Transitions of care for older adults discharged home from the emergency department: an inductive thematic content analysis of patient comments.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Objective
Improving care transitions for older adults can reduce emergency department (ED) visits, adverse events, and empower community autonomy. We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis to identify themes emerging from comments to better understand ED care transitions.Methods
The LEARNING WISDOM prospective longitudinal observational cohort includes older adults (≥ 65 years) who experienced a care transition after an ED visit from both before and during COVID-19. Their comments on this transition were collected via phone interview and transcribed. We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis with randomly selected comments until saturation. Themes that arose from comments were coded and organized into frequencies and proportions. We followed the Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR).Results
Comments from 690 patients (339 pre-COVID, 351 during COVID) composed of 351 women (50.9%) and 339 men (49.1%) were analyzed. Patients were satisfied with acute emergency care, and the proportion of patients with positive acute care experiences increased with the COVID-19 pandemic. Negative patient comments were most often related to communication between health providers across the care continuum and the professionalism of personnel in the ED. Comments concerning home care became more neutral with the COVID-19 pandemic.Conclusion
Patients were satisfied overall with acute care but reported gaps in professionalism and follow-up communication between providers. Comments may have changed in tone from positive to neutral regarding home care over the COVID-19 pandemic due to service slowdowns. Addressing these concerns may improve the quality of care transitions and provide future pandemic mitigation strategies.
SUBMITTER: Couture V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC10763115 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jan
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Transitions of care for older adults discharged home from the emergency department: an inductive thematic content analysis of patient comments.
Couture Vanessa V Germain Nathalie N Côté Émilie É Lavoie Lise L Robitaille Joanie J Morin Michèle M Chouinard Josée J Couturier Yves Y Légaré France F Hardy Marie-Soleil MS Chartier Lucas B LB Brousseau Audrey-Anne AA Sourial Nadia N Mercier Éric É Dallaire Clémence C Fleet Richard R Leblanc Annie A Melady Don D Roy Denis D Sinha Samir S Sirois Marie-Josée MJ Witteman Holly O HO Émond Marcel M Rivard Josée J Pelletier Isabelle I Turcotte Stéphane S Samb Rawane R Giguère Raphaëlle R Abrougui Lyna L Smith Pascal Y PY Archambault Patrick M PM
BMC geriatrics 20240103 1
<h4>Objective</h4>Improving care transitions for older adults can reduce emergency department (ED) visits, adverse events, and empower community autonomy. We conducted an inductive qualitative content analysis to identify themes emerging from comments to better understand ED care transitions.<h4>Methods</h4>The LEARNING WISDOM prospective longitudinal observational cohort includes older adults (≥ 65 years) who experienced a care transition after an ED visit from both before and during COVID-19. ...[more]
Similar Datasets
Project description:BackgroundImproving care transitions following emergency department (ED) visits may reduce post-ED adverse events among older adults (e.g., ED revisits, decreased function). The Care Transitions Intervention (CTI) improves hospital-to-home transitions; however, its effectiveness at improving post-ED outcomes is unknown. We tested the effectiveness of the CTI with community-dwelling older adult ED patients, hypothesizing that it would reduce revisits and increase performance of self-management behaviors during the 30 days following discharge.MethodsWe conducted a randomized controlled trial among patients age ≥ 60 discharged home from one of three EDs in two states. Intervention participants received a minimally modified CTI, with a home visit 24 to 72 h postdischarge and one to three phone calls over 28 days. We collected demographic, health status, and psychosocial data at the initial ED visit. Medication adherence and knowledge of red flag symptoms were assessed via phone survey. Care use and comorbidities were abstracted from medical records. We performed multivariate regressions for intention-to-treat and per-protocol (PP) analyses.ResultsParticipant characteristics (N = 1,756) were similar across groups: mean age 72.4 ± 8.6 years and 53% female. Of those randomized to the intervention, 84% completed the home visit. Overall, 12.4% of participants returned to the ED within 30 days. The CTI did not significantly affect odds of 30-day ED revisits (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.97, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.72 to 1.30) or medication adherence (AOR = 0.89, 95% CI = 0.60 to 1.32). Participants receiving the CTI (PP) had increased odds of in-person follow-up with outpatient clinicians during the week following discharge (AOR = 1.24, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.51) and recalling at least one red flag from ED discharge instructions (AOR = 1.34 95% CI = 1.05 to 1.71).ConclusionsThe CTI did not reduce 30-day ED revisits but did significantly increase key care transition behaviors (outpatient follow-up, red flag knowledge). Additional research is needed to explore if patients with different conditions benefit more from the CTI and whether decreasing ED revisits is the most appropriate outcome for all older adults.
