Health informatics is a vital technology that holds great promise in the healthcare setting. We describe two prominent health informatics tools relevant to emergency care, as well as the historical background and the current state of informatics. We also identify recent research findings and practice changes. The recent advances in machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) are a prominent development in health informatics overall and relevant in emergency medicine (EM). A basic comprehension of machine-learning algorithms is the key to understand the recent usage of artificial intelligence in healthcare. We are using NLP more in clinical use for documentation. NLP has started to be used in research to identify clinically important diseases and conditions. Health informatics has the potential to benefit both healthcare providers and patients. We cover two powerful tools from health informatics for EM clinicians and researchers by describing the previous successes and challenges and conclude with their implications to emergency care.

Objective: Over 40% of the 2.4 million emergency department (ED) visits to Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals are from veterans who live in rural areas, a population at increased risk of interfacility transfer. Veterans may undergo interfacility transfer to obtain emergent or urgent access to specialized health services, particularly mental health care. However, such transfers raise questions regarding appropriate use of resources, travel burdens for patients and families, and logistical challenges for ED staff and providers that may delay timely care. We sought to describe ED-based, interfacility transfer rates within the VHA and to estimate the proportion of potentially avoidable transfers (PAT) of patients with mental health conditions relative to other diseases. Methods: This observational cohort included all patients who were transferred from a VHA ED to another VHA hospital between 2012 and 2014. We extracted data from Clinical Data Warehouse administrative data. PAT was defined as discharge from the receiving ED without a procedure, or hospital length of stay at the receiving hospital ≤ 1 day without having a procedure performed. We conducted facility-level and diagnosis-level analysis to identify conditions for which an alternative to transfer, such as telehealth access to specialty care, could be developed and implemented in low-volume or rural EDs. Results: Of 6,131,734 ED visits during the three-year study period, 18,875 (0.3%) were transferred from one VHA ED to another VHA facility. Rural residents were transferred three times as often as urban residents (0.6% vs. 0.2%, p<0.001), and 23.6% of all VHA-to-VHA transfers met the PAT definition. Mental health conditions were the most common reason for interfacility transfer (34% of all interfacility transfers), followed by heart disease (12%). Of transfers that met PAT criteria, 11% were for mental health diagnoses whereas 21% were for heart disease. Geographic analysis suggested that overall PAT proportion ranged across regions from 8-53% with mental health PATs between 2-42%. Conclusion: VHA interfacility transfer is commonly performed for mental health diagnoses, and there is substantial regional variation in potentially avoidable transfers in a national sample of transfers. A significant proportion of these transfers may be potentially avoidable. Future work should focus on improving capabilities to provide specialty evaluation locally for these conditions, possibly using telehealth solutions. Additional work should also focus on measuring the timeliness of these transfers.

Introduction: This study investigated whether a 9.6% decrease in the use of head computed tomography (HCT) for patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a chief complaint of headache was followed by an increase in proportions of death or missed intracranial diagnosis during the 22.5-month period following each index ED visit.

Methods: We reviewed the electronic medical records of all patients sampled during a quality improvement effort in which the aforementioned decrease in HCT use had been observed. We reviewed notes from the ED, neurology, neurosurgery, and primary care services, as well as all brain imaging results to determine if death occurred or if an intracranial condition was discovered in the 22.5 months after each index ED visit. An independent, blinded reviewer reviewed each case where an intracranial condition was diagnosed after ED discharge to determine whether the condition was reasonably likely to have been related to the index ED visit’s presentation, thereby representing a missed diagnosis.

Results: Of the 582 separate index ED visits sampled, we observed a total of nine deaths and 10 missed intracranial diagnoses. There was no difference in the proportion of death (p = 0.337) or missed intracranial diagnosis (p = 0.312) observed after a 9.6% reduction in HCT use. Among patients who subsequently had visits for headache or brain imaging, we found that these patients were significantly more likely to have not had a HCT done during the index ED visit (59.2% vs. 49.6% (p = 0.031) and 37.1% vs. 26% (p = 0.006), respectively).

Conclusion: Our study adds to the compelling evidence that there is opportunity to safely decrease CT imaging for ED patients. To determine the cost effectiveness of such reductions further research is needed to measure what patients and their healthcare providers do after discharge from the ED when unnecessary testing is withheld.

