Standard Discharge Instructions Research Articles

Improving Patient Understanding of Emergency Department Discharge Instructions.

Previous studies have shown that patients in the emergency department (ED) are frequently given incomplete discharge instructions that are written at least four grade levels above the recommended sixth-grade reading level, leading to poor understanding. Our aims in this study were to implement standardized discharge instructions containing six key components written at a more appropriate reading level for common emergency department (ED) diagnoses to improve patient understanding. We conducted this study in a 20-bed ED at an urban Veteran's Administration hospital. Data was collected via in-person patient and clinician interviews. Patient interviews were conducted after patients received their discharge instructions. We compared patient responses to clinician responses and marked them as incorrect, partially correct, or correct with a score of 0, 0.5, or 1, respectively. The maximum possible score for each interview was six. Six key components of discharge instructions were asked about: diagnosis; new medications; at-home care; duration of illness; reasons to return; and follow-up. There were 25 patients in the pre-intervention group and 20 in the intervention group with the standardized set of instructions. We performed a Mann-Whitney U test on the total interview scores in the control and intervention groups and conducted a sub-analysis on the individual scores for each of the six key components. The patients in the intervention demonstrated a statistically significant increase in patient-clinician correlation when compared to the patients in the pre-intervention group overall (P < 0.05), and two of the six key components of the discharge instructions individually showed statistically significant increase in patient-clinician correlation when standardized discharge instructions were used. Patients who received the standardized discharge instructions had improved understanding of their discharge instructions. Future opportunities extending off this pilot study include expanding the number of diagnoses for which standardized instructions are used and investigating patient-centered outcomes related to these instructions.

Abstract 27: A Randomized Clinical Trial for Asymptomatic Elevated Blood Pressure in Patients Discharged from Emergency Department

Introduction: Hypertension is a prevalent condition that is often asymptomatic. Emergency Department (ED) patients commonly present with underlying and undiagnosed hypertension. As EDs serve as critical access points for healthcare, they present a unique opportunity for hypertension screening and intervention, and ED-based interventions could target patients who are often missed in other healthcare settings. Hypothesis: We hypothesize that an Education and mHealth Empowerment intervention would be effective when compared to standard discharge instructions in reducing systolic blood pressure by 6-month follow-up among patients with asymptomatic elevated blood pressure discharged from the ED. Methods: A randomized clinical trial was designed to enroll patients with asymptomatic elevated blood pressure (&gt; 140/90 mm Hg and ≤ 180/110 mm Hg) discharged from an urban academic ED that predominantly serves patients from minoritized racial and ethnic groups. Patients were randomized to either usual care (standard discharge with outpatient follow-up referral) or the intervention arm (education and mHealth Empowerment intervention at discharge – the intervention included a consultation with a clinical pharmacist or an advanced practice nurse, and use of mHealth to educate on and facilitate self-monitoring and behavior change along with a primary care referral, and follow-up visits at 3 and 6 months). Results: Of the 574 enrolled, 289 were randomized to the intervention group. The mean age of the sample was 51.1 (±12.5) years, and 57% were female, 72% were Black, and 20% Hispanic. There were no statistically significant differences between the two arms by demographics or mean blood pressure at baseline. At 6 months follow up, the intervention arm showed a greater reduction in systolic blood pressure compared to the usual care group, and the difference was statistically significant (mean difference: 4.9 mm Hg, 95% CI [0.8, 9.0], p=0.02). Conclusions: The Education and mHealth Empowerment intervention was more effective than standard discharge instructions in reducing systolic blood pressure in a predominantly Black and Latino patient population with elevated blood pressure discharged from the ED. This intervention, and other similar ED-based interventions could be a viable and scalable strategy for blood pressure control in asymptomatic patients for preventing secondary cardiovascular complications due to uncontrolled hypertension.

Patient-Representing Population's Perceptions of GPT-Generated Versus Standard Emergency Department Discharge Instructions: Randomized Blind Survey Assessment.

