Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Effect of a Data-driven Intervention on Opioid Prescribing Intensity Among Emergency Department Providers: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Little is known about accuracy of provider self-perception of opioid prescribing. We hypothesized that an intervention asking emergency department (ED) providers to self-identify their opioid prescribing practices compared to group norms-and subsequently providing them with their actual prescribing data-would alter future prescribing compared to controls. ⋯ Self-perception of prescribing was frequently inaccurate. Providing clinicians with their actual opioid prescribing data after querying their self-perception reduced future prescribing among providers who underestimated their baseline prescribing. Our findings suggest that guideline and policy interventions should directly address the potential barrier of inaccurate provider self-awareness.
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Comparative Study
A Comparison of Care Delivered in Hospital-based and Freestanding Emergency Departments.
We compare case mix, hospitalization rates, length of stay (LOS), and resource use in independent freestanding emergency departments (FSEDs) and hospital-based emergency departments (H-EDs). ⋯ In this sample of FSEDs, a greater proportion of younger patients with fewer comorbidities and more injuries and respiratory system diseases were evaluated, and almost all patients had private health insurance. When restricted to < 65 years, privately insured, and nonambulance patients in both samples, LOS was considerably shorter and hospital admission rates lower at FSEDs, as well as the use of some diagnostic testing. This study is limited as diagnoses codes may not fully capture severity and patients who perceived greater need of hospital admission may have chosen a H-ED over FSEDs.