scholarly journals Patient Characteristics Associated with Telemedicine Use at a Large Academic Health System Before and After COVID-19

Author(s):  
Preeti Kakani ◽  
Andrea Sorensen ◽  
Jacob K. Quinton ◽  
Maria Han ◽  
Michael K. Ong ◽  
...  
2021 ◽  
pp. neurintsurg-2020-017155
Author(s):  
Alexander M Kollikowski ◽  
Franziska Cattus ◽  
Julia Haag ◽  
Jörn Feick ◽  
Alexander G März ◽  
...  

BackgroundEvidence of the consequences of different prehospital pathways before mechanical thrombectomy (MT) in large vessel occlusion stroke is inconclusive. The aim of this study was to investigate the infarct extent and progression before and after MT in directly admitted (mothership) versus transferred (drip and ship) patients using the Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS).MethodsASPECTS of 535 consecutive large vessel occlusion stroke patients eligible for MT between 2015 to 2019 were retrospectively analyzed for differences in the extent of baseline, post-referral, and post-recanalization infarction between the mothership and drip and ship pathways. Time intervals and transport distances of both pathways were analyzed. Multiple linear regression was used to examine the association between infarct progression (baseline to post-recanalization ASPECTS decline), patient characteristics, and logistic key figures.ResultsASPECTS declined during transfer (9 (8–10) vs 7 (6-9), p<0.0001), resulting in lower ASPECTS at stroke center presentation (mothership 9 (7–10) vs drip and ship 7 (6–9), p<0.0001) and on follow-up imaging (mothership 7 (4–8) vs drip and ship 6 (3–7), p=0.001) compared with mothership patients. Infarct progression was significantly higher in transferred patients (points lost, mothership 2 (0–3) vs drip and ship 3 (2–6), p<0.0001). After multivariable adjustment, only interfacility transfer, preinterventional clinical stroke severity, the degree of angiographic recanalization, and the duration of the thrombectomy procedure remained predictors of infarct progression (R2=0.209, p<0.0001).ConclusionsInfarct progression and postinterventional infarct extent, as assessed by ASPECTS, varied between the drip and ship and mothership pathway, leading to more pronounced infarction in transferred patients. ASPECTS may serve as a radiological measure to monitor the benefit or harm of different prehospital pathways for MT.


Author(s):  
Sachin R. Pendharkar ◽  
Evan Minty ◽  
Caley B. Shukalek ◽  
Brendan Kerr ◽  
Paul MacMullan ◽  
...  