| S-EPMC8766871 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Study objectiveMotor vehicle crashes are the second most common form of trauma among older adults. We seek to describe the incidence, risk factors, and consequences of persistent pain among older adults evaluated in the emergency department (ED) after a motor vehicle crash.MethodsWe conducted a prospective longitudinal study of patients aged 65 years or older who presented to one of 8 EDs after motor vehicle crash between June 2011 and June 2014 and were discharged home after evaluation. ED evaluation was done through in-person interview; follow-up data were obtained through mail-in survey or telephone call. Pain severity (0 to 10 scale) overall and for 15 parts of the body were assessed at each follow-up point. Principal component analysis was used to assess the dimensionality of the locations of pain data. Participants reporting pain severity greater than or equal to 4 attributed to the motor vehicle crash at 6 months were defined as having persistent pain.ResultsOf the 161 participants, 72% reported moderate to severe pain at the ED evaluation. At 6 months, 26% of participants reported moderate to severe motor vehicle crash-related pain. ED characteristics associated with persistent pain included acute pain severity; pain located in the head, neck, and jaw or lower back and legs; poor self-rated health; less formal education; pre-motor vehicle crash depressive symptoms; and patient's expected time to physical recovery more than 30 days. Compared with individuals without persistent pain, those with persistent pain were substantially more likely at 6-month follow-up to have also experienced a decline in their capacity for physical function (73% versus 36%; difference=37%; 95% confidence interval [CI] 19% to 52%), a new difficulty with activities of daily living (42% versus 17%; difference=26%; 95% CI 10% to 43%), a 1-point or more reduction in overall self-rated health on a 5-point scale (54% versus 30%; difference=24%; 95% CI 6% to 41%), and a change in their living situation to obtain additional help (23% versus 8%; difference=15%; 95% CI 2% to 31%).ConclusionAmong older adults discharged home from the ED post-evaluation after a motor vehicle crash, persistent pain is common and frequently associated with functional decline and disability.
| S-EPMC4675693 | biostudies-literature
Project description:For patients with chest pain who are deemed clinically to be low risk and discharged home from the emergency department (ED), it is unclear whether further laboratory tests can improve risk stratification. Here, we investigated the utility of a clinical chemistry score (CCS), which comprises plasma glucose, the estimated glomerular filtration rate, and high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (I or T) to generate a common score for risk stratification. In a cohort of 14,676 chest pain patients in the province of Ontario, Canada and who were discharged home from the ED (November 2012-February 2013 and April 2013-September 2015) we evaluated the CCS as a risk stratification tool for all-cause mortality, plus hospitalization for myocardial infarction or unstable angina (primary outcome) at 30, 90, and 365 days post-discharge using Cox proportional hazard models. At 30 days the primary outcome occurred in 0.3% of patients with a CCS < 2 (n = 6404), 0.9% of patients with a CCS = 2 (n = 4336), and 2.3% of patients with a CCS > 2 (n = 3936) (p < 0.001). At 90 days, patients with CCS < 2 (median age = 52y (IQR = 46-60), 59.4% female) had an adjusted HR = 0.51 (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.32-0.82) for the composite outcome and patients with a CCS > 2 (median age = 74y (IQR = 64-82), 48.0% female) had an adjusted HR = 2.80 (95%CI = 1.98-3.97). At 365 days, 1.3%, 3.4%, and 11.1% of patients with a CCS < 2, 2, or >2 respectively, had the composite outcome (p < 0.001). In conclusion, the CCS can risk stratify chest pain patients discharged home from the ED and identifies both low- and high-risk patients who may warrant different medical care.
