to patient safety and public health. Availability of specialty consultation to the ED may contribute to overcrowding. We implemented a novel intervention using education, goal setting and real-time performance feedback to improve time to admission for patients referred to general internal medicine (GIM). METHODS: Using a time-series design, we examined the effects of a quality improvement intervention on ED wait-times in an academic medical centre. The multifaceted approach included a didactic session for GIM housestaff on medicine triage principles and methods; setting a goal to have disposition decisions and, where appropriate, admission order within 4 h of consultation request; and providing personal data feedback on their performance on this metric to GIM housestaff during their rotation on the inpatient teaching service over a 1-year period. We compared time from consultation request to disposition decision and overall ED length of stay (LOS) for all patients referred to GIM during the intervention period (February 2011-February 2012) with data from the control period (January 2010-January 2011). RESULTS: Mean time from GIM consultation request to admission order entry decreased by 92 min (SD, 5, p<0.05) from 321min in the control period to 229 min in the intervention period. Overall ED LOS for GIM patients decreased by 59 min (SD, 14, p<0.05) for admitted patients from 1022 min in the control period to 963 min in the intervention period, and by 40 min (SD, 13, p<0.05) for all patients referred to GIM. GIM staffing and patient characteristics remained stable across the two periods. DISCUSSION: ED throughput for admitted medical patients improved with a quality improvement initiative involving education, goal setting and performance feedback.

Addition of phenylephrine to high-dose insulin in dihydropyridine overdose does not improve outcome.

INTRODUCTION: Vasopressors are commonly used for calcium channel blocker (CCB)-induced cardiogenic shock after calcium and high-dose insulin (HDI). Vasopressor therapy is frequently used in combination with HDI to increase blood pressure and improve outcome. However, no studies have compared the efficacy of HDI to the combination of a vasopressor and HDI in dihydropyridine overdose. We conducted a study to compare the efficacy of HDI to phenylephrine (PE) plus HDI in a porcine model of dihydropyridine toxicity. METHODS: Cardiogenic shock was induced by administering a nifedipine (NP) infusion of 0.0125 mcg/kg/min until a point of toxicity, defined as a 25% decrease in the baseline product of mean arterial pressure (MAP) × cardiac output (CO). Each arm was resuscitated with 20 mL/kg of saline (NS). The nifedipine infusion continued throughout a 4-h resuscitation protocol. The HDI group was titrated up to 10 units/kg/h of insulin and the HDI/PE group was titrated up to a dose of HDI 10 units/kg/h plus PE 3.6 mcg/kg/min. RESULTS: No baseline differences were found among groups including time to toxicity. Survival was not different between the HDI and HDI/PE arms. When comparing the HDI to the HDI/PE arm no differences were found for cardiac index (CI) (p = 0.06), systemic vascular resistance (p = 0.34), heart rate (HR) (p = 0.95), mean arterial pressure (p = 0.99), pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) (p = 0.07), or base excess (p = 0.36). CONCLUSION: In this model of nifedipine-induced cardiogenic shock, the addition of PE to HDI therapy did not improve mortality, cardiac output, blood pressure, systemic vascular resistance (SVR), or base excess.

An inconvenient truth: a sustainable healthcare system requires chronic disease prevention and management transformation.

Canada's initial success at shortening wait times will not transform our healthcare system unless it is matched with equal success in the prevention and management of chronic diseases. A growing body of evidence highlights the significant gap between recommended care and actual care received for those at risk for or living with chronic illnesses. This quality gap not only results in significant preventable morbidity and mortality but also lengthens wait times for healthcare services and threatens the sustainability of our healthcare system. A national strategy on chronic disease prevention and management (CDPM) that leverages the federal, provincial and territorial (FPT) response to wait times will not only transform chronic illness care but also help to ensure the sustainability of our healthcare system. We begin this paper by highlighting some of the facts behind this inconvenient truth. We then review and provide examples of several best practices in CDPM. We suggest that these best practices provide the foundation for a national CDPM strategy and argue that the FPT mandate for wait times be expanded to encompass CDPM and result in "care guarantees." We conclude with a high-level preliminary analysis of costs and benefits of this strategy to transform CDPM in Canada.

