General Internal Medicine Patients Research Articles

Risk factors for medication-related short-term readmissions in adults – a scoping review

BackgroundHospital readmissions due to medication-related problems occur frequently, burdening patients and caregivers emotionally and straining health care systems economically. In times of limited health care resources, interventions to mitigate the risk of medication-related readmissions should be prioritized to patients most likely to benefit. Focusing on general internal medicine patients, this scoping review aims to identify risk factors associated with drug-related 30-day hospital readmissions.MethodsWe began by searching the Medline, Embase, and CINAHL databases from their inception dates to May 17, 2022 for studies reporting risk factors for 30-day drug-related readmissions. We included all peer-reviewed studies, while excluding literature reviews, conference abstracts, proceeding papers, editorials, and expert opinions. We also conducted backward citation searches of the included articles. Within the final sample, we analyzed the types and frequencies of risk factors mentioned.ResultsAfter deduplication of the initial search results, 1159 titles and abstracts were screened for full-text adjudication. We read 101 full articles, of which we included 37. Thirteen more were collected via backward citation searches, resulting in a final sample of 50 articles. We identified five risk factor categories: (1) patient characteristics, (2) medication groups, (3) medication therapy problems, (4) adverse drug reactions, and (5) readmission diagnoses. The most commonly mentioned risk factors were polypharmacy, prescribing problems—especially underprescribing and suboptimal drug selection—and adherence issues. Medication groups associated with the highest risk of 30-day readmissions (mostly following adverse drug reactions) were antithrombotic agents, insulin, opioid analgesics, and diuretics. Preventable medication-related readmissions most often reflected prescribing problems and/or adherence issues.ConclusionsThis study’s findings will help care teams prioritize patients for interventions to reduce medication-related hospital readmissions, which should increase patient safety. Further research is needed to analyze surrogate social parameters for the most common drug-related factors and their predictive value regarding medication-related readmissions.

Review of the utility of routine mortality reviews among deaths on General Internal Medicine wards in a Canadian tertiary care hospital

BackgroundHospital morbidity and mortality reviews are common quality assurance activities, intended to uncover latent or unrecognised systemic issues that contribute to preventable adverse events and patient harm. Mortality reviews may...

Quality assessment of point-of-care ultrasound reports for patients at the emergency department treated by internists

BackgroundPOCUS (point-of-care ultrasound) is an important diagnostic tool for several medical specialties. To provide safe patient care, the quality of this exam should be as high as possible. This includes solid documentation with a written report and the availability of images for review. However, international guidelines or publications about this quality assessment and its application in clinical practice are scarce.MethodsWe designed a criteria-checklist to evaluate the quality of POCUS examinations. This checklist was made based on international guidelines and protocols and was validated by a Dutch expert group using the nominal group technique (NGT). All POCUS exams in general internal medicine patients documented between August 2019 and November 2020 in our ED were evaluated using this checklist.ResultsA total of 169 exams were included. In general, the compliance for most important criteria was high, but not optimal. A clinical question or indication for the POCUS exam was stated in 75.7% of cases. The completeness of all standard views differed per indication, but was lower when more than one standard view was required. Labels were provided in 83.5% of the saved images, while 90.8% of all examinations showed a written conclusion.ConclusionsOur research showed that the overall quality of documentation varies with regard to several important criteria. Suboptimal compliance of documentation may have adverse effects on patient safety. We have developed a checklist which can be used to improve POCUS documentation.

Patient outcomes related to receiving care on a dedicated Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit versus with an ACE order set.

