Kuan-Han Wu

The influence of physician seniority on disparities of admit/discharge decision making for ED patients ☆

OBJECTIVES Differences in disposition between emergency physicians (EPs) have been studied in select patient populations but not in general emergency department (ED) patients. After determining whether a difference existed in admit/discharge decision making of EPs for general ED patients, we focus our study in examining the influence of EP seniority on the decision to discharge ED patients. METHODS In a 1-year retrospective study, we included a convenience sample of all 18 953 adult nontraumatic ED patients. We reviewed the admit/discharge dispositions at each shift made by 16 EPs. EPs were categorized by seniority to determine whether seniority influenced disposition. Three groups had 5, 4, and 7 EPs each, with >10 years, 5 to 9 years, and <5 years of working experience, respectively. RESULTS Patient demographics, triage level, and number of patients per shift did not differ statistically between EPs and each group. The number of discharged patients per shift differed statistically between EPs (P < .001) and each group. The most senior EPs had the lowest discharge rates compared with EPs in intermediate and junior groups. They had lower discharge rates for patients at triage levels 1, 2, and 3 as well as for all patients. However, no difference in unscheduled ED revisit rates was found. CONCLUSIONS EPs vary in their admit/discharge decision making for general ED patients. More importantly, the most senior EPs were found to have the lowest discharge rates compared with their junior colleagues.

The characteristics and prognostic predictors of unplanned hospital admission within 72 hours after ED discharge

OBJECTIVES The aims of this study were (1) to identify the characteristics of patients who return to the emergency department (ED) within 72 hours and are admitted to the hospital and (2) to identify the characteristics and predictors of in-hospital mortality subgroup. METHODS This study was conducted in a tertiary teaching hospital to identify characteristics of adult nontraumatic revisit-admission patients from January 1 to December 31, 2011. Demographic data, cause of revisit, and the underlying diseases as well as the in-hospital complications were reviewed. RESULTS Of the 72188 ED discharged patients, 690 revisit-admission patients were enrolled. The top 3 disease classifications were infection (38.7%), neurology (11.3%), and gastroenterology (11.2%). The etiology of the revisit included recurrent symptoms (72%), disease complications (15.8%), and inadequate diagnosis (12.1%). A total of 150 patients (21.7%) had complications, including receiving operation (17.2%), intensive care unit admission (4.2%), and cardiovascular conditions (2.5%). Forty-nine patients (7.1%) died during hospitalization owing to sepsis (57.1%), malignancy (34.7%), cardiogenic diseases (4.1%), and cerebrovascular conditions (4.1%). The nonsurvival group was older (64.1 ± 15.3 vs 55.7 ± 17.8; P < .001), had more patients with a diagnosis of moderate to severe liver disease (18.4% vs 4.8%; P < .001), malignancy (69.3% vs 20.1%; P < .001), and metastatic solid tumor (38.8% vs 6.2%; P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Age and diagnosis with malignancy, metastatic tumors, or moderate-to-severe liver disease were predictors of in-hospital mortality among 72-hour revisit-admission patients.

The Impact of Emergency Physician Seniority on Clinical Efficiency, Emergency Department Resource Use, Patient Outcomes, and Disposition Accuracy.

AbstractThe ability of emergency physicians (EPs) to continue within the specialty has been called into question due to high stress in emergency departments (EDs).The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of EP seniority on clinical performance.A retrospective, 1-year cohort study was conducted across 3 EDs in the largest health-care system in Taiwan. Participants included 44,383 adult nontrauma patients who presented to the EDs. Physicians were categorized as junior, intermediate, and senior EPs according to ⩽5, 6 to 10, and >10 years of ED work experience. The door-to-order and door-to-disposition time were used to evaluate EP efficiency. Emergency department resource use indicators included diagnostic investigations of electrocardiography, plain film radiography, laboratory tests, and computed tomography scans. Discharge and mortality rates were used as patient outcomes. Disposition accuracy was evaluated by ED revisit rate.Senior EPs were found to have longer door-to-order (11.3, 12.4 minutes) and door-to-disposition (2, 1.7 hours) time than nonsenior EPs in urgent and nonurgent patients (junior: 9.4, 10.2 minutes and 1.7, 1.5 hours; intermediate: 9.5, 10.7 minutes and 1.7, 1.5 hours). Senior EPs tended to order fewer electrocardiograms, radiographs, and computed tomography scans in nonurgent patients. Adjusting for age, sex, disease acuity, and medical setting, patients treated by junior and intermediate EPs had higher mortality in the ED (adjusted odd ratios, 1.5 and 1.6, respectively).Compared with EPs with ⩽10 years of work experience, senior EPs take more time for order prescription and patient disposition, use fewer diagnostic investigations, particularly for nonurgent patients, and are associated with a lower ED mortality rate.

