The Risk of Readmission after Early Postpartum Discharge during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author(s):  
Moti Gulersen ◽  
Gregg Husk ◽  
Erez Lenchner ◽  
Matthew J. Blitz ◽  
Timothy J. Rafael ◽  
...  

Objective To determine whether early postpartum discharge during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic was associated with a change in the odds of maternal postpartum readmissions. Study Design This is a retrospective analysis of uncomplicated postpartum low-risk women in seven obstetrical units within a large New York health system. We compared the rate of postpartum readmissions within 6 weeks of delivery between two groups: low-risk women who had early postpartum discharge as part of our protocol during the COVID-19 pandemic (April 1–June 15, 2020) and similar low-risk patients with routine postpartum discharge from the same study centers 1 year prior. Statistical analysis included the use of Wilcoxon's rank-sum and chi-squared tests, Nelson–Aalen cumulative hazard curves, and multivariate logistic regression. Results Of the 8,206 patients included, 4,038 (49.2%) were patients who had early postpartum discharge during the COVID-19 pandemic and 4,168 (50.8%) were patients with routine postpartum discharge prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rates of postpartum readmissions after vaginal delivery (1.0 vs. 0.9%; adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 0.75, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.39–1.45) and cesarean delivery (1.5 vs. 1.9%; adjusted OR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.29–1.45) were similar between the two groups. Demographic risk factors for postpartum readmission included Medicaid insurance and obesity. Conclusion Early postpartum discharge during the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with no change in the odds of maternal postpartum readmissions after low-risk vaginal or cesarean deliveries. Early postpartum discharge for low-risk patients to shorten hospital length of stay should be considered in the face of public health crises. Key Points

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (9) ◽  
pp. 1008-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eran Bornstein ◽  
Moti Gulersen ◽  
Gregg Husk ◽  
Amos Grunebaum ◽  
Matthew J. Blitz ◽  
...  

AbstractObjectivesTo report our experience with early postpartum discharge to decrease hospital length of stay among low-risk puerperium patients in a large obstetrical service during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York.MethodsRetrospective analysis of all uncomplicated postpartum women in seven obstetrical units within a large health system between December 8th, 2019 and June 20th, 2020. Women were stratified into two groups based on date of delivery in relation to the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York (Mid-March 2020); those delivering before or during the COVID-19 pandemic. We compared hospital length of stay, defined as time interval from delivery to discharge in hours, between the two groups and correlated it with the number of COVID-19 admissions to our hospitals. Statistical analysis included use of Wilcoxon rank sum test and Chi-squared test with significance defined as p-value<0.05.ResultsOf the 11,770 patients included, 5,893 (50.1%) delivered prior to and 5,877 (49.9%) delivered during the COVID-19 pandemic. We detected substantial shortening in postpartum hospital length of stay after vaginal delivery (34 vs. 48 h, p≤0.0001) and cesarean delivery (51 vs. 74 h, p≤0.0001) during the COVID-19 pandemic.ConclusionsWe report successful implementation of early postpartum discharge for low-risk patients resulting in a significantly shorter hospital stay during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York. The impact of this strategy on resource utilization, patient satisfaction and adverse outcomes requires further study.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (6) ◽  
pp. 1382-1389
Author(s):  
Brianna Jansma ◽  
Priyanka Vakkalanka ◽  
David A Talan ◽  
Briana Negaard ◽  
Brett A Faine