The Acute Care for Elders (ACE) unit model of care aims to reduce common complications of hospitalization in older adults through early involvement of allied health providers, changes to the care environment, elder-friendly care protocols, and proactive discharge planning. Our hospital established a dedicated 28-bed medical ACE unit. Because of capacity limitations, the number of eligible older medical patients often exceeds the available number of beds. Thus, some ACE unit-eligible patients are instead admitted to other medical or surgical units for their medical care. These "bed-spaced" ACE patients receive care by the same general internists and ACE order set that ACE unit patients are cared under. We sought to compare the health outcomes of ACE-designated patients admitted to the ACE unit versus bed-spaced peers cared for using a protocolized ACE order set. 3046 ACE-designated patient admissions were analyzed (1499 ACE unit and 1547 bed-spaced). The primary outcomes examined were discharge disposition and in-hospital mortality. Univariate and multivariate comparisons were performed. Propensity matching was used to adjust for case mix in a post-hoc analysis. The mean age of participants was 83.5 years for ACE unit patients and 82.6 for bedspaced patients. In adjusted models, ACE unit patients were more likely to be discharged home (OR 1.28 [1.08-1.50], p=0.003). In an unadjusted analysis, patients admitted to ACE unit were less likely to die in hospital, but this finding did not persist after adjustment for case mix. Care of older adults delivered on a dedicated ACE unit increases the likelihood of discharge to home when compared to care delivered with an ACE order set alone for general internal medicine patients.

Discussion on the Application of Standardized Nursing Behavior in General Internal Medicine Patients

Discussion on the Application of Standardized Nursing Behavior in General Internal Medicine Patients

Bedspacing and clinical outcomes in general internal medicine: A retrospective, multicenter cohort study.

Admitting hospitalized patients to off-service wards ("bedspacing") is common and may affect quality of care and patient outcomes. To compare in-hospital mortality, 30-day readmission to general internal medicine (GIM), and hospital length-of-stay among GIM patients admitted to GIM wards or bedspaced to off-service wards. Retrospective cohort study including all emergency department admissions to GIM between 2015 and 2017 at six hospitals in Ontario, Canada. We compared patients admitted to GIM wards with those who were bedspaced, using multivariable regression models and propensity score matching to control for patient and situational factors. Among 40,440 GIM admissions, 10,745 (26.6%) were bedspaced to non-GIM wards and 29,695 (73.4%) were assigned to GIM wards. After multivariable adjustment, bedspacing was associated with no significant difference in mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 0.95, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.86-1.05, p = .304), slightly shorter median hospital length-of-stay (-0.10 days, 95% CI:-0.20 to -0.001, p = .047) and lower 30-day readmission to GIM (adjusted OR 0.89, 95% CI: 0.83-0.95, p = .001). Results were consistent when examining each hospital individually and outcomes did not significantly differ between medical or surgical off-service wards. Sensitivity analyses focused on the highest risk patients did not exclude the possibility of harm associated with bedspacing, although adverse outcomes were not significantly greater. Overall, bedspacing was associated with no significant difference in mortality, slightly shorter hospital length-of-stay, and fewer 30-day readmissions to GIM, although potential harms in high-risk patients remain uncertain. Given that hospital capacity issues are likely to persist, future research should aim to understand how bedspacing can be achieved safely at all hospitals, perhaps by strengthening the selection of low-risk patients.

Morning Discharges and Patient Length of Stay in Inpatient General Internal Medicine.