Abstract Background The evolving COVID-19 pandemic has and continues to present a threat to health system capacity. Rapidly expanding an existing acute care physician workforce is critical to pandemic response planning in large urban academic health systems. Intervention The Medical Emergency-Pandemic Operations Command (MEOC)—a multi-specialty team of physicians, operational leaders, and support staff within an academic Department of Medicine in Calgary, Canada—partnered with its provincial health system to rapidly develop a comprehensive, scalable pandemic physician workforce plan for non-ventilated inpatients with COVID-19 across multiple hospitals. The MEOC Pandemic Plan comprised seven components, each with unique structure and processes. Methods In this manuscript, we describe MEOC’s Pandemic Plan that was designed and implemented from March to May 2020 and re-escalated in October 2020. We report on the plan’s structure and process, early implementation outcomes, and unforeseen challenges. Data sources included MEOC documents, health system, public health, and physician engagement implementation data. Key Results From March 5 to October 26, 2020, 427 patients were admitted to COVID-19 units in Calgary hospitals. In the initial implementation period (March–May 2020), MEOC communications reached over 2500 physicians, leading to 1446 physicians volunteering to provide care on COVID-19 units. Of these, 234 physicians signed up for hospital shifts, and 227 physicians received in-person personal protective equipment simulation training. Ninety-three physicians were deployed on COVID-19 units at four large acute care hospitals. The resurgence of cases in September 2020 has prompted re-escalation including re-activation of COVID-19 units. Conclusions MEOC leveraged an academic health system partnership to rapidly design, implement, and refine a comprehensive, scalable COVID-19 acute care physician workforce plan whose components are readily applicable across jurisdictions or healthcare crises. This description may guide other institutions responding to COVID-19 and future health emergencies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S251-S253
Author(s):  
Charles Teixeira ◽  
Henry Shiflett ◽  
Deeksha Jandhyala ◽  
Jessica Lewis ◽  
Scott R Curry ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19, first described in Wuhan, China, is now a global pandemic. We describe a cohort of patients (pts) admitted to our academic health system (HS) in the southeast, where demographics and comorbidities differ significantly from other regions in the U.S. Methods This was a retrospective review of 161 consecutive pts admitted with COVID-19 from 3/12/20 to 6/1/20. We assessed demographics, comorbidities, presenting symptoms, treatments and outcomes and compared pts who died during hospitalization to those who survived to discharge (EpiInfo 7.2, Atlanta, GA). Results Mean age was 60.5 years, 51.6% were female, 72% African American (AA) and 69.6% admitted from home. 54.5% had a BMI &gt;30, 72% had HTN, 47.2% diabetes, and 33.6% COPD or asthma. The majority (68.8%) presented with fever (&gt;38.0) and required supplemental oxygen within 8 hours of admission (63.4%). Cough (65.6%), dyspnea (57.5%), myalgias (30.6%) and diarrhea (23.8%) were also common. 40.4% received hydroxychloroquine, 23.6% steroids and 19.9% convalescent plasma. 42.9% required ICU care, 27.3% were intubated, and 19.3% died. Characteristics associated with death included older age, male sex, HTN, ESRD on HD, and cancer. Symptoms associated with death included absence of cough, absence of myalgias, previous admission for COVID-19, tachypnea, need for supplemental oxygen, elevated BUN and creatinine, and elevated ferritin. Interventions associated with death included use of steroids, receipt of ICU care, intubation, delay to intubation, and use of vasopressors or inotropes. Complications associated with death included development of a new arrhythmia, bacteremia, pneumonia, ARDS, thrombosis, and new renal failure requiring HD (Table). Table 1. Patient Characteristics by Death Table 2. Patient Characteristics by Death Table 3. Patient Characteristics by Death Conclusion COVID-19 pts admitted to our southeast U.S. HS had significant comorbidities, most commonly obesity, HTN, and diabetes. Additionally, AA comprised a disproportionate share (72%) of our cohort compared to the general population of our state (30%), those tested in our region (32.9%), and those found to be positive for COVID-19 (35.8%). In-hospital mortality was 19.3% and intubation, particularly if delayed, was associated with death as were several complications, most notably arrhythmia, ARDS, and renal failure with HD. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian J. Barbash ◽  
Lee H. Harrison ◽  
Jana L. Jacobs ◽  
Faraaz Ali Shah ◽  
Tomeka L. Suber ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTBackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the United States and the world. Media reports have suggested that the wave of the alpha variant in the Spring of 2021 in the US caused more cases among younger patients and racial and ethnic subgroups.ApproachWe analyzed electronic health record data from a multihospital health system to test whether younger patients accounted for more cases and more severe disease, and whether racial disparities are widening. We compared demographics, patient characteristics, and hospitalization variables for patients admitted from November 2020 through January 2021 to those admitted in March and April 2021.ResultsWe analyzed data for 37, 502 unique inpatients and outpatients at 21 hospitals from November 1, 2020 to April 30, 2021. Compared to patients from November through January, those with positive tests in March and April were younger and less likely to die. Among patients under age 50, those with positive tests in March and April were three times as likely to be hospitalized and twice as likely to require ICU admission or mechanical ventilation. Individuals identified as Black represented a greater proportion of cases and hospitalizations in March and April as compared to November through January.ConclusionsWe found that relative COVID-19 hospitalization rates for younger individuals and individuals identified as Black were rising over time. These findings have important implications for ongoing public health measures to mitigate the impact of the pandemic.