| S-EPMC7565964 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Background and objectivesPatients discharged home from an emergency department with AKI are not well described. This study describes their characteristics and outcomes and compares these outcomes to two referent groups.Design, setting, participants, & measurementsWe conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study in Ontario, Canada from 2003 to 2012 of 6346 patients aged ≥40 years who were discharged from the emergency department with AKI (defined using serum creatinine values). We analyzed the risk of all-cause mortality, receipt of acute dialysis, and hospitalization within 30 days after discharge. We used propensity score methods to compare all-cause mortality to two referent groups. We matched 4379 discharged patients to 4379 patients who were hospitalized from the emergency department with similar AKI stage. We also matched 6188 discharged patients to 6188 patients who were discharged home from the emergency department with no AKI.ResultsThere were 6346 emergency department discharges with AKI. The mean age was 69 years and 6012 (95%) had stage 1, 290 (5%) had stage 2, and 44 (0.7%) had stage 3 AKI. Within 30 days, 149 (2%) (AKI stage 1: 127 [2%]; stage 2: 15 [5%]; stage 3: seven [16%]) died, 22 (0.3%) received acute dialysis, and 1032 (16%) were hospitalized. An emergency department discharge versus hospitalization with AKI was associated with lower mortality (3% versus 12%; relative risk, 0.3; 95% confidence interval, 0.2 to 0.3). An emergency department discharge with AKI versus no AKI was associated with higher mortality (2% versus 1%; relative risk, 1.6; 95% confidence interval, 1.2 to 2.0).ConclusionsPatients discharged home from the emergency department with AKI are at risk of poor 30-day outcomes. A better understanding of care in this at-risk population is warranted, as are testing strategies to improve care.
| S-EPMC5544515 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionEDs are often the first line of contact with individuals infected with COVID-19 and play a key role in triage. However, there is currently little specific guidance for deciding when patients with COVID-19 require hospitalisation and when they may be safely observed as an outpatient.MethodsIn this retrospective study, we characterised all patients with COVID-19 discharged home from EDs in our US multisite healthcare system from March 2020 to August 2020, focusing on individuals who returned within 2 weeks and required hospital admission. We restricted analyses to first-encounter data that do not depend on laboratory or imaging diagnostics in order to inform point-of-care assessments in resource-limited environments. Vitals and comorbidities were extracted from the electronic health record. We performed ordinal logistic regression analyses to identify predictors of inpatient admission, intensive care and intubation.ResultsOf n=923 patients who were COVID-19 positive discharged from the ED, n=107 (11.6%) returned within 2 weeks and were admitted. In a multivariable-adjusted model including n=788 patients with complete risk factor information, history of hypertension increased odds of hospitalisation and severe illness by 1.92-fold (95% CI 1.07 to 3.41), diabetes by 2.20-fold (1.18 to 4.02), chronic lung disease by 2.21-fold (1.22 to 3.92) and fever by 2.89-fold (1.71 to 4.82). Having at least two of these risk factors increased the odds of future hospitalisation by 6.68-fold (3.54 to 12.70). Patients with hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease or fever had significantly longer hospital stays (median 5.92 days, 3.08-10.95 vs 3.21, 1.10-5.75, p<0.01) with numerically higher but not significantly different rates of intensive care unit admission (27.02% vs 14.30%, p=0.27) and intubation (12.16% vs 7.14%, p=0.71).DiscussionPatients infected with COVID-19 may appear clinically safe for home convalescence. However, those with hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung disease and fever may in fact be only 'pseudo-safe' and are most at risk for subsequent hospitalisation with more severe illness and longer hospital stays.
| S-EPMC8371069 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ImportanceAlthough nasal suctioning is the most frequently used supportive management for bronchiolitis, its benefit remains unknown.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of enhanced vs minimal nasal suctioning in treating infants with bronchiolitis after discharge from the emergency department (ED).Design, setting, and participantsThis single-blind, parallel-group, randomized clinical trial was conducted from March 6, 2020, to December 15, 2022, at 4 tertiary-care Canadian pediatric EDs. Participants included otherwise healthy infants aged 1 to 11 months with a diagnosis of bronchiolitis who were discharged home from the ED.InterventionsParticipants were randomized to minimal suctioning via bulb or enhanced suctioning via a battery-operated device before feeding for 72 hours.Main outcomes and measuresThe primary outcome was additional resource use, a composite of unscheduled revisits for bronchiolitis or use of additional suctioning devices for feeding and/or breathing concerns. Secondary outcomes included health care utilization, feeding and sleeping adequacy, and satisfaction.ResultsOf 884 screened patients, 352 were excluded for criteria, 79 declined participation, 81 were otherwise excluded, 372 were randomized (185 to the minimal suction group and 187 to the enhanced suction group), and 367 (median [IQR] age, 4 [2-6] months; 221 boys [60.2%]) completed the trial (184 in the minimal suction and 183 in the enhanced suction group). Additional resource use occurred for 68 of 184 minimal suction participants (37.0%) vs 48 of 183 enhanced suction participants (26.2%) (absolute risk difference, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.01 