Behavioral Health Resource Utilization of Emergency Department Patients Presenting from Mass Gathering Events

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (s1) ◽  
pp. s105-s106
Author(s):  
Charles Hebert ◽  
Gary Peksa ◽  
Joshua DeMott

Introduction:Behavioral health needs of attendees at mass gathering events who require emergency department (ED) evaluation are poorly understood. Appropriate resource allocation of mental health staff and other behavioral interventions necessary to support this patient population are also unclear.Aim:To describe behavioral characteristics and psychiatric resource utilization of patients presenting to a tertiary academic medical center emergency department from mass gathering events.Methods:Single-center retrospective study evaluating attendees at mass gathering events who presented to a Chicago ED. Electronic medical records for patients presenting between October 13, 2013, and December 31, 2015, were reviewed and descriptive analyses performed.Results:209 distinct records were reviewed. Most patients presented from large outdoor concerts (n = 186, 89%). Forty-two (20.1%) reported a mental health complaint at presentation, including concerns related to pre-existing psychiatric disturbances or onset of new symptoms. Twenty-seven of the total cohort (12.9%) endorsed a prior psychiatric history. Thirty-five (16.7%) reported use of prescribed psychotropic medications, including antidepressants, stimulants, mood stabilizers, and others. Diagnostic testing among the total sample included serum ethanol measurement (31.1%), urinary toxicology (25.4%), acetaminophen (6.2%), aspirin (5.3%), and creatine kinase measurements (11%). Computed brain tomography was ordered for 20 patients (9.6%). Twelve patients (5.7%) received an anxiolytic (lorazepam) and 113 (54.1%) received intravenous fluids. An antipsychotic (olanzapine) was administered to one patient (0.5%). There were no reports of suicidal ideation, but physical restraints for agitation were employed in 13 patients (6.2%). Police consultation occurred in 10 cases (4.8%). No formal psychiatric consultations were requested by ED providers.Discussion:Patients presenting to the emergency department from mass gathering events frequently endorse behavioral complaints requiring directed use of diagnostic and other emergency department resources for their ailments. The need for physical restraints and limited use of anxiolytics and antipsychotics in our sample suggest that psychiatric consultation is underutilized.

Author(s):  
Pia Engstrom ◽  
Matthew Bolton ◽  
Cynthia Bautista ◽  
Todd Barnes

INTRODUCTION Problems that worry patients throughout hospitalization are complex and varied, but they fall within the scope of safe, effective, patient-centered care. To our knowledge, there is no evidence describing the problems that worry patients in inpatient psychiatric units. AIM The purpose of this quality improvement project was to describe common themes of worry experienced by individuals in psychiatric inpatient units in order to improve patient experience. METHOD This project took place at an urban, safety net hospital at an academic medical center in the northeastern United States between March and December 2019. All patients across five inpatient psychiatric units were offered the Combined Assessment of Psychiatric Environments (CAPE) survey as they approached the end of their stay. RESULTS A total of 1,800 patients took the survey. Of these patients, 36% (650/1,800) patients responded never/sometimes to “During my hospitalization, I found solutions to problems that worried me,” and 46% (297/650) patients provided a response to the follow-up question “What are the problems that worry you the most?” Common themes of worry for inpatient behavioral health patients include (a) life in the hospital, (b) self, and (c) outside life. CONCLUSION Each of these worry themes that emerged from this thematic analysis has implications for behavioral health staff who are preparing the psychiatric/behavioral health inpatient for discharge. These themes can also be used to focus on a variety of quality improvement initiatives to improve the patients experience while in an inpatient psychiatric/behavioral health unit.


2021 ◽  
pp. 112972982199175
Author(s):  
Pooja Nawathe ◽  
Robert Wong ◽  
Gabriel Pollock ◽  
Jack Green ◽  
Michael Kissen ◽  
...  

Background: Pandemics create challenges for medical centers, which call for innovative adaptations to care for patients during the unusually high census, to distribute stress and work hours among providers, to reduce the likelihood of transmission to health care workers, and to maximize resource utilization. Methods: We describe a multidisciplinary vascular access team’s development to improve frontline providers’ workflow by placing central venous and arterial catheters. Herein we describe the development, organization, and processes resulting in the rapid formation and deployment of this team, reporting on notable clinical issues encountered, which might serve as a basis for future quality improvement and investigation. We describe a retrospective, single-center descriptive study in a large, quaternary academic medical center in a major city. The COVID-19 vascular access team included physicians with specialized experience in placing invasive catheters and whose usual clinical schedule had been lessened through deferment of elective cases. The target population included patients with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 in the medical ICU (MICU) needing invasive catheter placement. The line team placed all invasive catheters on patients in the MICU with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. Results and conclusions: Primary data collected were the number and type of catheters placed, time of team member exposure to potentially infected patients, and any complications over the first three weeks. Secondary outcomes pertained to workflow enhancement and quality improvement. 145 invasive catheters were placed on 67 patients. Of these 67 patients, 90% received arterial catheters, 64% central venous catheters, and 25% hemodialysis catheters. None of the central venous catheterizations or hemodialysis catheters were associated with early complications. Arterial line malfunction due to thrombosis was the most frequent complication. Division of labor through specialized expert procedural teams is feasible during a pandemic and offloads frontline providers while potentially conferring safety benefits.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
pp. 215013272199688
Author(s):  
Ajeng J. Puspitasari ◽  
Dagoberto Heredia ◽  
Elise Weber ◽  
Hannah K Betcher ◽  
Brandon J. Coombes ◽  
...  