An analysis of closed medical litigations against the obstetrics departments in Taiwan from 2003 to 2012

OBJECTIVE To examine the epidemiologic data of closed medical claims from Taiwanese civil courts against obstetric departments and identify high-risk diseases. DESIGN A retrospective descriptive study. SETTING/STUDY PARTICIPANTS The verdicts from the national database of the Taiwan judicial system that pertained to obstetric departments were reviewed. Between 2003 and 2012, a total of 79 closed medical claims were included. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES The epidemiologic data of litigations including the results of adjudication and the disease and outcome of the alleged injury. RESULTS A majority of the disputes (65.9%) were fetus-related. Four disease categories accounted for 78.5% of all claims including (i) perinatal maternal complications (25.3%); (ii) errors in antenatal screening or ultrasound diagnoses (21.5%); (iii) fetal hypoxemic-ischemia encephalopathy (16.5%); and (iv) brachial plexus injury (15.2%). Six cases (7.6%) resulted in an indemnity payment with a mean amount of

Analysis of closed malpractice medical claims against Taiwanese EDs: 2003 to 2012.

109 205. Fifty-one cases (64.6%) were closed in the district court. The mean incident-to-litigation closure time was 52.9 ± 29.3 months. All cases with indemnity payments were deemed negligent or were at least determined to be controversial by a medical appraisal, while all defendants whose care was judged as appropriate by a medical appraisal won their lawsuits. CONCLUSIONS Almost 93% of clinicians win their cases but spend 4.5 years waiting for final adjudication. The court ruled against the clinician only if there was no appropriate response during a complication or if there was no follow-up or further testing for potential critical diseases.

Barriers to surge capacity of an overcrowded emergency department for a serious foodborne disease outbreak

OBJECTIVES The objective of the study is to examine the epidemiologic data of closed malpractice medical claims against emergency departments (EDs) in Taiwanese civil courts and to identify high-risk diseases. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study and reviewed the verdicts from the national database of the Taiwan judicial system that pertained to EDs. Between 2003 and 2012, a total of 63 closed medical claims were included. RESULTS Seven cases (11.1%) resulted in an indemnity payment, 55.6% of the cases were closed in the district court, but appeals were made to the supreme court in 12 cases (19.1%). The mean incident-to-litigation closure time was 57.7 ± 26.8 months. Of the cases with indemnity paid, 5 cases (71.4%) were deceased, and 2 cases (28.6%) were gravely injured. All cases with indemnity paid were determined to be negligent by a medical appraisal. The gravely injured patients had more indemnity paid than deceased patients (

Using a Cloud Computing System to Reduce Door-to-Balloon Time in Acute ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction Patients Transferred for Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

299800 ± 37000 vs

The impact of prolonged waiting time for coronary care unit admission on patients with non ST-elevation acute coronary syndrome

68700 ± 29300). The most common medical conditions involved were infectious diseases (27.0%), central nervous system bleeding (15.9%), and trauma cases (12.7%). It was also found that 71.4% of the allegations forming the basis of the lawsuit were diagnosis related. CONCLUSIONS Emergency physicians (EPs) in Taiwan have similar medico-legal risk as American EPs, with an annual risk of being sued of 0.63%. Almost 90% of EPs win their cases but spend 58 months in litigation, and the mean indemnity payment was

Seniority of Emergency Physician, Patient Disposition and Outcome Following Disposition

134738. Cases with indemnity paid were mostly categorized as having diagnosis errors, with the leading cause of error as failure to order an appropriate diagnostic test.

Can different physicians providing urgent and non-urgent treatment improve patient flow in emergency department?

Objective The purpose of this study was to investigate barriers to surge capacity of an overcrowded emergency department (ED) for a foodborne disease outbreak (FBDO) and to identify solutions to the problems. Design The emergency response of an overcrowded ED to a serious FBDO with histamine fish poisoning was reviewed. Setting The ED of a tertiary academic medical centre (study hospital) with 1600 acute beds in southern Taiwan. Results Among the 346 patients in the outbreak, 333 (96.2%) were transferred to the study hospital without prehospital management within about 2 h. The most common symptoms were dizziness (58.9%), nausea and vomiting (36.3%). 181 patients (54.4%) received intravenous fluid infusion and blood tests were ordered for 82 (24.6%). All patients were discharged except one who required admission. The prominent problems with surge capacity of the study hospital were shortage of spare space in the ED, lack of biological incident response plan, poor command system, inadequate knowledge and experience of medical personnel to manage the FBDO. Conclusions Patients with FBDO could arrive at the hospital shortly after exposure without field triage and management. The incident command system and emergency operation plan of the study hospital did not address the clinical characteristics of the FBDO and the problem of ED overcrowding. Further planning and training of foodborne disease and surge capacity would be beneficial for hospital preparedness for an FBDO.