Effect of a treatment protocol on the efficiency of care of the adult acute asthmatic

Abstract

A treatment protocol for patients with acute bronchospasm was introduced to an adult emergency department in an attempt to decrease treatment time and potentially decrease need for admission. The charts of all patients seen in a control year (before any protocol was in place) and the first three years of the protocol were reviewed. All care was given by medical housestaff. The first year after the protocol was introduced showed no change in either admission rate or stay in the ED. During this time, however, the protocol was used only 33% of the time. In the following two years, the protocol was used 93% of the time, and the admission rate decreased from 36.4% to 23.3% (P less than .02). The length of stay for all patients seen fell from a mean of 3.6 hours to 2.8 hours (P less than .005). The length of stay for those discharged fell from an average of 4.3 hours to 3.6 hours (P less than .02). Among the patients admitted, there was also a less striking but similar decrease from 3.0 hours to 2.4 hours. An organized treatment protocol was effective in increasing the efficiency of care given by the housestaff. The routine use of the protocol was not immediate and required time for acceptance by the housestaff.