Introduction Febrile neutropenia is an oncologic emergency associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The objective of our study was to assess guideline adherence and clinical outcomes associated with the management of high- and low-risk febrile neutropenia patients presenting to the emergency department. Methods A retrospective observational cohort study was conducted at a 60,000-visit emergency department at an academically-affiliated tertiary referral hospital. Patients were identified as low- or high-risk using the guideline-recommended Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer score. The primary outcome was the proportion of cases in which the management was concordant with applicable febrile neutropenia guidelines. Guideline adherence was defined as hospital admission and intravenous antimicrobial therapy for high-risk patients and discharge home with oral antimicrobial therapy for low-risk patients. Secondary outcomes included appropriate vancomycin administration, hospital length of stay, rates of acute kidney injury, in-hospital Clostridium difficile infection rates, and 30-day mortality. Results Of the 237 patients included, 94 (39.7%) were low-risk patients and 143 (60.3%) were high-risk patients. Guideline adherence occurred in 96.8% of high-risk patients and 0.4% of low-risk patients. Mean hospital length of stay of the low-risk group was 5 ± 5.0 days compared to 7.2 ± 7.3 days in the high-risk group. Vancomycin was often inappropriately given in 69.5% of high-risk patients. Clostridium difficile occurred in 15 (10.3%) adherent and 4 (4.4%) non-adherent patients. By 30 days, 4 (4.3%) low-risk and 15 (10.7%) high-risk patients died. Conclusion Adherence to the febrile neutropenia guidelines was low resulting in unnecessary hospital admissions of low-risk patients and frequent over-prescription of empirical vancomycin.


Author(s):  
Desmond Sutton ◽  
Timothy Wen ◽  
Anna P. Staniczenko ◽  
Yongmei Huang ◽  
Maria Andrikopoulou ◽  
...  

Objective This study was aimed to review 4 weeks of universal novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) screening among delivery hospitalizations, at two hospitals in March and April 2020 in New York City, to compare outcomes between patients based on COVID-19 status and to determine whether demographic risk factors and symptoms predicted screening positive for COVID-19. Study Design This retrospective cohort study evaluated all patients admitted for delivery from March 22 to April 18, 2020, at two New York City hospitals. Obstetrical and neonatal outcomes were collected. The relationship between COVID-19 and demographic, clinical, and maternal and neonatal outcome data was evaluated. Demographic data included the number of COVID-19 cases ascertained by ZIP code of residence. Adjusted logistic regression models were performed to determine predictability of demographic risk factors for COVID-19. Results Of 454 women delivered, 79 (17%) had COVID-19. Of those, 27.9% (n = 22) had symptoms such as cough (13.9%), fever (10.1%), chest pain (5.1%), and myalgia (5.1%). While women with COVID-19 were more likely to live in the ZIP codes quartile with the most cases (47 vs. 41%) and less likely to live in the ZIP code quartile with the fewest cases (6 vs. 14%), these comparisons were not statistically significant (p = 0.18). Women with COVID-19 were less likely to have a vaginal delivery (55.2 vs. 51.9%, p = 0.04) and had a significantly longer postpartum length of stay with cesarean (2.00 vs. 2.67days, p < 0.01). COVID-19 was associated with higher risk for diagnoses of chorioamnionitis and pneumonia and fevers without a focal diagnosis. In adjusted analyses, including demographic factors, logistic regression demonstrated a c-statistic of 0.71 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.69, 0.80). Conclusion COVID-19 symptoms were present in a minority of COVID-19-positive women admitted for delivery. Significant differences in obstetrical outcomes were found. While demographic risk factors demonstrated acceptable discrimination, risk prediction does not capture a significant portion of COVID-19-positive patients. Key Points


2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas P Lodise ◽  
Sergey Izmailyan ◽  
Melanie Olesky ◽  
Kenneth Lawrence

Abstract Background Expert guidelines discourage use of antipseudomonal β-lactams and fluoroquinolones in lower-risk patients with community-acquired complicated intra-abdominal infection (CA cIAI). Compliance with these recommendations across US hospitals is unclear. This study sought to determine treatment patterns and associated outcomes among adult hospitalized lower-risk patients with CA cIAI. Methods A study using data from the Premier Healthcare Database (10/2015–12/2017) was performed. Inclusion criteria: age ≥18 years; hospitalized; had a cIAI at admission; and received antibiotics within the first 4 hospital days. Patients were excluded if they were high risk, were transferred from another health care facility, had a recent hospital admission, or received dialysis within 30 days of admission. Empiric antibiotic treatment patterns and associated outcomes were quantified. Results Overall, 46 722 (66%) patients with cIAIs met the lower-risk CA IAI study criteria. Among lower-risk CA IAI patients, the mean (SD) age was 53.4 (18.2) years, and 71% had a Charlson Comorbidity Index score of 0. The most common diagnosis was acute appendicitis with peritonitis (59.7%). Among lower-risk CA IAI patients, 54% received piperacillin/tazobactam, 20% received a fluoroquinolone (FQ), 11% received ceftriaxone, and 7% received ampicillin/sulbactam. Overall, the median hospital length of stay was 4 days and median costs were $12 345 USD. Nearly 90% of patients were discharged home, and &lt;1% died. Outcomes were similar across all empiric treatments received. Conclusions Overuse of antipseudomonal β-lactams and fluoroquinolones was commonplace among lower-risk CA IAI patients. These findings can serve as the basis for an antimicrobial stewardship initiative in hospitals aspiring to reduce the use of broad-spectrum antibiotics.