Many initiatives seek to increase the number of morning hospital discharges to improve patient flow, but little evidence supports this practice. To determine the association between the number of morning discharges and emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) and hospital LOS in general internal medicine (GIM). Multicenter retrospective cohort study involving all GIM patients discharged between April 1, 2010, and October 31, 2017, at seven hospitals in Ontario, Canada. The primary outcomes were ED LOS and hospital LOS, and secondary outcomes were 30-day readmission and in-hospital mortality. The number of morning GIM discharges (defined as the number of patients discharged alive between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM) on the day of each hospital admission was the primary exposure. Multivariable regression models were fit to control for patient characteristics and situational factors, including GIM census. The sample included 189,781 patient admissions. In total, 36,043 (19.0%) discharges occurred between 8:00 AM and 12:00 PM. The average daily number of morning discharges and total discharges per hospital was 1.7 (SD, 1.4) and 8.4 (SD, 4.6), respectively. The median ED LOS was 14.5 hours (interquartile range [IQR], 10.0- 23.1), and the median hospital LOS was 4.6 days (IQR, 2.4-9.0). After multivariable adjustment, there was not a significant association between morning discharge and hospital LOS (adjusted rate ratio [aRR], 1.000; 95% CI, 0.996-1.000; P = .997), ED LOS (aRR, 0.999; 95% CI, 0.997-1.000; P = .307), 30-day readmission (aRR, 1.010; 95% CI, 0.991-1.020; P = .471), or in-hospital mortality (aRR, 0.967; 95% CI, 0.920-1.020; P = .183). The lack of association between morning discharge and LOS was generally consistent across all seven hospitals. At one hospital, morning discharge was associated with a 1.9% shorter ED LOS after multivariable adjustment (aRR, 0.981; 95% CI, 0.966-0.996; P = .013). The number of morning discharges was not significantly associated with shorter ED LOS or hospital LOS in GIM. Our findings suggest that increasing the number of morning discharges alone is unlikely to substantially improve patient throughput in GIM, but further research is needed to determine the effectiveness of specific interventions.

What Every Internist Should Know About Rare Genetic Syndromes in Order to Prevent Needless Diagnostics, Missed Diagnoses and Medical Complications: Five-Year Experience of Internal Medicine for Complex Rare Genetic Syndromes

Introduction: Patients with complex rare genetic syndromes (CRGS) have, by definition, combined medical problems affecting multiple organ systems. Intellectual disability (ID) is often part of the syndrome. During childhood, most patients with CRGS receive multidisciplinary (MD) and specialized pediatric care in tertiary centers. As improvement of medical care has improved life expectancy, more and more patients are now reaching adult age. While the complexity of the syndromes persist into adulthood, adequate multidisciplinary syndrome-specific care is rarely available for adults with CRGS. Although multiple organ systems are usually affected, internists are rarely involved. Pediatricians have expressed the urgent need for adequate, syndrome-specific, MD tertiary healthcare for adults with CRGS. Methods: In 2015 we have launched the Center for Adults with CRGS, a specialized MD outpatient clinic (MOPC) within the Endocrinology unit of the department of Internal Medicine. As adult manifestations are unknown for most CRGS, all CRGS patients who visit our MOPC undergo a systematic health screening (followed by treatment, if indicated). Before visiting the MOPC, caregivers fill out a medical questionnaire. We gathered the physical complaints, medication use and missed diagnoses of 726 adults with CRGS. Results: Between 2015 and 2020, 256 males and 470 females with over 60 syndromes visited the Center for Adults with CRGS. The main features of this population, as compared with general internal medicine patients, were intellectual disability, polypharmacy and use of psychotropic drugs. Missed diagnoses were common and many patients had undergone extensive diagnostic tests for symptoms that could actually be explained by their syndrome. Fatigue (52%), abdominal discomfort (23%) and hypertension (10%) were among the most frequent reasons for referral to Internal Medicine. Based on the literature and our clinical findings, 73% of the syndromes was associated with endocrine problems. We provide an algorithm for the clinical approach to CRGS adults, in order to prevent unnecessary diagnostics as well as missed diagnoses. Conclusion: Our overview of 726 adults with CRGS shows that missed diagnosed and needless invasive tests are common in this patient population. As more and more CRGS patients are now reaching adult age and transfer to Internal Medicine, internists and endocrinologists should be aware of the special needs of adults with CRGS and of the medical pitfalls. Knowledge about syndrome-specific health problems and multidisciplinary expert care is crucial to prevent the personal and financial burden of unnecessary diagnostics and under- and overtreatment.

Development and validation of a score to assess complexity of general internal medicine patients at hospital discharge: a prospective cohort study

ObjectiveWe aimed to develop and validate a score to assess inpatient complexity and compare its performance with two currently used but not validated tools to estimate complexity (ie, Charlson Comorbidity...

