A provider-only patient care protocol was safe and efficient for delivery of ED care in response to pandemic-related staff shortages, based on data from nearly 3000 patients. ACEP22 MedTwitter
A provider-only patient care protocol was safe and efficient for delivery of emergency department care in response to pandemic-related staff shortages, based on data from nearly 3000 patients.
Overall, the mean time from when a patient was initially seen by a provider to the discharge disposition was 48 minutes shorter for POP patients, and the mean time from discharge disposition placement to leaving the ED was 66 minutes shorter. None of the POP patients were readmitted within 72 hours of discharge. The researchers estimated that the 640 patients in the POP protocol saved approximately 1892.27 hours of nursing and 705.
“Once barriers to implementing this process were overcome, we were not surprised by the results,” Gaibi said. “Subtracting at the time for nursing process was anticipated to shorten cycle times.”