2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Faruk Turgut ◽  
Sana Sungur ◽  
Ramazan Okur ◽  
Mustafa Yaprak ◽  
Muge Ozsan ◽  
...  

Background: Bisphenol A (BPA) has been implicated as an ‘endocrine disruptor'. We aimed at exploring the association between serum BPA levels and patient characteristics, particularly the presence of diabetes mellitus, and laboratory parameters in hemodialysis patients. Methods: This study included 47 chronic hemodialysis patients. Patient characteristics were recorded. Blood was drawn before and after hemodialysis session. Serum BPA levels were measured by the high-performance-liquid-chromatography and laboratory parameters were measured by using standard methods. Results: In hemodialysis patients, postdialysis serum BPA levels were significantly higher than predialysis after a single hemodialysis session (5.57 ± 1.2 vs. 4.06 ± 0.73, p < 0.0001). Predialysis serum BPA levels were significantly higher in patients with diabetes than non-diabetics (4.4 ± 0.6 vs. 3.9 ± 0.7, p = 0.025). No association was found between serum BPA levels and patient characteristics, and particularly laboratory parameters. Conclusion: Serum BPA levels were rising significantly after a single dialysis session. Diabetic hemodialysis patients had higher predialysis serum BPA levels.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Gazmararian ◽  
Kara L Jacobson ◽  
Yi Pan ◽  
Brian Schmotzer ◽  
Sunil Kripalani

Circulation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 135 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alex R Chang ◽  
J E Hartle ◽  
Lawrence Appel ◽  
Morgan Grams

Background: JAMA 2014 blood pressure (BP) guidelines raised BP goals for adults older than 60 years (from <140/90 to <150/90) and adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or diabetes (from < 130/80 to <140/90). It is unknown whether there were changes in BP control at the health system level after guideline publication. Methods: Using data from 288,962 adults receiving primary care in the Geisinger Health System, we compared blood pressure control over 1-year time periods before and after the February 2014 publication of the JAMA 2014 BP guidelines (i.e. Aug 2012-July 2013 vs Aug 2014-July 2015). Mixed effects models were used, allowing intercepts to vary by individual, adjusted for age, gender, and race. Results: Mean age was 49.2 ± 18.3 y, 56.7% were female, and 2.5% were black. Prevalence of diagnoses for hypertension, diabetes, and CKD were 40.0%, 15.1%, and 11.4%, respectively. Overall, distributions of systolic BP were similar before and after JAMA 2014 BP guidelines (Figure). BP control <140/90 was also similar between the two periods for adults 18-59 y (90.9% vs. 90.3%; OR 1.01, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.3), adults ≥ 60 y (81.8% vs 82.2%; OR 1.01, 95% CI: 1.00-1.03; p=0.05), and adults with diabetes (83.2% vs. 82.7%; OR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.7) whereas BP control <140/90 improved slightly for adults with CKD (81.7% vs. 82.1%; OR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08; p<0.001). BP control <130/80 was marginally worse after JAMA 2014 BP guidelines in patients with diabetes (53.5% vs. 51.8%; OR 0.98, 95% CI: 0.96-0.99; p=0.01). Trends were similar in analyses only including patients with hypertension diagnoses (overall 78.6% vs. 78.2%, OR 1.00, 95% CI: 0.99-1.02; p=0.5), and when using a goal of < 130/80 for patients with CKD (53.3% vs. 53.5%; OR 1.06, 95% CI: 1.04-1.08; p<0.001). Conclusion: There was little change in blood pressure control in a large integrated health system after publication of the JAMA 2014 BP guidelines. These findings are reassuring given recent findings from the SPRINT trial supporting lower BP goals.


Circulation ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 141 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zakaria Almuwaqqat ◽  
Jeong Hwan Kim ◽  
Muhammad Hammadah ◽  
Shabatun Islam ◽  
Bruno B Lima ◽  
...  