Impact of an Educational Comic to Enhance Patient-Physician-Electronic Health Record Engagement: Prospective Observational Study.

BackgroundElectronic health record (EHR) use can impede or augment patient-physician communication. However, little research explores the use of an educational comic to improve patient-physician-EHR interactions.ObjectiveTo evaluate the impact of an educational comic on patient EHR self-advocacy behaviors to promote patient engagement with the EHR during clinic visits.MethodsWe conducted a prospective observational study with adult patients and parents of pediatric patients at the University of Chicago General Internal Medicine (GIM) and Pediatric Primary Care (PPC) clinics. We developed an educational comic highlighting EHR self-advocacy behaviors and distributed it to study participants during check-in for their primary care visits between May 2017 and May 2018. Participants completed a survey immediately after their visit, which included a question on whether they would be interested in a follow-up telephone interview. Of those who expressed interest, 50 participants each from the adult and pediatric parent cohorts were selected at random for follow-up telephone interviews 8 months (range 3-12 months) post visit.ResultsOverall, 71.0% (115/162) of adult patients and 71.6% (224/313) of pediatric parents agreed the comic encouraged EHR involvement. African American and Hispanic participants were more likely to ask to see the screen and become involved in EHR use due to the comic (adult P=.01, P=.01; parent P=.02, P=.006, respectively). Lower educational attainment was associated with an increase in parents asking to see the screen and to be involved (ρ=−0.18, P=.003; ρ=−0.19, P<.001, respectively) and in adults calling for physician attention (ρ=−0.17, P=.04), which was confirmed in multivariate analyses. Female GIM patients were more likely than males to ask to be involved (median 4 vs 3, P=.003). During follow-up phone interviews, 90% (45/50) of adult patients and all pediatric parents (50/50) remembered the comic. Almost half of all participants (GIM 23/50, 46%; PPC 21/50, 42%) recalled at least one best-practice behavior. At subsequent visits, adult patients reported increases in asking to see the screen (median 3 vs 4, P=.006), and pediatric parents reported increases in asking to see the screen and calling for physician attention (median 3 vs 4, Ps<.001 for both). Pediatric parents also felt that the comic had encouraged them to speak up and get more involved with physician computer use since the index visit (median 4 vs 4, P=.02) and that it made them feel more empowered to get involved with computer use at future visits (median 3 vs 4, P<.001).ConclusionsOur study found that an educational comic may improve patient advocacy for enhanced patient-physician-EHR engagement, with higher impacts on African American and Hispanic patients and patients with low educational attainment.

Observational study of agreement between attending and trainee physicians on the surprise question: "Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?"

Optimal end-of-life care requires identifying patients that are near the end of life. The extent to which attending physicians and trainee physicians agree on the prognoses of their patients is unknown. We investigated agreement between attending and trainee physician on the surprise question: "Would you be surprised if this patient died in the next 12 months?", a question intended to assess mortality risk and unmet palliative care needs. This was a multicentre prospective cohort study of general internal medicine patients at 7 tertiary academic hospitals in Ontario, Canada. General internal medicine attending and senior trainee physician dyads were asked the surprise question for each of the patients for whom they were responsible. Surprise question response agreement was quantified by Cohen's kappa using Bayesian multilevel modeling to account for clustering by physician dyad. Mortality was recorded at 12 months. Surprise question responses encompassed 546 patients from 30 attending-trainee physician dyads on academic general internal medicine teams at 7 tertiary academic hospitals in Ontario, Canada. Patients had median age 75 years (IQR 60-85), 260 (48%) were female, and 138 (25%) were dependent for some or all activities of daily living. Trainee and attending physician responses agreed in 406 (75%) patients with adjusted Cohen's kappa of 0.54 (95% credible interval 0.41 to 0.66). Vital status was confirmed for 417 (76%) patients of whom 160 (38% of 417) had died. Using a response of "No" to predict 12-month mortality had positive likelihood ratios of 1.84 (95% CrI 1.55 to 2.22, trainee physicians) and 1.51 (95% CrI 1.30 to 1.72, attending physicians), and negative likelihood ratios of 0.31 (95% CrI 0.17 to 0.48, trainee physicians) and 0.25 (95% CrI 0.10 to 0.46, attending physicians). Trainee and attending physician responses to the surprise question agreed in 54% of cases after correcting for chance agreement. Physicians had similar discriminative accuracy; both groups had better accuracy predicting which patients would survive as opposed to which patients would die. Different opinions of a patient's prognosis may contribute to confusion for patients and missed opportunities for engagement with palliative care services.

