Comparative safety and efficacy of a hybrid intravenous and oral diltiazem protocol for acute rate control in the emergency department.

Study Objective: Intravenous diltiazem has experienced numerous supply shortages over the past few years. The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of a traditional diltiazem intravenous bolus and continuous infusion protocol to a diltiazem intravenous bolus and oral maintenance protocol for acute rate control in the emergency department.

Methods: Patients who received intravenous diltiazem in the emergency department between January 1, 2018 and May 31, 2019 were screened.

Evaluation of the use of individualized patient care plans in frequent emergency department visitors with pain complaints.

Background: Pain is one of the most common complaints that patients present to the emergency department for; emergency medicine providers are tasked with providing appropriate pain relief while simultaneously limiting the risk of personal and societal harm that may result from opioid misuse. The Lakeland Regional Medical Center developed a medical management program that identified frequent emergency department visitors with a chief complaint of pain. Individualized care plans were developed for these patients.

Impact of early versus late administration of bamlanivimab on readmissions in patients with high-risk COVID-19.

Background: Recombinant monoclonal antibody therapies have been utilized under emergency use authorization (EUA) for the prevention of clinical decompensation in high-risk COVID-19 positive patients for up to 10 days from symptom onset. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of the timing of the monoclonal antibody, bamlanivimab, on clinical outcomes in high-risk COVID-19 positive patients.

Methods: This was an IRB-approved, retrospective evaluation of adult patients who received bamlanivimab per EUA criteria in the emergency department (ED).

Impact of a Hospitalwide Quality Improvement Initiative on Emergency Department Throughput and Crowding Measures.

Background: This pre- and postintervention analysis evaluates the impact of a systemwide, comprehensive, executively supported quality improvement (QI) project on emergency department (ED) throughput measures and crowding in a large nonacademic community hospital.

Methods: The two primary endpoints used to assess the impact of the project were (1) the percentage of all patients who were door-in to door-out in less than three hours and (2) the percentage of patients who left without being seen (LWBS). Secondary endpoints for throughput were mean door-in to door-out, door-in to physician, physician to disposition, and disposition to door-out times for all patients.