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Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department

INTRODUCTION: Critically ill patients are frequently transferred from other hospitals to the emergency departments (ED) of tertiary hospitals. Due to the unforeseen transfer, the ED length of stay (LOS) of the patient is likely to be prolonged in addition to other potentially adverse effects. In thi...

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Autores principales: Moon, Sun Wook, Lee, Ji Hwan, Lee, Hyun Sim, Kim, Ha Yan, Lee, Myeongjee, Park, Incheol, Chung, Hyun Soo, Kim, Ji Hoon
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9683775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36409951
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.8.56039
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author Moon, Sun Wook
Lee, Ji Hwan
Lee, Hyun Sim
Kim, Ha Yan
Lee, Myeongjee
Park, Incheol
Chung, Hyun Soo
Kim, Ji Hoon
author_facet Moon, Sun Wook
Lee, Ji Hwan
Lee, Hyun Sim
Kim, Ha Yan
Lee, Myeongjee
Park, Incheol
Chung, Hyun Soo
Kim, Ji Hoon
author_sort Moon, Sun Wook
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Critically ill patients are frequently transferred from other hospitals to the emergency departments (ED) of tertiary hospitals. Due to the unforeseen transfer, the ED length of stay (LOS) of the patient is likely to be prolonged in addition to other potentially adverse effects. In this study we sought to confirm whether the establishment of an organized unit — the Emergency Transfer Coordination Center (ETCC) — to systematically coordinate emergency transfers would be effective in reducing the ED LOS of transferred, critically ill patients. METHODS: The present study is a retrospective observational study focusing on patients who were transferred from other hospitals and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the ED in a tertiary hospital located in northwestern Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, from January 2019 – December 2020. The exposure variable of the study was ETCC approval before transfer, and ED LOS was the primary outcome. We used propensity score matching for comparison between the group with ETCC approval and the control group. RESULTS: Included in the study were 1,097 patients admitted to the ICU after being transferred from other hospitals, of whom 306 (27.9%) were transferred with ETCC approval. The median ED LOS in the ETCC-approved group was significantly reduced to 277 minutes compared to 385 minutes in the group without ETCC approval. The ETCC had a greater effect on reducing evaluation time than boarding time, which was the same for populations with different clinical features. CONCLUSION: An ETCC can be effective in systematically reducing the ED LOS of critically ill patients who are transferred from other hospitals to tertiary hospitals that are experiencing severe crowding.
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spelling pubmed-96837752022-11-25 Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department Moon, Sun Wook Lee, Ji Hwan Lee, Hyun Sim Kim, Ha Yan Lee, Myeongjee Park, Incheol Chung, Hyun Soo Kim, Ji Hoon West J Emerg Med Emergency Department Operations INTRODUCTION: Critically ill patients are frequently transferred from other hospitals to the emergency departments (ED) of tertiary hospitals. Due to the unforeseen transfer, the ED length of stay (LOS) of the patient is likely to be prolonged in addition to other potentially adverse effects. In this study we sought to confirm whether the establishment of an organized unit — the Emergency Transfer Coordination Center (ETCC) — to systematically coordinate emergency transfers would be effective in reducing the ED LOS of transferred, critically ill patients. METHODS: The present study is a retrospective observational study focusing on patients who were transferred from other hospitals and admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of the ED in a tertiary hospital located in northwestern Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, from January 2019 – December 2020. The exposure variable of the study was ETCC approval before transfer, and ED LOS was the primary outcome. We used propensity score matching for comparison between the group with ETCC approval and the control group. RESULTS: Included in the study were 1,097 patients admitted to the ICU after being transferred from other hospitals, of whom 306 (27.9%) were transferred with ETCC approval. The median ED LOS in the ETCC-approved group was significantly reduced to 277 minutes compared to 385 minutes in the group without ETCC approval. The ETCC had a greater effect on reducing evaluation time than boarding time, which was the same for populations with different clinical features. CONCLUSION: An ETCC can be effective in systematically reducing the ED LOS of critically ill patients who are transferred from other hospitals to tertiary hospitals that are experiencing severe crowding. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of California, Irvine School of Medicine 2022-11 2022-10-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9683775/ /pubmed/36409951 http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.8.56039 Text en © 2022 Moon et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) License. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
spellingShingle Emergency Department Operations
Moon, Sun Wook
Lee, Ji Hwan
Lee, Hyun Sim
Kim, Ha Yan
Lee, Myeongjee
Park, Incheol
Chung, Hyun Soo
Kim, Ji Hoon
Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title_full Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title_fullStr Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title_full_unstemmed Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title_short Effects of Emergency Transfer Coordination Center on Length of Stay of Critically Ill Patients in the Emergency Department
title_sort effects of emergency transfer coordination center on length of stay of critically ill patients in the emergency department
topic Emergency Department Operations
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9683775/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36409951
http://dx.doi.org/10.5811/westjem.2022.8.56039
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