Introduction: Ketamine is commonly used to treat profound agitation in the prehospital setting. Early in ketamine’s prehospital use, intubation after arrival in the emergency department (ED) was frequent. We sought to measure the frequency of ED intubation at a Midwest academic medical center after prehospital ketamine use for profound agitation, hypothesizing that intubation has become less frequent as prehospital ketamine has become more common and prehospital dosing has improved.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of adult patients receiving ketamine in the prehospital setting for profound agitation and transported to a midwestern, 60,000-visit, Level 1 trauma center between January 1, 2017–- March 1, 2021. We report descriptive analyses of patient-level prehospital clinical data and ED outcomes. The primary outcome was proportion of patients intubated in the ED. 

Results: A total of 78 patients received ketamine in the prehospital setting (69% male, mean age 36 years). Of the 42 (54%) admitted patients, 15 (36% of admissions) were admissions to the intensive care unit. Overall, 12% (95% confidence interval [CI]), 4.5-18.6%)] of patients were intubated, and indications included agitation (n = 4), airway protection not otherwise specified (n = 4), and respiratory failure (n = 1). 

Conclusion: Endotracheal intubation in the ED after prehospital ketamine use for profound agitation in our study sample was found to be less than previously reported.

Introduction: Interfacility transfers from rural emergency departments (EDs) are an important means of access to timely and specialized care.

Methods: Our goal was to identify and explore facilitators and barriers in transfer processes and their implications for emergency rural care and access. Semi-structured interviews with ED staff at five rural and two urban Veterans Health Administration (VHA) hospitals were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed using an iterative inductive-deductive approach to identify themes and construct a conceptual framework.

Results: From 81 interviews with clinical and administrative staff between March–June 2018, four themes in the interfacility transfer process emerged: 1) patient factors; 2) system resources; and 3) processes and communication for transfers, which culminate in 4) the location decision. Current and anticipated resource limitations were highly influential in transfer processes, which were described as burdensome and diverting resources from clinical care for emergency patients. Location decision was highly influenced by complexity of the transfer process, while perceived quality at the receiving location or patient preferences were not reported in interviews as being primary drivers of location decision. Transfers were described as burdensome for patients and their families. Finally, patients with mental health conditions epitomized challenges of emergency transfers.

Conclusion: Interfacility transfers from rural EDs are multifaceted, resource-driven processes that require complex coordination. Anticipated resource needs and the transfer process itself are important determinants in the location decision, while quality of care or patient preferences were not reported as key determinants by interviewees. These findings identify potential benefits from tracking transfer boarding as an operational measure, directed feedback regarding outcomes of transferred patients, and simplified transfer processes.

Background

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Introduction: Distal forearm fractures (DFF) account for 1.5% of emergency department (ED) visits in the United States. Clinicians frequently obtain imaging above/below the location of injury to rule out additional injuries. We sought to determine the incidence of associated proximal fractures (APF) in the setting of DFF and to evaluate the imaging practices in a nationally representative sample of EDs.

Methods: We queried the 2013 National Emergency Department Sample  using International Classification of Diseases, 9th edition, diagnostic codes for DFF and APF. Current Procedural Technology codes identified associated imaging studies. We calculated national estimates using a weighted analysis of patient and hospital-level characteristics associated with APF and imaging practices. An analysis of costs estimated the financial impact of additional imaging in patients with DFF using Medicare reimbursement to approximate costs according to the 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Results: In 2013, an estimated 297,755 ED visits (weighted) were associated with a DFF, of which 1.6% (4836 cases) had an APF. The incidence of APF was lower among females (odds ratio [OR] (0.76); 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.64-0.91) but higher in metropolitan teaching hospitals compared to metropolitan non-teaching hospitals (OR [2.39]; 95% CI, 1.43-3.99) and Level 1 trauma centers (OR [3.9]; 95%, 1.91-7.96) compared to non-trauma centers. Approximately 40% (n = 117,948) of those with only DFF received non-wrist radiographs and 19% (n = 55,236) underwent non-wrist/non-forearm imaging. Factors independently associated with additional imaging included gender, payer, patient and hospital rurality, hospital region, teaching status, ownership, and trauma center level. Nearly $3.6 million (2018 U.S. dollars) was spent on the aforementioned additional imaging.

Conclusion: Despite the frequency of proximal imaging in patients with DFF, the incidence of APF was low. Further study to identify risk factors for APF based on mechanism and physical examination factors may result in reduced imaging and decreased avoidable healthcare spending.

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Study objective

Methods

Results

Conclusion