Discharge instructions are a key form of documentation and patient communication in the time of transition from the emergency department (ED) to home. Discharge instructions are time-consuming and often underprioritized, especially in the ED, leading to discharge delays and possibly impersonal patient instructions. Generative artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) offer promising methods of creating high-quality and personalized discharge instructions; however, there exists a gap in understanding patient perspectives of LLM-generated discharge instructions. We aimed to assess the use of LLMs such as ChatGPT in synthesizing accurate and patient-accessible discharge instructions in the ED. We synthesized 5 unique, fictional ED encounters to emulate real ED encounters that included a diverse set of clinician history, physical notes, and nursing notes. These were passed to GPT-4 in Azure OpenAI Service (Microsoft) to generate LLM-generated discharge instructions. Standard discharge instructions were also generated for each of the 5 unique ED encounters. All GPT-generated and standard discharge instructions were then formatted into standardized after-visit summary documents. These after-visit summaries containing either GPT-generated or standard discharge instructions were randomly and blindly administered to Amazon MTurk respondents representing patient populations through Amazon MTurk Survey Distribution. Discharge instructions were assessed based on metrics of interpretability of significance, understandability, and satisfaction. Our findings revealed that survey respondents' perspectives regarding GPT-generated and standard discharge instructions were significantly (P=.01) more favorable toward GPT-generated return precautions, and all other sections were considered noninferior to standard discharge instructions. Of the 156 survey respondents, GPT-generated discharge instructions were assigned favorable ratings, "agree" and "strongly agree," more frequently along the metric of interpretability of significance in discharge instruction subsections regarding diagnosis, procedures, treatment, post-ED medications or any changes to medications, and return precautions. Survey respondents found GPT-generated instructions to be more understandable when rating procedures, treatment, post-ED medications or medication changes, post-ED follow-up, and return precautions. Satisfaction with GPT-generated discharge instruction subsections was the most favorable in procedures, treatment, post-ED medications or medication changes, and return precautions. Wilcoxon rank-sum test of Likert responses revealed significant differences (P=.01) in the interpretability of significant return precautions in GPT-generated discharge instructions compared to standard discharge instructions but not for other evaluation metrics and discharge instruction subsections. This study demonstrates the potential for LLMs such as ChatGPT to act as a method of augmenting current documentation workflows in the ED to reduce the documentation burden of physicians. The ability of LLMs to provide tailored instructions for patients by improving readability and making instructions more applicable to patients could improve upon the methods of communication that currently exist.

A randomized trial of collaborative support for opioid taper after trauma hospitalization

The COTAT (Collaborative Opioid Taper After Trauma) Study was a randomized trial of an opioid taper support program using a physician assistant (PA) to provide pain and opioid treatment guidance to primary care providers assuming care for adult patients with moderate to severe trauma discharged from a Level I trauma center on opioid therapy. Patients were recruited, assessed, and randomized individually by a surgery research recruitment team one to two days prior to discharge to home. Participants randomized to the opioid taper support program were contacted by phone within a few days of discharge by the PA interventionist to confirm enrollment and their primary care provider (PCP). The intervention consisted of PA support as needed to the PCP concerning pain and opioid care at weeks 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 after discharge or until the PCP office indicated they no longer needed support or the patient had tapered off opioids. The PA was supervised by a pain physician-psychiatrist, a family physician, and a trauma surgeon. Patients randomized to usual care received standard hospital discharge instructions and written information on managing opioid medications after discharge. Trial results were analyzed using repeated measures analysis. 37 participants were randomized to the intervention and 36 were randomized to usual care. The primary outcomes of the trial were pain, enjoyment, general activity (PEG score) and mean daily opioid dose at 3 and 6 months after hospital discharge. Treatment was unblinded but assessment was blinded. No significant differences in PEG or opioid outcomes were noted at either time point. Physical function at 3 and 6 months and pain interference at 6 months were significantly better in the usual care group. No significant harms of the intervention were noted. COVID-19 (corona virus 2019) limited recruitment of high-risk opioid tolerant subjects, and limited contact between the PA interventionist and the participants and the PCPs. Our opioid taper support program failed to improve opioid and pain outcomes, since both control and intervention groups tapered opioids and improved PEG scores after discharge. Future trials of post-trauma opioid taper support with populations at higher risk of persistent opioid use are needed. This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov under NCT04275258 19/02/2020. This trial was funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the University of Washington Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center (R49 CE003087, PI: Monica S. Vavilala, MD). The funder had no role in the analysis or interpretation of the data.

