Medical Specialties Commons^™

Who Left The Hospital Against Medical Advice During The Early Covid-19 Pandemic?, Bryan Werner, Se Won Lee

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Patients leaving against medical advice (AMA) presents a challenge to hospitals as they try to manage costs and improve patient outcomes in an ever-increasing competitive market. Investigating AMA discharges that occurred during the early COVID-19 pandemic presents a unique opportunity to better understand this phenomenon and be better prepared for the future.

Methods

This retrospective analysis of 34 379 patients from a nationwide private healthcare system across 20 states analyzed patients during the early stages of the pandemic who chose to leave against medical advice (AMA) after being admitted with COVID-19 infection and identified several patient characteristics associated with …

Video Documentation As A Measure Of Written Documentation Accuracy In Emergency Medical Service Field Intubations, Christopher S. Keller, Christopher Dilger, Shih-Chin Chou, Rasheed Lawal, Shane Jenks

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Introduction

Quality improvement (QI) is a major focus of all departments and fields of health care, including emergency medical services. The chaotic and rapidly evolving atmosphere in which paramedics must practice can lead to inconsistency between what is documented and the actual events. This leads to difficulty when trying to evaluate the practitioners and when implementing a QI program. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of discrepancy between the video and written record for Rapid Sequence Intubation (RSI) performed in the field as a demonstration of the utility of video documentation in QI.

Methods

We used a systematic retrospective …

Care Alert Program In Chronic Recurrent Ed Utilizing Patients, Kaitlyn Phelps, Jonathan Bryan, Jonathan Leggett, Erica Gibbons, Brian Griggs

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The Care Alert program is designed to help navigate encounters with patient populations that are high utilizers of emergency department (ED) resources. These populations often have chronic medical conditions, have a poor understanding of their conditions, are unfamiliar with the EDs’ role in the management of these conditions, and commonly lack outpatient resources. The Care Alert program intends to address the needs of this challenging patient population by designing individualized care plans that are approved through a multidisciplinary committee. Data from this study showed a 37% decrease in ED visits and a 47% decrease in hospitalizations during the initial 8 …

Hand Hygiene And Hospital-Acquired Infections During Covid-19 Increased Vigilance: One Hospital’S Experience, Alexander Kong, Carlos S. Botero Suarez, Bebe Rahamatalli, Jennifer Shankweiler, Olga Karasik

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Hospital-acquired infections are associated with increased morbidity, mortality, costs and length of stay. Prior studies have linked increased hand hygiene compliance with reduced hospital-acquired infection rate. With the increased vigilance for personal and institutional hygiene practices during the COVID-19 pandemic, we hypothesized increased hand hygiene compliance and, as a result, decrease in hospital-acquired infections in our hospital.

Methods

Hand hygiene compliance data was provided by the hospital’s Quality Department. We queried and empirically analyzed local hospital-acquired infection data obtained from our Quality Department and the National Healthcare Safety Network. We compared local hand hygiene compliance rates before and after …

The Influence Of Hospital Site On Emergency Physician Press Ganey Scores, Dietrich Jehle, Brian Doherty, Lexus Dickson, Melville C. O'Brien, Casey Wilson, Scott Gutovitz

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

The use of physician satisfaction scores to evaluate emergency medicine physicians’ performance and compensation is controversial. Prior studies have shown that the clinical environment may influence scores. This study compared satisfaction scores for the same physician at different emergency departments (ED). Differences in their individual score may indicate the ED environment could be as important as the physician’s interaction.

Methods

Press Ganey satisfaction scores were obtained for physicians at three EDs—Grand Strand, South Strand and North Strand—between July 2018 and June 2019. Included physicians worked at all 3 facilities and had at least 6 patient satisfaction surveys at each …

Effect Of An Electronic Order Set On Newborn Hepatitis B Immunization Rates, Daniel Pedersen, Angelina Rodriguez, Olu Oyesanmi, Heather Schramm, Michael King

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Objective

Hepatitis B is an infectious deoxyribonucleic acid virus which can cause significant morbidity and mortality. There is no current definitive treatment, however in the United States immunization is widely available. A paper published by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices/Centers for Disease Control (ACIP/CDC) in 2018 made updated recommendations regarding vaccination practices in the United States. The most notable change made was that all healthy newborns weighing ≥2000 g with a negative hepatitis B-status mother should receive hepatitis B immunization within 24 hours of birth. This quality improvement project studied the effect of the electronic medical record newborn admission …

Innovative Conservation Of Inhaled Medication Devices During The Covid-19 Pandemic Through A Canister Reassignment Process, Mandelin K. Cooper, L. Hayley Burgess, Karla Miller, Theresa Baltz, Julia Moody, Elizabeth Wiggins, Jeffrey Guy

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background: The ideal practice for patients requiring metered-dose inhalers (MDI) with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is to use patient specific MDIs. However, this practice may not be possible during a time of increased usage throughout the country and limited availability of the medication. Nebulized medications are a concern due to the potential for aerosolized virus and increased exposure for health care workers. An alternative program of canister reassignment is proposed to address concerns for infection prevention, cross-contamination of MDI canisters and the shortage of MDI’s due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: A comprehensive MDI canister reassignment process was developed for …

The Other Epidemic, Bruce Deighton

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

The epidemic level of opioid abuse in the U.S. population continues to present a major challenge to our society and to the medical profession. Medical education has a significant role in improving screening, diagnosis, appropriate treatment and management of opioid use disorder. Addressing the problem of overprescribing opioids through physician education, surveillance and opioid management has resulted in significant improvement, translating to fewer overdose deaths from prescription opioids. Graduate medical education can increase access to care by training more addiction medicine specialists, and training other physicians to prescribe buprenorphine and provide access to medically assisted care.