Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The objective was to develop a content-valid audio computer-assisted self-interview (ACASI) sexual health survey (SHS) that is understandable and acceptable to adolescents and can be feasibly implemented in a pediatric emergency department (ED) for sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk assessment. ⋯ We developed a content-valid ACASI for the identification of adolescents at risk for STIs that was understandable, acceptable, and easy to use by adolescent patients and feasible for implementation in the pediatric ED. Future planned steps include the evaluation of the SHS in providing clinical decision support for targeted STI screening in the ED.
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The objective was to evaluate the effect of an emergency clinician-initiated "ED admission holding order set" on emergency department (ED) treatment times and length of stay (LOS). We further describe the impact of a performance improvement strategy with sequential plan-do-study-act (PDSA) cycles used to influence the primary outcome measures, ED LOS, and disposition decision to patient gone (DDTPG) time, for admitted patients. ⋯ We conclude that the use of emergency physician-initiated holding orders can lead to marked reductions in ED LOS for admitted patients. Continued improvement can be demonstrated with an effective performance improvement initiative designed to continuously optimize the process change.