Factors Associated with Readmission Among General Internal Medicine Patients Experiencing Homelessness.

People who are homeless have a higher burden of illness and higher rates of hospital admission and readmission compared to the general population. Identifying the factors associated with hospital readmission could help healthcare providers and policymakers improve post-discharge care for homeless patients. To identify factors associated with hospital readmission within 90 days of discharge from a general internal medicine unit among patients experiencing homelessness. This prospective observational study was conducted at an urban academic teaching hospital in Toronto, Canada. Interviewer-administered questionnaires and chart reviews were completed to assess medical, social, processes of care, and hospitalization data. Multivariable logistic regression with backward selection was used to identify factors associated with a subsequent readmission and estimate odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals. Adults (N = 129) who were admitted to the general internal medicine service between November 2017 and November 2018 and who were homeless at the time of admission. Unplanned all-cause readmission to the study hospital within 90 days of discharge. Thirty-five of 129 participants (27.1%) were readmitted within 90 days of discharge. Factors associated with lower odds of readmission included having an active case manager (adjusted odds ratios [aOR]: 0.31, 95% CI, 0.13-0.76), having informal support such as friends and family (aOR: 0.25, 95% CI, 0.08-0.78), and sending a copy of the patient's discharge plan to a primary care physician who had cared for the patient within the last year (aOR: 0.44, 95% CI, 0.17-1.16). A higher number of medications prescribed at discharge was associated with higher odds of readmission (aOR: 1.12, 95% CI, 1.02-1.23). Interventions to reduce hospital readmission for people who are homeless should evaluate tailored discharge planning and dedicated resources to support implementation of these plans in the community.

Improving Timeliness of Internal Medicine Consults in the Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Initiative.

Emergency department (ED) wait time is an important health system quality indicator. Prolonged consult to decision time (CTDT), the time it takes to reach a disposition decision after receiving a specialty consultation request, can contribute to increased overall length of stay in the ED. To identify delays in the consultation process for general internal medicine (GIM) and trial interventions to reduce CTDT. The study was conducted at a large tertiary teaching hospital with GIM inpatient wards at two campuses. Four interventions were trialed over sequential Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles: (1) process mapping, (2) resident education sessions, (3) audit and feedback of CTDT, and (4) adding a swing shift during peak consult volume. The primary outcome measures were mean CTDT for patients admitted to GIM and the proportion of admitted patients with CTDT of less than 3 hours. Mean CTDT decreased from 4.61 hours before intervention to 4.18 hours after intervention (p < .0001). The proportion of GIM patients with CTDT less than 3 hours increased from 25% to 33% (p < .0001). The interventions trialed led to a sustained reduction in CTDT over a 12-month period and demonstrated the effectiveness of education in influencing physician performance.