to 0.20; P = .03). Unscheduled revisits occurred for 47 of 184 minimal suction participants (25.5%) vs 40 of 183 enhanced suction participants (21.9%) (absolute risk difference, 0.04; 95% CI, -0.05 to 0.12; P = .46). A total of 33 of 184 parents in the minimal suction group (17.9%) used additional suctioning devices vs 11 of 183 parents in the enhanced suction group (6.0%) (absolute risk difference, 0.12; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.19; P < .001). No significant between-group differences were observed for all bronchiolitis revisits (absolute risk difference, 0.07; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.16; P = .15), ED revisits (absolute risk difference, 0.04; 95% CI, -0.03 to 0.12; P = .30), parental care satisfaction (absolute risk difference, -0.02; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.06; P = .70), and changes from baseline to 72 hours in normal feeding (difference in differences, 0.03; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.17; P = .62), normal sleeping (difference in differences, 0.05; 95% CI, -0.08 to 0.18; P = .47), or normal parental sleeping (difference in differences, 0.10; 95% CI, -0.02 to 0.23; P = .09). Parents in the minimal suction group were less satisfied with the assigned device (62 of 184 [33.7%]) than parents in the enhanced suction group (145 of 183 [79.2%]) (risk difference, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.54; P < .001).Conclusions and relevanceCompared with minimal suctioning, enhanced suctioning after ED discharge with bronchiolitis did not alter the disease course because there were no group differences in revisits or feeding and sleeping adequacy. Minimal suctioning resulted in higher use of nonassigned suctioning devices and lower parental satisfaction with the assigned device.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03361371.
| S-EPMC10587796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:This study aimed to identify interventions that are effective in improving the transitions of care for patients from nursing homes (NHs) to emergency departments (EDs). A total of 607 studies were identified, from which 19 studies were included for full-text review. Nine pre-post intervention studies and two retrospective cohort studies met all criteria for inclusion. In the quality assessment, two (18.2%) were assessed as good quality; seven (63.6%) were fair; and two (18.2%) were poor. Nine studies (81.2%) had a severe risk of bias, primarily due to confounding and deviation from the intended intervention. Pre-post intervention studies utilized transfer checklists/forms, web-based communication networks, and multimodal approaches to improve transitions of care. Eight studies reported significant improvement in critical NH-ED transfer information completeness after intervention implementation. Three studies assessed health care utilization after intervention implementation with two studies reporting no reduction in utilization and one study reporting decreased 30-day hospital readmission and ED revisit rates. Studies evaluating patient-centered outcomes, such as whether interventions reduced harm to patients by decreasing medical errors, hospital length of stay, or the overall number of facility transfers, are needed.
| S-EPMC7295263 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionWhile emergency department (ED) crowding has deleterious effects on patient care outcomes and operational efficiency, impacts on the experience for patients discharged from the ED are unknown. We aimed to study how patient-reported experience is affected by ED crowding to characterize which factors most impact discharged patient experience.MethodsThis institutional review board-exempt, retrospective, cohort study included all discharged adult ED patients July 1, 2020-June 30, 2021 with at least some response data to the the National Research Corporation Health survey, sent to most patients discharged from our large, academic medical center ED. Our query yielded 9,401 unique encounters for 9,221 patients. Based on responses to the summary question of whether the patient was likely to recommend our ED, patients were categorized as "detractors" (scores 0-6) or "non-detractors" (scores 7-10). We assessed the relationship between census and patient experience by 1) computing percentage of detractors within each care area and assessing for differences in census and boarder burden between detractors and non-detractors, and 2) multivariable logistic regression assessing the relationship between likelihood of being a detractor in terms of the ED census and the patient's last ED care area. A second logistic regression controlled for additional patient- and encounter-specific covariates.ResultsSurvey response rate was 24.8%. Overall, 13.9% of responders were detractors. There was a significant difference in the average overall ED census for detractors (average 3.70 more patients physically present at the time of arrival, 95% CI 2.33-5.07). In unadjusted multivariable analyses, three lower acuity ED care areas showed statistically significant differences of detractor likelihood with changes in patient census. The overall area under the curve (AUC) for the unadjusted model was 0.594 (CI 0.577-0.610). The adjusted model had higher AUC (0.673, CI 0.657-.690]; P<0.001), with the same three care areas having significant differences in detractor likelihood based on patient census changes. Length of stay (OR 1.71, CI 1.50-1.95), leaving against medical advice/without being seen (OR 5.15, CI 3.84-6.89), and the number of ED care areas a patient visited (OR 1.16, CI 1.01-1.33) was associated with an increase in detractor likelihood.ConclusionPatients arriving to a crowded ED and ultimately discharged are more likely to have negative patient experience. Future studies should characterize which variables most impact patient experience of discharged ED patients.
