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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 5 of 5 Research Studies DisplayedSmulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, McWilliams JM
Variation in rates of hospital admission from the emergency department among Medicare patients at the regional, hospital, and physician levels.
Rates of admission from the emergency department (ED) vary widely across regions of the country, hospitals within regions, and physicians within hospitals. The study objective was to determine the extent to which variation in admission decisions was described by differences in admission rates at these 3 levels. The investigators concluded that within-area variation, both across hospitals within a region and across physicians within a hospital, was a more substantial component of observed variation in admission rates from the ED than regional level variation.
AHRQ-funded; HS025408.
Citation: Smulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, McWilliams JM .
Variation in rates of hospital admission from the emergency department among Medicare patients at the regional, hospital, and physician levels.
Ann Emerg Med 2021 Oct;78(4):474-83. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2021.03.020..
Keywords: Medicare, Hospitalization, Emergency Department, Practice Patterns
Smulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, Khidir H
National trends In ED visits, hospital admissions, and mortality for Medicare patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Concerns about avoidance or delays in seeking emergency care during the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread, but national data on emergency department (ED) visits and subsequent rates of hospitalization and outcomes are lacking. In this study, the investigators examined trends in ED visits and rates of hospitalization and thirty-day mortality conditional on an ED visit for non-COVID-19 conditions during several stages of the pandemic and for areas that were considered COVID-19 hot spots versus those that were not.
AHRQ-funded; HS025408.
Citation: Smulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, Khidir H .
National trends In ED visits, hospital admissions, and mortality for Medicare patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Health Aff 2021 Sep;40(9):1457-64. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2021.00561..
Keywords: COVID-19, Public Health, Emergency Department, Hospitalization
Lord K, Rothenberg C, Parwani V
Association between emergency department chief complaint and adverse hospitalization outcomes: a simple early warning system?
Researchers sought to examine the association between the emergency department chief complaint and specific adverse outcomes after admission to a general medicine floor. They found that chief complaint may be an early identifier of those patients uniquely at risk for adverse hospitalization outcomes. Patients presenting with seizure, leg swelling, and shortness of breath who were subsequently admitted to a general medical floor were more likely to suffer care escalations, Rapid Response Team activation, or mortality. Conversely, patients with chief complaints of loss of consciousness, headache, and chest pain were at low risk of adverse outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS023554.
Citation: Lord K, Rothenberg C, Parwani V .
Association between emergency department chief complaint and adverse hospitalization outcomes: a simple early warning system?
Am J Emerg Med 2021 Jul;45:548-50. doi: 10.1016/j.ajem.2020.07.040..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Adverse Events
Daymont C, Balamuth F, Scott HF
Elevated heart rate and risk of revisit with admission in pediatric emergency patients.
This study examines whether emergency department (ED) heart rate (HR) values can identify children at elevated risk of ED revisit with admission. The authors performed a retrospective cohort study of children ages 0-18 years discharged from a tertiary-care pediatric ED from 2013 to 2014. They created percentile curves for the last recorded HR for age using data from calendar year 2013 and used receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves to characterize the performance of the percentiles for predicting ED revisit with admission within 72 hours. They evaluated 183,433 eligible ED visits and found that the last recorded HR for age had poor discrimination for predicting revisit with admission.
AHRQ-funded; HS023827.
Citation: Daymont C, Balamuth F, Scott HF .
Elevated heart rate and risk of revisit with admission in pediatric emergency patients.
Pediatr Emerg Care 2021 Apr;37(4):e185-e91. doi: 10.1097/pec.0000000000001552..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Emergency Department, Risk, Hospitalization
Smulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, Zaborski L
Variation in emergency department admission rates among Medicare patients: does the physician matter?
Hospitalizations account for the largest share of health care spending. New payment models increasingly encourage health care providers to reduce hospital admissions. Although emergency department (ED) physicians play a major role in the decision to admit a patient, the extent to which admission rates vary among ED physicians even within the same hospital remains poorly understood. In this study the investigators examined physician-level variation in ED admission rates for Medicare patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS025408.
Citation: Smulowitz PB, O'Malley AJ, Zaborski L .
Variation in emergency department admission rates among Medicare patients: does the physician matter?
Health Aff 2021 Feb;40(2):251-57. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00670..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Medicare, Provider: Physician, Provider