Patient-Care Team Contact Patterns Impact Treatment Length of Stay in the Emergency Department

Shivaram P. Arunachalam, Onur Asan, David M. Nestler, Heather A. Heaton, Thomas R. Hellmich, Phichet Wutthisirisart, Gomathi Marisamy, Kalyan S. Pasupathy, Mustafa Y. Sir

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

    5 Scopus citations

    Abstract

    Real-time location systems (RTLS) has found extensive application in the healthcare setting, that is shown to improve safety, save cost, and increase patient satisfaction. More specifically, some studies have shown the efficacy of RTLS leading to an improved workflow in the emergency department. However, due to substantial implementation costs of such technologies, hospital administrators show reluctance in RTLS adoption. Our previous preliminary studies with RFID data in the emergency department (ED) demonstrated for the first time the quantification of 'patient alone time' and its relationship to outcomes such as 30-day hospitalization. In this study, we use ED RTLS data to analyze patient-care team contact time (PCTCT) and its relationship to the total treatment length of stay (LOS) in ED. An observational cohort study was performed in the ED using RTLS data from Jan 17 - Sep 17, 2017, which included a total of 51,697 patients. PCTCT within the first hour of a patient's placement in a treatment bed was calculated and its relationship to treatment LOS was analyzed while controlling for confounding factors affecting treatment LOS. Results show that treatment LOS is highly correlated with the ED crowding captured by the patient-perprovider ratio, negatively correlated to the physician and resident visit frequency, and positively correlated to nurse visit frequency. The results can inform designing new guidelines for ideal patient-care team interactions and be used to determine optimal ED staffing levels and care team composition for effective care delivery.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publication2019 41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2019
    Pages345-348
    Number of pages4
    ISBN (Electronic)9781538613115
    DOIs
    StatePublished - Jul 2019
    Event41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2019 - Berlin, Germany
    Duration: 23 Jul 201927 Jul 2019

    Publication series

    NameProceedings of the Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBS
    ISSN (Print)1557-170X

    Conference

    Conference41st Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, EMBC 2019
    Country/TerritoryGermany
    CityBerlin
    Period23/07/1927/07/19

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