Older adults frequently return to the emergency department (ED) within 30 days of a visit. High-risk patients can differentially benefit from transitional care interventions. Latent class analysis ...(LCA) is a model-based method used to segment the population and test intervention effects by subgroup.
We aimed to identify latent classes within an older adult population from a randomized controlled trial evaluating the effectiveness of an ED-to-home transitional care program and test whether class membership modified the intervention effect.
Participants were randomized to receive the Care Transitions Intervention or usual care. Study staff collected outcomes data through medical record reviews and surveys. We performed LCA and logistic regression to evaluate the differential effects of the intervention by class membership.
Participants were ED patients (age 60 y and above) discharged to a community residence.
Indicator variables for the LCA included clinically available and patient-reported data from the initial ED visit. Our primary outcome was ED revisits within 30 days. Secondary outcomes included ED revisits within 14 days, outpatient follow-up within 7 and 30 days, and self-management behaviors.
We interpreted 6 latent classes in this study population. Classes 1, 4, 5, and 6 showed a reduction in ED revisit rates with the intervention; classes 2 and 3 showed an increase in ED revisit rates. In class 5, we found evidence that the intervention increased outpatient follow-up within 7 and 30 days (odds ratio: 1.81, 95% CI: 1.13-2.91; odds ratio: 2.24, 95% CI: 1.25-4.03).
Class membership modified the intervention effect. Population segmentation is an important step in evaluating a transitional care intervention.
Pandemics such as COVID-19 can lead to severe shortages in healthcare resources, requiring the development of evidence-based Crisis Standard of Care (CSC) protocols. A protocol that limits the ...resuscitation of out-of-hospital cardiac arrests (OHCA) to events that are more likely to result in a positive outcome can lower hospital burdens and reduce emergency medical services resources and infection risk, although it would come at the cost of lives lost that could otherwise be saved. Our primary objective was to evaluate candidate OHCA CSC protocols involving known predictors of survival and identify the protocol that results in the smallest resource burden, as measured by the number of hospitalizations required per favorable OHCA outcome achieved. Our secondary objective was to describe the effects of the CSC protocols in terms of health outcomes and other measures of resource burden.
We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients in the Cardiac Arrest Registry to Enhance Survival (CARES) database. Non-traumatic OHCA events from 2018 were included (n = 79,533). Candidate CSC protocols involving combinations of known predictors of good survival for OHCA were applied to the existing dataset to measure the resulting numbers of resuscitation attempts, transportations to hospital, hospital admissions, and favorable neurological outcomes. These outcomes were also assessed under Standard Care, defined as no CSC protocol applied to the data.
The CSC protocol with the smallest number of hospitalizations per survivor with a favorable neurological outcome was that an OHCA resuscitation should only be attempted if the arrest was witnessed by emergency medical services or the first monitored rhythm was shockable (number of hospitalizations: 2.26 95% CI: 2.21–2.31 vs. 3.46 95% CI: 3.39–3.53 under Standard Care). This rule resulted in significant reductions in resource utilization (46.1% of hospitalizations and 29.2% of resuscitation attempts compared to Standard Care) while still preserving 70.5% of the favorable neurological outcomes under Standard Care. For every favorable neurological outcome lost under this CSC protocol, 6.3 hospital beds were made free that could be used to treat other patients.
In a pandemic scenario, pre-hospital CSC protocols that might not otherwise be considered have the potential to greatly improve overall survival, and this study provides an evidence-based approach towards selecting such a protocol. As this study was performed using data generated before the COVID-19 pandemic, future studies incorporating pandemic-era data will further help develop evidence-based CSC protocols.
Background/problem: Information transfer between emergency medical services (EMS) and emergency medicine (EM) is at high risk for omissions and errors. EM awareness of prehospital medication ...administration affects patient management and medication error. In April 2020, we surveyed emergency physicians and emergency department nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) regarding the EMS handoff process. Emergency physicians and NPs/PAs endorsed knowing what medications were given, or having received direct verbal handoff from EMS "Often" or "Always" only 20% of the time (n = 71), identifying a need to improve the written handoff process. To assess rates of medication error due to lack of awareness of prehospital administered medications, we measured glucocorticoid redosing in the emergency department (ED) following prehospital dexamethasone administration. In 2020, glucocorticoids were redosed 30% of the time, and our aim was to reduce glucocorticoid redosing to 10% by June 2022.
Intervention: We developed and implemented a system innovation where prehospital-administered medications documented in a nursing flowsheet during verbal handoff are pulled directly into the triage note where they are more likely to be reviewed by receiving EM clinicians.
