Articles: emergency-department.
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Emerg Med Australas · Apr 2023
Potential to be more effective: reduction in lower urgency emergency department presentations during the COVID-19 period in New South Wales, Australia.
Diverting lower urgency ED presentations to more suitable healthcare is a key goal of several healthcare systems. During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, there was a substantial drop in ED presentations in New South Wales (NSW), potentially because of lower risk of illness and injury through social restrictions, or ED avoidance for lower urgent care. The present study aimed to better understand the impact of social restrictions during the pandemic on ED presentations, to inform potential shifts to alternative modes of care in emergency medicine. ⋯ This finding suggests that reducing lower urgency ED presentation beyond the COVID-19 pandemic maybe feasible, by supporting alternative, more appropriate sources of care.
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Observational Study
Association of delirium with increased short-term mortality among older emergency department patients: A cohort study.
To evaluate the association between delirium and subsequent short-term mortality in geriatric patients presenting to the emergency department (ED). ⋯ Delirium is an important prognostic factor that ED clinicians and nurses must be aware of to optimize delirium prevention, management, disposition, and communication with patients and families.
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Pediatric emergency care · Apr 2023
Observational StudyThe Fate of the Cervical Collar: An Observational Pilot Study Investigating Follow-up Care After Emergency Department Discharge in Children With Mild Traumatic Neck Injuries.
After evaluation and treatment of minor traumatic cervical spine injury (CSI), many children are discharged home in a rigid cervical orthosis (RCO). This study investigated their adherence to RCO treatment recommendations. The feasibility of telehealth cervical spine clearance was also explored. ⋯ In this pilot study, a substantial portion of children with mild CSIs discharged from the emergency department with an RCO did not adhere to compliance or follow-up recommendations. Persistent pain requires further evaluation.
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Research examining emergency department (ED) admission practices within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is limited. This study investigates facility-level variation in risk-standardized admission rates (RSARs) for emergency care-sensitive conditions (ECSCs) among older (≥65 years) and younger (<65 years) Veterans across VA EDs. ⋯ We identified unexplained facility-level variation in RSARs for Veterans presenting with the 10 most common ECSCs to VA EDs. The magnitude of variation did not appear to be qualitatively different between older and younger Veteran subgroups. Variation in RSARs for ECSCs may be an important target for systems-based levers to improve value in VA emergency care.
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COVID-19 had a significant impact on Emergency Departments (ED) with early data suggesting an initial decline in avoidable ED visits. However, the sustained impact over time is unclear. In this study, we analyzed ED discharges over a two-year time period after the COVID-19 pandemic began and compared it with a control time period pre-pandemic to evaluate the difference in ED visit categories, including total, avoidable, and unavoidable visits. ⋯ Our study identified a sustained decline in discharged avoidable ED visits during the two years following the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, which was partially offset by the increase in COVID-19 visits. This work can help inform ED and healthcare systems in resource allocation, hospital staffing, and financial planning during future COVID-19 resurgences and pandemics.