Performance of ChatGPT and Google Translate for Pediatric Discharge Instruction Translation

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES Patients who speak languages other than English face barriers to equitable healthcare delivery. Machine translation systems, including emerging large language models, have the potential to expand access to translation services, but their merits and limitations in clinical practice remain poorly defined. We aimed to assess the performance of Google Translate and ChatGPT for multilingual translation of pediatric discharge instructions. METHODS Twenty standardized discharge instructions for pediatric conditions were translated into Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Haitian Creole by professional translation services, Google Translate and ChatGPT-4.0, and evaluated for adequacy (preserved information), fluency (grammatical correctness), meaning (preserved connotation), and severity (clinical harm), along with assessment of overall preference. Domain-level ratings and preferred translation source were summarized with descriptive statistics and compared with professional translations. RESULTS Google Translate and ChatGPT demonstrated similar domain-level ratings to professional translations for Spanish and Portuguese. For Haitian Creole, compared with both Google Translate and ChatGPT, professional translations demonstrated significantly greater adequacy, fluency meaning, and severity scores. ChatGPT (33.3%, P &amp;lt; .001) and Google Translate (23.3%, P = .024) contained more potentially clinically significant errors (severity score ≤3) for Haitian Creole than professional translations (8.3%). Professional Haitian Creole (48.3%) and Portuguese (43.3%), but not Spanish (15%), translations were most frequently preferred among translation sources. CONCLUSIONS Machine translation platforms have comparable performance to professional translations for Spanish and Portuguese but shortcomings in quality, accuracy, and preference persist for Haitian Creole. Diverse multilingual training data are needed, along with regulations ensuring safe and equitable applications of machine translation in clinical practice.

Factors influencing central nervous system medication deprescribing and behavior change in hospitalized older adults.

Central nervous system (CNS) medications are linked to higher morbidity and mortality in older adults. Hospitalization allows for deprescribing opportunities. This qualitative study investigates clinician and patient perspectives on CNS medication deprescribing during hospitalization using a behavioral change framework, aiming to inform interventions and identify recommendations to enhance hospital deprescribing processes. This qualitative study focused on hospitalists, primary care providers, pharmacists, and patients aged ≥60 years hospitalized on a general medicine service and prescribed ≥1 CNS medications. Using semi-structured interviews and focus groups, we aimed to evaluate patient medication knowledge, prior deprescribing experiences, and decision-making preferences, as well as provider processes and tools for medication evaluation and deprescribing. Rapid qualitative analysis applying the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behavior (COM-B) framework revealed themes influencing deprescribing behavior in patients and providers. A total of 52 participants (20 patients and 32 providers) identified facilitators and barriers across deprescribing steps and generated recommended strategies to address them. Clinicians and patients highlighted the opportunity for CNS medication deprescribing during hospitalizations, facilitated by multidisciplinary teams enhancing clinicians' capability to make medication changes. Both groups also stressed the importance of intensive patient engagement, education, and monitoring during hospitalizations, acknowledging challenges in timing and extent of deprescribing, with some patients preferring decisions deferred to outpatient clinicians. Hospitalist and pharmacist recommendations centered on early pharmacist involvement for medication reconciliation, expanding pharmacy consultation and clinician education on deprescribing, whereas patients recommended enhancing shared decision-making through patient education on medication adverse effects, tapering plans, and alternatives. Hospitalists and PCPs also emphasized standardized discharge instructions and transitional care calls to improve medication review and feedback during care transitions. Clinicians and patients highlighted the potential advantages of hospital interventions for CNS medication deprescribing, emphasizing the necessity of addressing communication, education, and coordination challenges between inpatient and outpatient settings.

Standardized Discharge Instructions to Improve Patient Communication in Allergy Clinic

When patients are unsure how to contact providers after a clinic visit, patient experience can be affected. At an academic allergy clinic in 2020, 78% (261/334) of the patients responded “yes definitely” to the post-discharge survey question: “Did you know what to do if you had more questions after your visit?” (“what to do”).

558. Increasing Safety Net Antibiotic Prescriptions (SNAP) for Acute Otitis Media Treatment in Pediatric Urgent Care Clinics