Results: Shewhart p-charts were used to evaluate for statistical process change in the process measure of triage note documentation of prehospital medication administration and the outcome measure of glucocorticoid redosing. While the frequency of prehospital dexamethasone administration in the triage note increased, no statistical process change outcome measure of glucocorticoid redosing was observed. However, on repeat survey of EM clinicians in July 2022, 50% now indicated they were aware of prehospital medication administration "Often" or "Always" (n = 61, p = 0.003), 87% maintained they use the triage note as the main source of information regarding prehospital medication administration, and 81% "Always" review the triage note.
Conclusions: Innovations that improve accessibility of written documentation of prehospital medication administration were associated with improved subjective assessment of EM clinician awareness of prehospital medications, but not the outcome measure of medication error. Effective error reduction likely requires better system integration between prehospital and EM records.
Despite a high prevalence and association with poor outcomes, screening to identify cognitive impairment (CI) in the emergency department (ED) is uncommon. Identification of high-risk subsets of ...older adults is a critical challenge to expanding screening programs. We developed and evaluated an automated screening tool to identify a subset of patients at high risk for CI.
In this secondary analysis of existing data collected for a randomized control trial, we developed machine-learning models to identify patients at higher risk of CI using only variables available in electronic health record (EHR). We used records from 1736 community-dwelling adults age > 59 being discharged from three EDs. Potential CI was determined based on the Blessed Orientation Memory Concentration (BOMC) test, administered in the ED. A nested cross-validation framework was used to evaluate machine-learning algorithms, comparing area under the receiver-operator curve (AUC) as the primary metric of performance.
Based on BOMC scores, 121 of 1736 (7%) participants screened positive for potential CI at the time of their ED visit. The best performing algorithm, an XGBoost model, predicted BOMC positivity with an AUC of 0.72. With a classification threshold of 0.4, this model had a sensitivity of 0.73, a specificity of 0.64, a negative predictive value of 0.97, and a positive predictive value of 0.13. In a hypothetical ED with 200 older adult visits per week, the use of this model would lead to a decrease in the in-person screening burden from 200 to 77 individuals in order to detect 10 of 14 patients who would fail a BOMC.
This study demonstrates that an algorithm based on EHR data can define a subset of patients at higher risk for CI. Incorporating such an algorithm into a screening workflow could allow screening efforts and resources to be focused where they have the most impact.
Objectives
To describe a novel model of care that uses community‐based paramedics to deliver a modified version of the evidence‐based hospital‐to‐home Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) to a new ...context: the emergency department (ED)‐to‐home transition.
Design
Single‐blind randomized controlled trial.
Setting
Three EDs in 2 cities.
Participants
Through June 2017, 422 individuals discharged home from the EDs who provided consent and were randomized to receive the modified CTI.
Intervention
We modified the hospital‐to‐home CTI, applying it to the ED‐to‐home transition and delivering services through community paramedics, allowing the program to benefit from the unique attributes of paramedics to deliver care.
Measurements
Through surveys of participants, medical record review, and documentation of activities by CTI coaches, we characterize the participants and program, including feasibility and acceptability.
Results
Median age of participants was 70.7, 241 (57.1%) were female, and 385 (91.2%) were white. Coaches successfully completed 354 (83.9%) home visits and 92.7% of planned telephone follow‐up for call 1, 90.9% for call 2, and 85.8% for call 3. We found high levels of acceptability among participants, with most participants (76.2%) and their caregivers (83.1%) reporting themselves likely or extremely likely to choose an ED featuring the CTI program in the future. Coaches reported delivering expected services during contact at least 88% of the time.
Conclusion
Although final conclusions about program effectiveness must await the results of the randomized controlled trial, the findings reported here are promising and provide preliminary support for an ED‐to‐home CTI Program's ability to improve outcomes. The coaches' identity as community paramedics is particularly noteworthy, because this is a unique role for this provider type. J Am Geriatr Soc 66:2213–2220, 2018.
Background
Improving care transitions following emergency department (ED) visits may reduce post‐ED adverse events among older adults (e.g., ED revisits, decreased function). The Care Transitions ...Intervention (CTI) improves hospital‐to‐home transitions; however, its effectiveness at improving post‐ED outcomes is unknown. We tested the effectiveness of the CTI with community‐dwelling older adult ED patients, hypothesizing that it would reduce revisits and increase performance of self‐management behaviors during the 30 days following discharge.
Methods
We conducted a randomized controlled trial among patients age ≥ 60 discharged home from one of three EDs in two states. Intervention participants received a minimally modified CTI, with a home visit 24 to 72 h postdischarge and one to three phone calls over 28 days. We collected demographic, health status, and psychosocial data at the initial ED visit. Medication adherence and knowledge of red flag symptoms were assessed via phone survey. Care use and comorbidities were ed from medical records. We performed multivariate regressions for intention‐to‐treat and per‐protocol (PP) analyses.