Background: This study aimed to explore clinicians’ perspectives on the current practice of perinatal mood and anxiety disorder (PMAD) management and strategies to improve future implementation. Methods: This study had a cross-sectional, descriptive design. A 35-item electronic survey was sent to clinicians (N = 118) who treated perinatal women and practiced at several community clinics at an academic medical center in the United States. Results: Among clinicians who provided care for perinatal women, 34.7% reported never receiving PMAD management training and 66.3% had less than 10 years of experience. Out of 10 patients who reported psychiatric symptoms, 47.8% of clinicians on average reported providing PMAD management to 1 to 3 patients and 40.7% noted that they conducted screening only when patient expresses PMAD symptoms. Suggested future improvements were providing training, developing a referral list, and establishing integrated behavioral health services. Conclusions: Results from this study indicated that while PMAD screening and management was implemented, improvements are warranted to meet established guidelines. Additionally, clinicians endorsed providing PMAD management to a small percentage of perinatal patients. Suggested strategies to increase adoption and implementation of PMAD management should be explored to improve access to behavioral health services for perinatal women.


Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 100514
Author(s):  
Krisda H. Chaiyachati ◽  
Katy Mahraj ◽  
Carolina Garzon Mrad ◽  
Christina J. O'Malley ◽  
Marguerite Balasta ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Pavani Rangachari ◽  
Jie Chen ◽  
Nishtha Ahuja ◽  
Anjeli Patel ◽  
Renuka Mehta

This retrospective study examines demographic and risk factor differences between children who visited the emergency department (ED) for asthma once (“one-time”) and more than once (“repeat”) over an 18-month period at an academic medical center. The purpose is to contribute to the literature on ED utilization for asthma and provide a foundation for future primary research on self-management effectiveness (SME) of childhood asthma. For the first round of analysis, an 18-month retrospective chart review was conducted on 252 children (0–17 years) who visited the ED for asthma in 2019–2020, to obtain data on demographics, risk factors, and ED visits for each child. Of these, 160 (63%) were “one-time” and 92 (37%) were “repeat” ED patients. Demographic and risk factor differences between “one-time” and “repeat” ED patients were assessed using contingency table and logistic regression analyses. A second round of analysis was conducted on patients in the age-group 8–17 years to match another retrospective asthma study recently completed in the outpatient clinics at the same (study) institution. The first-round analysis indicated that except age, none of the individual demographic or risk factors were statistically significant in predicting of “repeat” ED visits. More unequivocally, the second-round analysis revealed that none of the individual factors examined (including age, race, gender, insurance, and asthma severity, among others) were statistically significant in predicting “repeat” ED visits for childhood asthma. A key implication of the results therefore is that something other than the factors examined is driving “repeat” ED visits in children with asthma. In addition to contributing to the ED utilization literature, the results serve to corroborate findings from the recent outpatient study and bolster the impetus for future primary research on SME of childhood asthma.


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S98-S98
Author(s):  
Hannah Kafisheh ◽  
Matthew Hinton ◽  
Amanda Binkley ◽  
Christo Cimino ◽  
Christopher Edwards

Abstract Background Suboptimal antimicrobial therapy has resulted in the emergence of multi-drug resistant organisms. The objective of this study was to optimize the time to antimicrobial therapy modification for patients discharged from the emergency department (ED) of an academic medical center through implementation of a pharmacist-driven outpatient antimicrobial stewardship initiative (ASI). Methods This was a pre-post, quasi-experimental study that evaluated the impact of a pharmacist-driven outpatient antimicrobial stewardship initiative at a single academic medical center. The pre-cohort was evaluated through manual electronic medical record (EMR) review, while the post-cohort involved a real-time notification alert system through an electronic clinical surveillance application. The difference in time from positive culture result to antimicrobial therapy optimization before and after implementation of the pharmacist-driven ASI was collected and analyzed. Results A total of 166 cultures were included in the analysis. Of these, 12/72 (16%) in the pre-cohort and 11/94 (12%) in the post-cohort required antimicrobial therapy modification, with a 21.9-hour reduction in median time from positive culture result to antimicrobial optimization in the post-cohort (43 h vs. 21.1 h; p < 0.01). Similarly, the median time from positive culture result to review was reduced by 20 hours with pharmacist-driven intervention (21.1 h vs. 1.4 h; p < 0.01). Conclusion The implementation of a pharmacist-driven outpatient antimicrobial stewardship initiative resulted in a significant reduction in time to positive culture review and therapy optimization for patients discharged from the ED of an academic medical center set in Philadelphia, PA. Disclosures All Authors: No reported disclosures


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Zina V. Peters ◽  
Lynn N. Norwood ◽  
Hetal P. Modi ◽  
Heather Goodman ◽  
Peggy H. Yang ◽  
...  

The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) has impacted life for people throughout the world, especially for those in health care who experience unique stressors. To support the psychological needs of staff, faculty, and learners at a biomedical sciences university, faculty at Baylor College of Medicine created a mental health and wellness support program consisting of multiple behavioral health care pathways, including phone support, a self-guided mental health app, a coping skills group, and individual therapy services. The authors present this program as a model for academic institutions to support the well-being of faculty, staff, and learners.


This case focuses on improving care coordination for patients who have been discharged from the hospital by asking the question: Is it possible to reduce the rate of repeat emergency department and hospital visits after discharge by improving care coordination? The study group included adults admitted to the general medicine service of an urban, academic medical center that serves an “ethnically diverse patient population.” Patients were assigned to nurse discharge advocates who provided the patients with delineated services and assistance during the hospitalization The Project Reengineered Discharge (RED) program substantially reduced repeat emergency department and hospital visits by improving care coordination at the time of hospital discharge.


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