Abstract Background Acute otitis media (AOM) is the most common diagnosis for which antibiotics are prescribed in pediatrics. National guidelines recommend offering a safety net antibiotic prescription (SNAP) to select patients, to be filled if symptoms worsen or do not improve within 48-72 hours. However, clinicians continue to prescribe immediate antibiotics for most cases of AOM. Our goal was to increase the percentage of eligible patients diagnosed with AOM in our pediatric urgent care (PUC) clinics who are offered a SNAP from our baseline of 7.7% to 40% within nine months. Methods A multidisciplinary team of PUC clinicians, an Infectious Diseases physician, and a data analyst, used quality improvement (QI) methodology to identify barriers to offering SNAP (Figure 1). Patients without chronic ear conditions were considered eligible for SNAP if they had no or mild otalgia for &amp;lt; 48 hours, fever &amp;lt; 39oC, no otorrhea, and for patients ≤ 24 months old, if they had only unilateral AOM. We analyzed all encounters of patients ≥ 6 months old with a discharge diagnosis of AOM from three PUC clinics during baseline (October 2020 – September 2021) and study (October 2021 – March 2022) periods. Interventions included clinician education, standardized discharge instructions, electronic health record updates to improve documentation, and educational flyers for clinicians and families. Our outcome measure was the percentage of eligible encounters during which SNAP was offered. Our process measure was the percentage of AOM encounters in which SNAP eligibility was documented. Our balancing measure was the percentage of patients returning with AOM symptoms within 14 days. Results We reviewed 12,502 encounters from October 2020 through March 2022. At baseline, clinicians documented SNAP eligibility in 5.5% of AOM encounters and offered SNAP to 7.7% of eligible patients. By March 2022, clinicians documented SNAP eligibility in 58.9% of AOM encounters and offered SNAP to 40.7% of eligible patients (Figure 2). There was no change in our balancing measure. UCL: Upper control limit. LCL: Lower control limit. Conclusion Using QI methodology, we increased the percentage of eligible patients with AOM who were offered SNAP, reducing antibiotic exposure in PUC clinics. Efforts are ongoing to further improve this process. Disclosures Brian R. Lee, PhD, MPH, CDC: Grant/Research Support|Merck: Grant/Research Support.

Improving Discharge Instructions for Hospitalized Children With Limited English Proficiency.

Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) have increased risk of adverse events after hospitalization. At our institution, LEP families did not routinely receive translated discharge instructions in their preferred language. Our objective for this study was to increase the percentage of patients with LEP on the hospital medicine (HM) service receiving translated discharge instructions from 12% to 80%. Following the Model for Improvement, we convened an interdisciplinary team that included HM providers, pediatric residents, language access services staff, and nurses to design and test interventions aimed at key drivers through multiple plan-do-study-act cycles. Interventions addressed the translation request process, care team education, standardizing discharge instructions for common conditions, and identification and mitigation of failures. We used established rules for analyzing statistical process control charts to evaluate the percentage of patients with translated discharge instructions for all languages and for Spanish. During the study period, 540 patients with LEP were discharged from the HM service. Spanish was the preferred language for 66% of patients with LEP. The percentage of patients with LEP who received translated discharge instructions increased from 12% to 50% in 3 months and to 77% in 18 months. For patients whose preferred language was Spanish, the percentage increased from 16% to 69% in 4 months and to 96% in 18 months. Interventions targeting knowledge of the translation process and standardized Spanish discharge instructions were associated with an increased percentage of families receiving translated discharge instructions. Future work will be used to assess the impact of these interventions on postdischarge disparities, including emergency department revisits and readmissions.

Utilization of Educational Videos to Improve Communication and Discharge Instructions.

IntroductionWhen discharging a patient from the emergency department (ED), it is crucial to make sure that they understand their disposition and aftercare instructions. However, numerous factors make it difficult to ensure that patients understand their next steps. Our objective was to determine whether patient understanding of ED discharge and aftercare instructions could be improved through instructional videos in addition to standard written discharge instructions.MethodsThis was a prospective pre- and post-intervention study conducted at a single-center, academic tertiary care ED. Patients presenting with the five selective chief complaints (closed head injury, vaginal bleeding, laceration care, splint care, and upper respiratory infection) were given questionnaires after their discharge instructions to test comprehension. Once video discharge instructions were implemented, patients received standard discharge instructions in addition to video discharge instructions and were given the same questionnaire. A total of 120 patients were enrolled in each group.ResultsThere were significantly better survey scores after video discharge instructions (VDI) vs standard discharge instructions (SDI) for the closed head injury (27% SDI vs 46% VDI, P = 0.003); upper respiratory infection (28% SDI vs 64% VDI; P < 0.0001); and vaginal bleeding in early pregnancy groups (20% SDI vs 60% VDI, P < 0.0001). There were no significant differences in survey scores between the splint care (53% SDI vs 66% VDI; P = 0.08) and suture care groups (29% SDI vs 31% VDI; P = 0.40).ConclusionVideo discharge instructions supplementing standard written instructions can help improve patient comprehension and information retention. This better understanding of aftercare instructions is essential to patient follow-up and has been shown to improve patient outcomes.