Background: Bone marrow-derived progenitor cells (PCs) are involved in vascular regeneration and correlate with vascular function and cumulative cardiovascular risk. Systemic inflammation is associated with increased mobilization and differentiation of circulating PCs (CPCs) which may ultimately lead to exhaustion of vascular regenerative capacity. Individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) exhibit a pro-inflammatory response to a mental stress challenge that has been associated with an elevated risk of adverse outcomes. We sought to determine whether subjects with reduced numbers of circulating PCs (CPCs) are at higher risk of a pro-inflammatory response to acute mental stress. Methods: 500 outpatients with stable CAD were enrolled into the Mental Stress Ischemia Prognosis study and underwent a laboratory-based mental stress protocol. Mononuclear cells expressing CD45med, CD34 and CXCR4 epitopes, known to be enriched for hematopoietic PCs, were enumerated using flow cytometry. Interleukin-6 (IL6) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) levels were measured before and after mental stress. Baseline and changes in IL6 levels were compared across CPC tertiles using linear regression after adjusting for patient characteristics. Results: Mean age was 63± 9 years, 77% male, 70% white. Median CD34+ CPC count was 1.64 (1.02-2.43 cells/μL. CPC levels were not associated with either the baseline IL6 level (Beta= 0.071 95%CI, -0.091, 0.23) or CRP levels (Beta, 0.60, 95%CI, -0.25, 0.44). However, independent of demographics, CAD risk factors and baseline IL6 levels, lower CD34+/CXCR4+ CPC counts were associated with a higher inflammatory response during mental stress, measured as a rise in IL6 level (Beta= -0.11, 95%CI, -0.20, -0.028). Conclusions: Patients with reduced CPC levels have a greater pro-inflammatory response to mental stress. Thus, the observed higher risk in subjects with impaired regenerative capacity might be at least partly due to a higher stress-related pro-inflammatory response.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. S818-S819
Author(s):  
Ryan Miller ◽  
Jose A Morillas ◽  
Joanne Sitaras ◽  
Jacob Bako ◽  
Elizabeth A Neuner ◽  
...  

Abstract Background In an effort to optimize diagnostic testing for Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI) our health system changed from stand-alone PCR testing to a “2-step” approach wherein all positive PCR results reflexed to an EIA. We report the effects of this change on publicly reported CDI metrics and treatment days of therapy (DOT). Methods The setting includes 10 Cleveland Clinic Health System hospitals in northeast Ohio and one in Florida. On June 12, 2018, 9 NE Ohio hospitals changed from PCR alone to PCR followed by EIA. Stand-alone PCR testing remained at one and GDH / EIA / PCR for discordant for another. Testing volumes were obtained from the microbiology laboratory. C. difficile LabID event SIRs were obtained from NHSN. Public reporting interpretative categories were identified based on SIR for second half of 2018. DOT for CDI agents were obtained from an antimicrobial stewardship database. Results Among hospitals that changed strategy the volume of PCR testing and the percent PCR + was similar between time periods. EIA positivity ranged from 23% to 53%. 4/11 hospitals improved their public reporting category: 3/9 that changed testing strategy and 1/2 that did not (Table 1). Two of 3 that changed strategy and improved public reporting also had a decrease in DOT. DOT increased in the 2 hospitals that did not change strategy. Conclusion Six months after adopting a 2-step CDI testing strategy 7 of 9 hospitals had a lower SIR with 3 also demonstrating an improvement in public reporting category favorably impacting reputational and reimbursement risk for our healthcare system. CDI agent DOT was similar before and after the change. The impact of choice of test on publicly reported metrics demonstrates the difficulty of utilizing a proxy for hospital onset CDI, the CDI LabID event, as a measure of quality of care provided. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.


2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (4) ◽  
pp. e93-e99
Author(s):  
Ashley D. Birdsall ◽  
Ashley M. Kappenman ◽  
Bryce T. Covey ◽  
Matthew H. Rim

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