Delirium in Internal Medicine Patients Evaluated Using the Thai Confusion Assessment Method for ICU

Background: Delirium is the condition of an acute confusional state that disturbs both alertness and cognition. The problem is likely to happen with general internal medicine patients admitted in general wards. Objective: To identify delirium cases in the internal medicine In-Patient Department (IPD) by using the Thai Confusion Assessment Method for intensive care unit (CAM-ICU). Materials and Methods: The cross-sectional study was conducted between February and December 2018. The Thai version of the CAM-ICU was used as the evaluation form to detect delirium. The patients admitted to the IPD of internal medicine were freely randomized to be volunteers. Demographic data, systemic illnesses, neurology diseases, and current medications were recorded. Results: Three hundred fifty-six patients, 175 males (49.2%) and 181 females (50.8%), were included in the present study. The mean age was 61.52 years old. The development of acute confusion was significant in patients 50 years old and older (p&lt;0.001). Multivariate analysis indicated the significant effect of substance abuse (p&lt;0.05), chronic kidney disease (p&lt;0.05), cerebrovascular disease (p&lt;0.05), benzodiazepine usage (p&lt;0.05), alcohol abuse (p&lt;0.05), and age 50 years or older (p&lt;0.001). Sixty-nine cases met the Thai CAM-ICU criteria for delirium of CAM-ICU, but the interns did not notice this problem (p&lt;0.001). Conclusion: Chronic kidney disease, cerebrovascular disease, substance abuse, benzodiazepine use, alcohol abuse, and age 50 years or older are the factors associated with delirium in the present study. Hypoactive delirium is underdiagnosed by doctors but revealed by using CAM-ICU. Keywords: Delirium, CAM-ICU, Hypoactive delirium, RASS

Appropriateness of peripherally inserted central catheter use among general medical inpatients: an observational study using routinely collected data

BackgroundPeripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) are among the most commonly used medical devices in hospital. This study sought to determine the appropriateness of inpatient PICC use in general medicine at...

Risk factors for delirium in intensive care unit and its duration

To screen risk factors for delirium and its duration in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. 1 200 patients admitted to ICU of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University from May 2017 to May 2019 were enrolled. The gender, age, anesthesia mode, duration of mechanical ventilation and hypoxia, acute physiology and chronic health evaluation II (APACHE II) score, sedative drug use, and length of ICU stay were recorded. The occurrence and duration of ICU delirium were recorded. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the factors with statistical significance differences between the groups for screening the risk factors for delirium and its duration in ICU patients. 397 of 1 200 patients developed delirium, the incidence of ICU delirium was 33.1%. The duration of delirium in 189 patients (47.6%) was 1.0 day, and the duration of delirium in 397 delirium patients was 2.0 (1.5, 2.5) days. (1) Analysis of risk factors for delirium: univariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the incidence of ICU delirium among patients with different genders or ages. The incidence of ICU delirium in patients with duration of mechanical ventilation or hypoxia 4-9 days and ≥ 10 days was higher than that in patients with ≤ 3 days. The incidence of ICU delirium of general anesthesia and internal medicine patients was higher than that of patients with lumbar anesthesia. The incidence of ICU delirium in patients with APACHE II score ≥ 20 was higher than that in patients with ≤ 10 and 11-19. The patients with length of ICU stay > 9 days had a higher ICU delirium incidence than those ≤ 8 days. Increased incidence of ICU delirium in sedative patients was found as compared with those who did not use sedatives. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that APACHE II score [odds ratio (OR) = 5.491, 95% confidence interval (95%CI) was 4.361-6.913, P < 0.001], the length of ICU stay (OR = 2.679, 95%CI was 1.822-3.941, P < 0.001) and the use of sedatives (OR = 2.479, 95%CI was 1.821-3.374, P < 0.001) were risk factors for ICU delirium. (2) Analysis of risk factors of ICU delirium duration: univariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference in ICU delirium duration in patients with different genders or ages. The duration of ICU delirium in patients with duration of mechanical ventilation or hypoxia ≥ 10 days was longer than that in patients with ≤ 3 days and 4-9 days. The duration of ICU delirium in general anesthesia and non-surgical patients was higher than that in patients with spinal anesthesia. The ICU delirium duration in patients with APACHE II score ≥ 20 was longer than that in patients with ≤ 10 and 11-19. The duration of ICU delirium in patients with the length of ICU stay > 9 days was longer than that in patients with ≤ 8 days. The duration of ICU delirium in patients on sedatives was longer than those not taking sedatives. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the duration of ICU delirium increased by an average of 0.061 days (β = 0.061, 95%CI was 0.032-0.090, P < 0.001) for each additional day of hypoxia (hypoxia duration was divided into three grades of ≤ 3, 4-9 and ≥ 10 days). For every one increase in APACHE II score (APACHE II score was divided into three grades of ≤ 10, 11-19 and ≥ 20), duration of ICU delirium extended an average of 0.058 days (β = 0.058, 95%CI was 0.048-0.068, P < 0.001). ICU delirium duration increased by an average of 0.065 days in patients with length of ICU stay > 9 days as compared with those ≤ 8 days (β = 0.065, 95%CI was 0.056-0.075, P < 0.001). On average, the duration of ICU delirium was prolonged by 0.362 days in patients on sedatives as compared with those who did not use sedatives (β = 0.362, 95%CI was 0.234-0.490, P < 0.001). APACHE II score, the length of ICU stay and the use of sedatives were common risk factors for ICU delirium and its duration. The hypoxic duration was risk factors for ICU delirium duration.