The effect of standardized discharge instructions after gastrostomy tube placement on postoperative hospital utilization

Background/PurposeGastrostomy tube (GT) placement is a common pediatric procedure with high postoperative resource utilization. We aimed to determine if standardized discharge instructions (SDI) reduced healthcare utilization rates. MethodsWe performed a retrospective cohort study comparing postoperative hospital utilization of patients who underwent initial GT placement pre- and post-SDI protocol implementation from 2014–2019. Statistical analyses included Chi-square tests, multivariable adjusted logistic regression, adjusted Cox proportion hazard regression, and adjusted Poisson regression models when appropriate. Results197 patients were included, 102 (51.8%) before and 95 (48.2%) after protocol implementation. On primary analysis, SDI patients did not have significantly different total postoperative hospital utilization events at 30-days (48.0% vs. 38.9%, p = 0.25). On secondary analysis, SDI patients had lower rates of ED (8.4% vs. 19.6%, p = 0.026) and office visits (11.6% vs. 25.5%, p = 0.017) at 30-days. Non-SDIs patients had greater odds of ED visits (OR2.7, 95%CI 1.3–5.9, p = 0.01), office visits (OR3.7, 95%CI 1.7-8.1, p = 0.001) and phone calls (OR2.6, 95%CI 1.2–5.7, p = 0.016) at 1-year. The adjusted hazard ratio was 2.0 (95%CI 1.4–3.0, p < 0.001). Incident rate ratio were 1.8 (95%CI 1.2–2.5, p = 0.002) at 30-days and 1.9 (95%CI 1.5–2.4, p < 0.001) at 1-year post-discharge. ConclusionsSDIs post-GT placement may reduce multiple aspects of postoperative hospital utilization.

Evidence-based Standardization of Constipation Management in the Emergency Department: A Quality Improvement Study.

This prospective QI project involved a multidisciplinary team at a large urban pediatric tertiary care center. The study team constructed a key driver diagram and identified interventions, such as creating a standardized evaluation and management algorithm for constipation, using free open-access medical education platforms, incorporating the electronic medical record interface, and expanding educational conferences to include standardized approach and discharge instructions for patients with constipation across all acuity levels. The primary measure of AXR utilization was tracked overtime on a statistical process control chart to evaluate the impact of interventions. The percentage of visits for constipation that included an AXR decreased from a baseline of 49.6%-37.1%, a 25% reduction. Length-of-stay, return visits within 7 days, and inpatient admissions remained unchanged by the interventions. QI methodology successfully decreased AXR utilization in the evaluation of constipation across a broad spectrum of acuity levels. Further interventions may help to decrease the length of stay and further decrease AXR utilization.

Standardized Order Set Exhibits Surgeon Adherence to Pain Protocol in Pediatric Adenotonsillectomy.

To produce a sustained reduction in opioid prescriptions in patients <5 years of age undergoing T&A through utilization of standardized algorithms and electronic health record (EHR) automation tools. Prospective quality improvement initiative. Plan-do-study-act (PDSA) methodology was used to design an age-based postoperative pain regimen in which children <5 years of age received a non-opioid pain regimen, and option to prescribe oxycodone for additional pain relief was given for children >5 years of age. Standardized discharge instructions and automated, age-specific order sets were created to facilitate adherence. Rate of discharge opioid prescription was monitored and balanced against post-discharge opioid prescriptions and returns to the emergency department (ED). In children <5 years of age undergoing T&A, reduction in opioid prescription rates from 65.9% to 30.9% after initial implementation of the order set was noted. Ultimately, reduction of opioid prescribing rates to 3.7% of patients was noted after pain-regimen consensus and EHR order set implementation. Opioid prescriptions in patients >5 years of age decreased from 90.6% to 58.1% initially, and then down 35.9% by the last time point analyzed. Requests for outpatient opioid prescriptions did not increase. There was no significant change in returns to the emergency ED for pain management, or in the number opioids prescribed when patients returned to the ED. Iterative cycles of improvement utilizing standardized pain management algorithms and EHR tools were effective means of producing a sustained reduction in opioid prescriptions in postoperative T&A patients. Such findings suggest a framework for similar interventions in other pediatric otolaryngology settings. 4 Laryngoscope, 131:E2337-E2343, 2021.

