Emergency Surgical Treatment and Triage: Targeting Optimal Outcomes for Emergency Surgical Patients From Index Encounter Through Definitive Care.

Background: Patients with emergency surgical conditions (ESCs) experience higher complication rates than those without emergency conditions. Our purpose was to improve time-based key performance indicators (KPIs) of care for ESC patients, including diagnostic workup, empiric stabilization, and referral to definitive care.

Methods: A rapid response program (ESTAT) was developed to screen for and coordinate optimal, timely care for a spectrum of high-risk ESCs, from the patient's index clinical encounter up to definitive care. The Mann-Whitney test assessed whether any differences in KPIs were statistically significant ( < .05) before compared to after the implementation of ESTAT.

Results: 98 patients were identified: 44 in ESTAT group (70% age ≥55, 57% male); 54 in control group (57% age ≥55, 44% male). There were significant decreases from time of index clinical encounter to resuscitation (5 min. vs 34 min., < .001), to diagnostic imaging (52 min. vs 1 hr. 19 min., = .004), and to definitive care (2 hr. 17 min. vs 3 hr. 51 min., = .007) in the ESTAT group compared to the control group, respectively.

Discussion: Improving time-based KPIs for delivery of clinical services is a common goal of medical emergency response systems (MERS) in numerous specialties. Implementation of an ESTAT program provides a screening tool for at-risk patients and reduces time to stabilize, diagnose and triage to definitive surgical intervention. These time benefits may ultimately translate to reduced complication rates for ESC patients. ESTAT may also represent a patient onboarding mechanism for surgical specialty verification programs promoted by quality improvement committees of various professional societies.