2020 ◽  
pp. 204887262092160
Author(s):  
Alexander E Sullivan ◽  
Tara Holder ◽  
Tracy Truong ◽  
Cynthia L Green ◽  
Olamiji Sofela ◽  
...  

Background Risk stratification and management of hemodynamically stable pulmonary embolism remains challenging. Professional societies have published stratification schemes, but little is known about the management of patients with intermediate risk pulmonary embolism. We describe the care of these patients at an academic health system. Methods Patient encounters from 1 January 2016 to 30 June 2017 were retrospectively identified utilizing a multihospital, electronic health record-based data warehouse. Using the 2019 European Society of Cardiology criteria, differences in hospital resource utilization, defined as intensive care unit admission, use of invasive therapies, and length of stay, were examined in patients with intermediate risk characteristics. Results A cohort of 322 intermediate risk patients, including 165 intermediate–low and 157 intermediate–high risk patients, was identified. Intermediate–high risk patients more often underwent catheter-directed therapy (14.0% vs. 1.8%; P<0.001) compared to intermediate–low risk patients and had a 50% higher rate of intensive care unit admission (relative risk 1.50; 95% confidence interval 1.06, 2.12; P=0.023). There was no difference in median intensive care unit length of stay (2.7 vs. 2.0 days; P=0.761) or hospital length of stay (5.0 vs. 5.0 days; P=0.775) between intermediate–high risk and intermediate–low risk patients. Patients that underwent invasive therapies had a 3.8-day shorter hospital length of stay (beta –3.75; 95% confidence interval –6.17, –1.32; P=0.002). Conclusion This study presents insights into the hospital resource utilization of patients with intermediate risk pulmonary embolism. The 2019 European Society of Cardiology risk stratification criteria are a clinically relevant scheme that identifies patients more often treated with intensive care unit admission and advanced therapies.


10.36469/9744 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 84-94
Author(s):  
Li Wang ◽  
Onur Baser ◽  
Phil Wells ◽  
W. Frank Peacock ◽  
Craig I. Coleman ◽  
...  

Background: Increased hospital length of stay is an important cost driver in hospitalized low-risk pulmonary embolism (LRPE) patients, who benefit from abbreviated hospital stays. We sought to measure length-of-stay associated predictors among Veterans Health Administration LRPE patients. Methods: Adult patients (aged ≥18 years) with ≥1 inpatient pulmonary embolism (PE) diagnosis (index date = discharge date) between 10/2011-06/2015 and continuous enrollment for ≥12 months pre- and 3 months post-index were included. PE patients with simplified Pulmonary Embolism Stratification Index score 0 were considered low risk; all others were considered high risk. LRPE patients were further stratified into short (≤2 days) and long length of stay cohorts. Logistic regression was used to identify predictors of length of stay among low-risk patients. Results: Among 6746 patients, 1918 were low-risk (28.4%), of which 688 (35.9%) had short and 1230 (64.1%) had long length of stay. LRPE patients with computed tomography angiography (Odds ratio [OR]: 4.8, 95% Confidence interval [CI]: 3.82-5.97), lung ventilation/perfusion scan (OR: 3.8, 95% CI: 1.86-7.76), or venous Doppler ultrasound (OR: 1.4, 95% CI: 1.08-1.86) at baseline had an increased probability of short length of stay. Those with troponin I (OR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.54-0.86) or natriuretic peptide testing (OR: 0.7, 95% CI: 0.57-0.90), or more comorbidities at baseline, were less likely to have short length of stay. Conclusion: Understanding the predictors of length of stay can help providers deliver efficient treatment and improve patient outcomes which potentially reduces the length of stay, thereby reducing the overall burden in LRPE patients.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnie Chen ◽  
Suzanne Connor ◽  
Manoji Gunathilake

