Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The consequences of delirium in the emergency department (ED) remain unclear. This study sought to determine if delirium in the ED was an independent predictor of prolonged hospital length of stay (LOS). ⋯ Delirium in older ED patients has negative consequences and is an independent predictor of prolonged hospitalizations.
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Despite consensus regarding the conceptual foundation of crowding, and increasing research on factors and outcomes associated with crowding, there is no criterion standard measure of crowding. The objective was to conduct a systematic review of crowding measures and compare them in conceptual foundation and validity. ⋯ Time intervals and patient counts are emerging as the most promising tools for measuring flow and nonflow (i.e., crowding), respectively. Standardized definitions of time intervals (flow) and numerical counts (nonflow) will assist with validation of these metrics across multiple sites and clarify which options emerge as the metrics of choice in this "crowded" field of measures.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of an educational intervention on faculty and resident satisfaction with real-time feedback in the emergency department.
Effective real-time feedback is critical to medical education. This study tested the hypothesis that an educational intervention related to feedback would improve emergency medicine (EM) faculty and resident physician satisfaction with feedback. ⋯ An intervention designed to improve real-time feedback in the ED resulted in higher resident satisfaction with feedback received, but did not affect faculty satisfaction with the feedback given.
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Significant controversy exists regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) "time to first antibiotics dose" (TFAD) quality measure. The objective of this study was to determine whether hospital performance on the TFAD measure for patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) for pneumonia is associated with decreased mortality. ⋯ In this nationwide heterogeneous 2007 sample, there was no association between the publicly reported TFAD quality measure performance and pneumonia inpatient mortality.
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The public, payers, hospitals, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) are demanding that emergency departments (EDs) measure and improve performance, but this cannot be done unless we define the terms used in ED operations. On February 24, 2010, 32 stakeholders from 13 professional organizations met in Salt Lake City, Utah, to standardize ED operations metrics and definitions, which are presented in this consensus paper. Emergency medicine (EM) experts attending the Second Performance Measures and Benchmarking Summit reviewed, expanded, and updated key definitions for ED operations. ⋯ These results have been crafted into two reference documents, one for metrics and the operations dictionary presented here. The ED Operations Dictionary defines ED spaces, processes, patient populations, and new ED roles. Common definitions of key terms will improve the ability to compare ED operations research and practice and provide a common language for frontline practitioners, managers, and researchers.