Risk factors, costs and complications of delayed hospital discharge from internal medicine wards at a Canadian academic medical centre: retrospective cohort study

BackgroundHospitalized patients are designated alternate level of care (ALC) when they no longer require hospitalization but discharge is delayed while they await alternate disposition or living arrangements. We assessed hospital costs and complications for general internal medicine (GIM) inpatients who had delayed discharge. In addition, we developed a clinical prediction rule to identify patients at risk for delayed discharge.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study of consecutive GIM patients admitted between 1 January 2015 and 1 January 2016 at a large tertiary care hospital in Canada. We compared hospital costs and complications between ALC and non-ALC patients. We derived a clinical prediction rule for ALC designation using a logistic regression model and validated its diagnostic properties.ResultsOf 4311 GIM admissions, 255 (6%) patients were designated ALC. Compared to non-ALC patients, ALC patients had longer median length of stay (30.85 vs. 3.95 days p < 0.0001), higher median hospital costs ($22,459 vs. $5003 p < 0.0001) and more complications in hospital (25.5% vs. 5.3% p < 0.0001) especially nosocomial infections (14.1% vs. 1.9% p < 0.0001). Sensitivity analyses using propensity score and pair matching yielded similar results. In a derivation cohort, seven significant risk factors for ALC were identified including age > =80 years, female sex, dementia, diabetes with complications as well as referrals to physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech language pathology. A clinical prediction rule that assigned each of these predictors 1 point had likelihood ratios for ALC designation of 0.07, 0.25, 0.66, 1.48, 6.07, 17.13 and 21.85 for patients with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 points respectively in the validation cohort.ConclusionsDelayed discharge is associated with higher hospital costs and complication rates especially nosocomial infections. A clinical prediction rule can identify patients at risk for delayed discharge.

1057. The Impact of Temporary Suspensions of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Audit and Feedback Program on Antimicrobial Utilization of General Internal Medicine Inpatients

