111 Evaluation of maternal-fetal triage index

Abstract

Maternal-Fetal Triage Index (MFTI) is a recently developed five-level system to facilitate the care of pregnant women. Priority 1 is considered the highest acuity requiring “stat” intervention, whereas priority 5 is the lowest acuity such as scheduled procedures. We sought to examine the time interval from triage presentation to the completion of history and physical examination according to priority levels by MFTI. This was a retrospective study of all women who presented to a tertiary Labor and Delivery triage unit from December 2018 to February 2019. Responding to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Committee Opinion, MFTI was implemented on our Labor and Delivery unit in May 2018. All registered nurses who worked in Labor and Delivery completed a formal education course and assigned the priority level at the time of triage presentation. The primary outcome was the time interval from triage presentation to the completion of history and physical examination. Secondary outcomes included the rates of Labor and Delivery admission. Of 1399 women, there were 2%, 21%, 33%, 34%, and 10% women with priority 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, respectively (Figure 1). Women with higher priority by MFTI had a shorter time interval from triage presentation to the completion of history and physical examination (priority 1 56.2 min; priority 2 72.4 min; priority 3 71.2 min; priority 4 70.1 min; and priority 5 91.5 min; P <.001). The rates of admission were higher in priority 1 and 5 (priority 1 89.3%; priority 2 41.4%; priority 3 56.5%; priority 4 52.9%; and priority 5 91.3%; P <.001, Figure 2). Obstetric triage acuity tools such as MFTI can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of care and guide resource use. MFTI could be used as a template for use in individual hospital obstetric triage units.View Large Image Figure ViewerDownload Hi-res image Download (PPT)