Stephen J Traub1, Joseph P Wood1, James Kelley1, David M Nestler2, Yu-Hui Chang3, Soroush Saghafian4, Christopher A Lipinski1. 1. Department of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Ariz; Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn. 2. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn; Department of Emergency Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. 3. Division of Health Sciences Research, Mayo Clinic, Phoenix, Ariz. 4. Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minn; School of Computing, Informatics and Decision Systems Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Although the use of a physician and nurse team at triage has been shown to improve emergency department (ED) throughput, the mechanism(s) by which these improvements occur is less clear. OBJECTIVES: 1) To describe the effect of a Rapid Medical Assessment (RMA) team on ED length of stay (LOS) and rate of left without being seen (LWBS); 2) To estimate the effect of RMA on different groups of patients. METHODS: For Objective 1, we compared LOS and LWBS on dates when we utilized RMA to comparable dates when we did not. For Objective 2, we utilized patient logs to divide patients into groups and estimated the effects of the RMA on each. RESULTS: Objective 1. LOS fell from 297.8 min pre-RMA to 261.7 min during RMA, an improvement of 36.1 (95% confidence interval 21.8-50.4) min; LWBS did not change significantly. Objective 2. Patients seen and dispositioned by the RMA had an estimated decrease in LOS of 117.8 min (estimated decrease in LOS of 45%), but patients seen by the RMA whose care was transitioned to the main ED had an estimated increase in LOS of 25.0 min (estimated increase in LOS of 8%). CONCLUSIONS: On a system level, the addition of an RMA shift at a single facility was associated with an improvement in LOS, but not LWBS. On a mechanistic level, it seems that improvements occurred as a result of the rapid disposition component of the RMA rather than placing advanced orders at triage.
BACKGROUND: Although the use of a physician and nurse team at triage has been shown to improve emergency department (ED) throughput, the mechanism(s) by which these improvements occur is less clear. OBJECTIVES: 1) To describe the effect of a Rapid Medical Assessment (RMA) team on ED length of stay (LOS) and rate of left without being seen (LWBS); 2) To estimate the effect of RMA on different groups of patients. METHODS: For Objective 1, we compared LOS and LWBS on dates when we utilized RMA to comparable dates when we did not. For Objective 2, we utilized patient logs to divide patients into groups and estimated the effects of the RMA on each. RESULTS: Objective 1. LOS fell from 297.8 min pre-RMA to 261.7 min during RMA, an improvement of 36.1 (95% confidence interval 21.8-50.4) min; LWBS did not change significantly. Objective 2. Patients seen and dispositioned by the RMA had an estimated decrease in LOS of 117.8 min (estimated decrease in LOS of 45%), but patients seen by the RMA whose care was transitioned to the main ED had an estimated increase in LOS of 25.0 min (estimated increase in LOS of 8%). CONCLUSIONS: On a system level, the addition of an RMA shift at a single facility was associated with an improvement in LOS, but not LWBS. On a mechanistic level, it seems that improvements occurred as a result of the rapid disposition component of the RMA rather than placing advanced orders at triage.
Authors: Juliane Lauks; Blaz Mramor; Klaus Baumgartl; Heinrich Maier; Christian H Nickel; Roland Bingisser Journal: PLoS One Date: 2016-04-22 Impact factor: 3.240