Results
Participant characteristics (N = 1,756) were similar across groups: mean age 72.4 ± 8.6 years and 53% female. Of those randomized to the intervention, 84% completed the home visit. Overall, 12.4% of participants returned to the ED within 30 days. The CTI did not significantly affect odds of 30‐day ED revisits (adjusted odds ratio AOR = 0.97, 95% confidence interval CI = 0.72 to 1.30) or medication adherence (AOR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.60 to 1.32). Participants receiving the CTI (PP) had increased odds of in‐person follow‐up with outpatient clinicians during the week following discharge (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.51) and recalling at least one red flag from ED discharge instructions (AOR = 1.34 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.71).
Conclusions
The CTI did not reduce 30‐day ED revisits but did significantly increase key care transition behaviors (outpatient follow‐up, red flag knowledge). Additional research is needed to explore if patients with different conditions benefit more from the CTI and whether decreasing ED revisits is the most appropriate outcome for all older adults.
IntroductionIschemic stroke treatment is time-sensitive, and barriers to providing prehospital care encountered by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) providers have been ...under-studied.Hypothesis/ProblemThis study described barriers to providing prehospital care, identified predictors of these barriers, and assessed the impact of these barriers on EMS on-scene time and administration of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in the emergency department (ED).
A retrospective cohort study was performed using the Get With The Guidelines-Stroke (GWTG-S; American Heart Association AHA; Dallas, Texas USA) registry at two hospitals to identify ischemic stroke patients arriving by EMS. Variables were abstracted from prehospital and hospital medical records and merged with registry data. Barriers to care were grouped into themes. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of barriers to care, and bi-variate tests were used to assess differences in EMS on-scene time and the proportion of patients receiving tPA between patients with and without barriers.
Barriers to providing prehospital care were documented for 15.5% of patients: 29.6% related to access, 26.7% communication, 23.0% extrication and transportation, 20.0% refusal, and 14.1% assessment/management. Non-white and non-black race (OR: 3.69; 95% CI, 1.63-8.36) and living alone (OR: 1.53; 95% CI, 1.05-2.23) were associated with greater odds of barriers to providing care. The EMS on-scene time was ≥15 minutes for 70.4% of patients who had a barrier to care, compared with 49.0% of patients who did not (P<.001). There was no significant difference in the proportion of patients who were administered tPA between those with and without barriers to care (14.1% vs 19.2%; P=.159).
Barriers to providing prehospital care were documented for a sizable proportion of ischemic stroke patients, with the majority related to patient access and communication, and occurred more frequently among non-white and non-black patients and those living alone. Although EMS on-scene time was longer for patients with barriers to care, the proportion of patients receiving tPA in the ED did not differ. LiT, CushmanJT, ShahMN, KellyAG, RichDQ, JonesCMC. Barriers to providing prehospital care to ischemic stroke patients: predictors and impact on care. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2018;33(5):501-507.
Motivating older adults to follow up with an outpatient clinician after discharge from emergency departments (ED) is beneficial yet challenging. We aimed to answer whether psychological needs for ...motivation and discrete emotions observed by care transition coaches would predict this behavioral outcome.
Community-dwelling older adults following ED discharge were recruited from three EDs in two U.S. states. We examined home visit notes documented by coaches (N = 725). Retrospective chart reviews of medical records tracked participants’ health care utilization for 30 days.
Observed knowledge-based competence predicted higher likelihood of outpatient follow-up within 30 days, while observed sadness predicted a lower likelihood of follow-up within seven days following discharge. Moreover, participants who demonstrated happiness were marginally more likely to have an in-person follow-up within seven days, and those who demonstrated knowledge-based competence were more likely to have an electronic follow-up within 30 days.
Knowledge-based competence and emotions, as observed and documented in coach notes, can predict older adults’ subsequent outpatient follow-up following their ED-discharge.
Intervention programs might encourage coaches to check knowledge-based competence and to observe emotions in addition to delivering the content. Coaches could also customize strategies for patients with different recommended timeframes of follow-up.
•Care transition coach notes can predict elder’s outpatient follow-up after ED visit.•Knowledge-based competence signals higher chance of follow-up within 30 days.•Observed sadness signals lower chance of follow-up within 7 days.•In-person visit and electronic contact are predicted by different notes indicators.
Dexamethasone is frequently used in the treatment of allergic reactions and airway inflammation because of its potent anti-inflammatory effects and long duration of action. As prehospital use becomes ...more common, it is important for providers to be aware of unique and potentially distressing associated adverse effects. We report eight cases of intravenous dexamethasone administration associated with perineal or diffuse burning sensation in female patients.
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