Abstract Background Male urethritis is primary sexually transmitted. Northern Territory (NT) has the highest rates of gonococcal infection in Australia and local guidelines recommend empiric treatment with azithromycin and ceftriaxone for all men presenting with urethritis. As gonococcal drug resistance is a growing concern, this study aims to improve empiric use of ceftriaxone through examining local patterns of male urethritis, comparing cases of gonococcal urethritis (GU) to controls with non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU). Methods A retrospective study was undertaken of all men with symptomatic urethritis presenting to Darwin sexual health clinic from July 2015 to July 2016 and aetiology of urethritis in this population was described. Demographic, risk profile, and clinical features of GU cases were compared to NGU controls. Results Among n = 145 men, the most common organisms identified were Chlamydia trachomatis (23.4%, SE 3.5%) and Neisseria gonorrhoeae (17.2%, SE 3.1%). The main predictors of GU were any abnormalities on genital examination (aOR 10.4, 95% CI 2.1 to 50.8) and a history of urethral discharge (aOR 5.7, 95% CI 1.4 to 22.6). Aboriginal patients (aOR 3.0, 95% CI 0.9 to 9.6) and those over 30 years of age (aOR 1.4, 95% CI 0.3 to 7.0) were more likely to have GU in the unadjusted analysis, but not in the adjusted model. Conclusion This is the first study looking at patterns of male urethritis in urban NT and the results support a move towards adopting national guidelines to use ceftriaxone for empiric management of syndromic urethritis only in high-risk patients. In addition to traditional demographic risk factors, clinical features remain an important component of risk stratification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e000970
Author(s):  
Maria Plataki ◽  
Di Pan ◽  
Parag Goyal ◽  
Katherine Hoffman ◽  
Jacky Man Kwan Choi ◽  
...  

PurposeTo evaluate the association between body mass index (BMI) and clinical outcomes other than death in patients hospitalised and intubated with COVID-19.MethodsThis is a single-centre cohort study of adults with COVID-19 admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital-Weill Cornell Medicine from 3 March 2020 through 15 May 2020. Baseline and outcome variables, as well as lab and ventilatory parameters, were generated for the admitted and intubated cohorts after stratifying by BMI category. Linear regression models were used for continuous, and logistic regression models were used for categorical outcomes.ResultsThe study included 1337 admitted patients with a subset of 407 intubated patients. Among admitted patients, hospital length of stay (LOS) and home discharge was not significantly different across BMI categories independent of demographic characteristics and comorbidities. In the intubated cohort, there was no difference in in-hospital events and treatments, including renal replacement therapy, neuromuscular blockade and prone positioning. Ventilatory ratio was higher with increasing BMI on days 1, 3 and 7. There was no significant difference in ventilator free days (VFD) at 28 or 60 days, need for tracheostomy, hospital LOS, and discharge disposition based on BMI in the intubated cohort after adjustment.ConclusionsIn our COVID-19 population, there was no association between obesity and morbidity outcomes, such as hospital LOS, home discharge or VFD. Further research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the reported effects of BMI on outcomes, which may be population dependent.


2011 ◽  
Vol 145 (6) ◽  
pp. 895-898 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth W. Altman

Dysphagia accounts for a small portion of hospital admissions but is associated with severe complications. This has been shown to result in longer hospital length of stay and increased risk of mortality with certain other diagnoses. Although there has been much research on causes and interventions for dysphagia, there has been variable impact in actual hospital practice. Also, nonuniform approaches to evaluating patients, such as screening high-risk populations, makes it difficult to measure outcomes of care. This commentary advises a more systematic approach that includes standardized protocols, risk stratification, and screening high-risk patients; makes the case for broadening the classification of dysphagia; and suggests a growing role for adjunctive enteral nutrition in patients with some compromise to swallowing.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document