BackgroundA goal of Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs (ASP) is to optimize antimicrobial use; many using audit and feedback (AAF). Although AAF decreases unnecessary target antimicrobial use, it is resource-intensive. As a result, temporary suspensions in AAF activity may occur from human resource limitations or other factors. We describe the impact of these temporary suspensions and intensity of care on antimicrobial utilization trends.MethodsThis retrospective study describes the initiation and temporary suspensions of AAF in the General Internal Medicine (GIM) unit at an urban teaching hospital. Data were collected over 65 months. During active-AAF, a dedicated ID trained clinical pharmacist and ID physician-reviewed antimicrobial use for all GIM patients and provided patient-specific advice to physicians. Antimicrobial use was measured by Defined Daily Doses (DDD) normalized per 1,000 patient-days. To assess the impact of temporary suspensions, data were compared in two ways: 1. All nonactive-AAF time-frames were compared with active AAF 2. Pre-ASP was compared with Post-ASP Initiation which includes suspension periods. To determine whether differences in trends were seen based on acuity level of the patients (identified at admission as benefiting from frequent monitoring), analyses were repeated after stratification of patients admitted to the Step-Up unit (GIM-SU) and the regular ward (GIM-W).ResultsComparing nonactive AAF vs. active-AAF, significant changes (P < 0.05) in mean normalized DDD were observed for total antimicrobials (-19%), antipseudomonals (-21%) fluoroquinolones (−41%) and first-generation β lactams (−30%). Pre ASP vs. Post ASP comparisons showed similar but less pronounced trends. Following stratification to GIM-SU and GIM-W, greater variation in significant changes to targeted antimicrobials between comparisons was observed. Different significant antimicrobial changes were seen in SU vs. W.ConclusionOur results show that the temporary suspension of ASP AAF impacts antimicrobial utilization trends. Greater sustained decreases in targeted antimicrobials utilization were associated with active AAF. Stratification by patient acuity lead to increased variation in the impact on target antimicrobials and increased the impact of suspension. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

2072. Do ID and Non-ID Clinicians Agree on IV to PO Switch Criteria? Results from Phase I of the INForming IV to ORal MEdication Report (INFORMER) Project

BackgroundConverting intravenous (IV) antibiotics to an oral (PO) route is an important stewardship activity to reduce patient harm, including extravasation, thrombophlebitis, and catheter-related infections. The INFORMER Project aims to develop a “smart” electronic tool to streamline IV to PO conversion in eligible patients using an algorithm derived from patient-level data. In designing the algorithm, we noted significant clinician subjectivity in reviewing PO eligibility criteria. To support algorithm development and frontline clinician buy in for future e-tool use, an initial step of our project explored agreement level for IV to PO switch between general internal medicine (GIM) vs. ID clinicians.MethodsA convenience sample of GIM patients (tertiary teaching hospital) were reviewed in a 4-month pilot. Patients were still on the ward and received a target IV antibiotic (fluoroquinolone, sulfamethoxazole/trimethoprim, clindamycin, metronidazole, linezolid, fluconazole, voriconazole, azithromycin). To mimic real-time decision-making, clinicians (MD and PharmDs) retrospectively assessed IV to PO eligibility of the last IV antibiotic dose on admission for (1) GI/absorption, (2) clinical stability and (3) global review (but not given specific thresholds/criteria). Agreement level was compared for ID vs. non-ID reviews.ResultsOverall, 52 patients’ IV to PO eligibility was assessed by multiple clinicians; 5 GIM teams and 6 ID MDs or PharmDs participated. ID vs. GIM respective assessment of Global eligibility was 61% vs. 48% (agreement in 71% of cases). ID vs. GIM assessment of acceptable absorption was 82% vs. 67%; acceptable clinical stability was 64% vs. 62% (Fig 1). Clinician comments were reviewed to identify algorithm improvements and areas for frontline education.ConclusionOur results are consistent with prior data suggesting up to 40–50% of patients may be eligible for IV to PO conversion, even at institutions that have IV to PO protocols. Our data also shows that overall, ID clinicians were more likely to assess a patient as ready for PO antibiotics vs. non-ID clinicians. Our findings are important as understanding cases of non-agreement and obtaining GIM consensus for tool utility are important for our next step, assessing INFORMER implementation on realtime IV to PO conversion rates. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Comparing the predictive ability of a commercial artificial intelligence early warning system with physician judgement for clinical deterioration in hospitalised general internal medicine patients: a prospective observational study

ObjectiveOur study compares physician judgement with an automated early warning system (EWS) for predicting clinical deterioration of hospitalised general internal medicine patients.DesignProspective observational study of clinical predictions made at the...