| S-EPMC10047741 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWe sought to examine the effectiveness of the Enhancing the Quality of Prescribing Practices for Older Adults Discharged from the Emergency Department (EQUiPPED) medication safety program in three emergency departments (EDs) within the largest health system in Rhode Island (RI) with funding through a quality incentive payment by a private insurance partner.MethodsThis study utilized a quasi-experimental interrupted time series design to implement EQUiPPED, a three-prong intervention aimed at reducing potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) prescriptions to 5% or less per month. We included clinicians who prescribed medications to older ED patients during the pre-and post-intervention periods from July 2018 to January 2021. We determined the monthly rate of PIM prescribing among older adults discharged from the ED, according to the American Geriatrics Society Beers Criteria, using Poisson regression.Results247 ED clinicians (48% attendings [n = 119], 27% residents [n = 67], 25% advanced practice providers [n = 61]) were included in EQUiPPED, of which 92% prescribed a PIM during the study period. In the pre-implementation period (July 2018-July 2019) the average monthly rate of PIM prescribing was 9.30% (95% CI: 8.82%, 9.78%). In the post-implementation period (October 2019-January 2021) the PIM prescribing rate decreased significantly to 8.62% (95% CI: 8.14%, 9.10%, p < 0.01). During pre-implementation, 1325 of the 14,193 prescribed medications were considered inappropriate, while only 1108 of the 13,213 prescribed medications in post-implementation were considered inappropriate. The greatest reduction was observed among antihistamines, skeletal muscle relaxants, and benzodiazepines.ConclusionsEQUiPPED contributed to a modest improvement in PIM prescribing to older adults among clinicians in these RI EDs even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The quality incentive funding model demonstrates a successful strategy for implementation and, with greater replication, could shape national policy regarding health care delivery and quality of care for older adults.
| S-EPMC9588533 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundHypertension affects 1 in 5 Canadians and is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. Hypertension control is declining due to multiple factors including lack of access to primary care. Consequently, patients with hypertension frequently visit the emergency department (ED) due to high blood pressure (BP). Telehealth for Emergency-Community Continuity of Care Connectivity via Home-Telemonitoring Blood Pressure is a pilot project that implements and evaluates a comprehensive home blood pressure telemonitoring (HBPT) and physician case management protocol designed as a postdischarge management strategy to support patients with asymptomatic elevated BP as they transition from the ED to home.ObjectiveOur objective was to conduct a feasibility study of an HBPT program for patients with asymptomatic elevated BP discharged from the ED.MethodsPatients discharged from an urban, tertiary care hospital ED with asymptomatic elevated BP were recruited in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and provided with HBPT technology for 3 months of monitoring post discharge and referred to specialist hypertension clinics. Participants monitored their BP twice in the morning and evenings and tele-transmitted readings via Bluetooth Sensor each day using an app. A monitoring clinician received these data and monitored the patient's condition daily and adjusted antihypertensive medications. Feasibility outcomes included eligibility, recruitment, adherence to monitoring, and retention rates. Secondary outcomes included proportion of those who were defined as having hypertension post-ED visits, changes in mean BP, overall BP control, medication adherence, changes to antihypertensive medications, quality of life, and end user experience at 3 months.ResultsA total of 46 multiethnic patients (mean age 63, SD 17 years, 69%, n=32 women) found to have severe hypertension (mean 191, SD 23/mean 100, SD 14 mm Hg) in the ED were recruited, initiated on HBPT with hypertension specialist physician referral and followed up for 3 months. Eligibility and recruitment rates were 40% (56/139) and 88% (49/56), respectively. The proportion of participants that completed ≥80% of home BP measurements at 1 and 3 months were 67% (31/46) and 41% (19/46), respectively. The proportion of individuals who achieved home systolic BP and diastolic BP control at 3 months was 71.4% (30/42) and 85.7% (36/42) respectively. Mean home systolic and diastolic BP improved by -13/-5 mm Hg after initiation of HBPT to the end of the study. Patients were prescribed 1 additional antihypertensive medication. No differences in medication adherence from enrollment to 3 months were noted. Most patients (76%, 25/33) were highly satisfied with the HBPT program and 76% (25/33) found digital health tools easy to use.ConclusionsHBPT intervention is a feasible postdischarge management strategy and can be beneficial in supporting patients with asymptomatic elevated BP from the ED. A randomized trial is underway to evaluate the efficacy of this intervention on BP control.
| S-EPMC10865197 | biostudies-literature