An unusual case of 4-aminopyridine toxicity.

4-aminopyridine (4-AP) is an orphan drug in the United States. It enhances neuronal conduction at synapses and is indicated in the treatment of selected neuromuscular disorders, including multiple sclerosis and myasthenia gravis, among others. Its documented toxicity generally has been limited to central nervous system (CNS) hyperexcitation and gastrointestinal upset. In this case, a 56-year-old man accidentally overdosed on an unknown amount of generic 4-AP. This history was unknown by his family and unavailable to initial providers. Approximately 1 h after ingestion, his son found him diaphoretic, vomiting, and having unintelligible speech. In the ensuing 2-3 h, the patient became moderately hypothermic (32.8 degrees C; 91 degrees F), developed atrial fibrillation with a rapid ventricular response, and had neurological changes that were confused with an acute cerebrovascular accident. After a 36-h stay in the intensive care unit that included mechanical ventilation, cardioversion, passive rewarming, and an extensive medical workup, the patient recovered without sequelae. After extubation he stated that he thought he may have ingested too much 4-AP after rubbing a large amount of it against a sore tooth to take advantage of its local analgesic properties. This case of 4-AP overdose resulting in atrial fibrillation with rapid ventricular response, hypothermia, and acute neurological changes mistaken for an acute cerebrovascular accident is an unusual one. This case shows that overdose of 4-AP can cause or mimic several serious medical conditions, and that a detailed history and physical examination are essential for uncovering unusual diagnoses.

The VA advantage: the gold standard in clinical informatics.

How does a healthcare organization undergo such transformation as described in the lead paper in eight short years? Just imagine being part of an organization that achieved the following transformations: (1) reduction in hospital and long-term-care beds from 92,000 to 53,000 and an increase in outpatient clinics from 200 to 850 (2) a 75% increase in the number of patients treated on an annual basis (from 2.8 million to 4.9 million) with only a 32% cumulative increase in budget (from $19 billion to $25 billion) (3) clinicians who have access to complete medical records for almost all patient visits and all care settings (4) clinicians who willingly enter medication orders 94% of the time (5) patients who are increasingly satisfied with their care, ranking the service consistently higher than the competition (6) improved patient outcomes, achieved at costs 25% less than the competition. Such transformation is impossible to achieve without vision, leadership, talent, teamwork and tools. I will restrict my comments to a discussion of the tools, specifically the VA's clinical information system (VistA, HealtheVet, My HealtheVet. However, it is important to note that the results described in this paper would not be possible without the VA's transformational leadership and dedicated teams of professionals capable of executing the vision.

In pursuit of a safe Canadian healthcare system.

This paper provides evidence that Canada's healthcare system is not as safe as it needs to be, and suggests ways to make it safer. Healthcare leaders must recognize that patient safety is indistinguishable from the delivery of high quality, affordable healthcare, and they must become more knowledgeable about the extent of the patient safety problem in Canada. The creation of a Patient Safety Board, modelled after Canada's Transportation Safety Board, will provide the authority healthcare leaders require to reduce medical errors. Without a national Patient Safety Board we cannot efficiently and effectively identify, quantify and address medical errors in Canada. This paper also urges healthcare leaders to recognize that a fundamental tool in improving patient safety is the electronic health record (EHR). Return on investment data for a national EHR strategy are presented. The author focuses on three EHR initiatives: outpatient electronic prescribing; in-patient computerized physician order entry; and home-based diabetes disease management. Potential net savings to Canada from these three EHR initiatives alone approach $2 billion annually. We must accelerate our EHR investment. Coordinated national EHR initiatives will cost less, save lives and prevent harm when compared to the status quo. These initiatives will also provide the foundation for transforming our healthcare system and will assist in building a better-educated, healthier and therefore more economically competitive nation.

The next generation of clinical decision support: linking evidence to best practice.

Growing evidence indicates that the integration of clinical decision support (CDS) into the computer-based patient record (CPR) can decrease medical errors, enhance patient safety, decrease unwanted practice variation, and improve patient outcomes. Two case studies are presented of advanced CDS systems that go beyond basic integration with the CPR to truly support clinician decision making.