Reducing the Use of Opioids for Pediatric Patients with Supracondylar Humerus Fractures

Supracondylar humerus (SCH) fractures, the most common elbow injuries in children, often require surgical reduction and percutaneous pinning. Postoperative pain medication management varies considerably, ranging from over-the-counter analgesics to multiday opioid prescriptions. In response to the Ohio opioid epidemic, this quality improvement project focused on limiting discharge opioid prescriptions to five or fewer doses. Orthopedic providers were surveyed on their opioid prescribing practices and given blinded peer-comparison feedback. All orthopedic prescribers were educated via e-mail or in person on the opioid dose guideline for this injury. Any outlying prescribers identified from monthly data queries were reeducated on the project's specific aim. Prescribing providers, patients, and their caregivers were instructed to schedule and alternate non-opioid analgesics postoperatively. When opioids were prescribed, education emphasized the use of this medication only for severely rated pain. Standardized discharge instructions for postoperative fracture care and pain management, as well as electronic medical record orders, were used to emphasize these pain management strategies. The percentage of opioid prescriptions of less than or equal to five doses for surgically managed SCH fracture patients was successfully increased by approximately 60 percentage points; 45.5% of surgical SCH fracture patients were discharged without an opioid prescription. Postdischarge requests for additional pain therapy remained stable. The implemented education changes for patients, families, and orthopedic providers at this facility have paved the way for a decline in opioid prescribing and use. Further reduction in opioid prescribing is anticipated, with the goal to translate these practices to other orthopedic diagnoses.

Evaluation of the Period of PURPLE Crying: An Abusive Head Trauma Prevention Programme

Abusive head trauma (AHT) in infants is thought to be triggered by caregiver frustration with persistent crying. The Period of PURPLE Crying (POPC) is designed to educate parents about normal infant crying, strategies to use when infants cry and the dangers of shaking in an effort to decrease AHT. Studies evaluating the POPC have measured changes in parent knowledge and behaviour regarding infant crying. Our objective was to evaluate the POPC's effect on caregiver frustration with infant crying compared to standard discharge information (SDI). We taught paediatric interns and medical students rotating in the newborn nursery to deliver the POPC and discuss infant crying. New parents were pseudo‐randomised to receive SDI or the POPC plus SDI. Parents were contacted five‐to‐eight weeks after discharge and asked knowledge questions about infant crying as well as the number of times that they were frustrated by their infant's crying in the preceding week. Of 271 parents who consented to participate, 164 (61%) completed the survey. The POPC group answered two of the knowledge questions correctly more often than the control group (score differences: 17%, 95% confidence interval (CI) 3–32% and 21%, 95% CI 7–36%). However, parents reported frustration due to infant crying at similar rates between the control (55/80, 69%) and POPC (60/84, 71%) groups. Our results support previous findings that the POPC improves caregiver knowledge concerning infant crying. The POPC does not appear to affect caregiver frustration with crying.‘Our objective was to evaluate the POPC's effect on caregiver frustration with infant crying compared to standard discharge information’Key Practitioner Messages Instructing new parents about normal infant crying and the dangers of shaking an infant remains an important part of anticipatory guidance. The POPC is not more effective at reducing caregiver frustration with infant crying than standard discharge instructions. Future investigations should specifically aim to include male caregivers as recipients of the programme.

Standardized Hospital Discharge Communication for Patients With Pressure Injury: A Quasi-experimental Trial.

To determine if improved communication between certified wound care nurses and home health nurses, through use of standardized electronic wound care order sets and discharge instructions, decreased delay in treatment and 30-day readmission rates and improved wound healing for patients discharged to home with pressure injuries. Quasi-experimental, nonequivalent group trial. Cognitively intact adult patients hospitalized in the Midwestern United States with a stage 2 or higher pressure injury discharged to home care services. We revised the electronic medical record to include an adapted, standardized version of the Project Re-Engineered Discharge wound care order set that included specific wound care instructions for use following discharge to home care. Medical records of 12 patients were reviewed prior to the change and 9 records were reviewed postchange for information about initiation of care, wound healing, and 30-day readmission. The Pressure Ulcer Scale of Healing tool was used to evaluate wound healing. Time to initiation of treatment was 2.4 days for the control group and 1.6 days for the intervention group. Missing documentation made it difficult to evaluate the control group, as 73% of all wound measurements were missing from the electronic medical record. Use of the standardized wound care order set resulted in 100% of wound care orders and 92% of discharge instructions being present in the intervention group's electronic medical record at the time of hospital discharge. There was no statistically significant difference between control and intervention group's Pressure Ulcer Scale of Healing scores for any postdischarge measurement or in 30-day readmission rates. The new standardized wound care order sets at the time of discharge did increase adherence to time to implementation and documentation of executing wound care orders by home care nurses. Further research of standardized order sets is needed to determine the impact on improving patient outcomes.

PL04: A randomized controlled trial comparing prescribed light exercise to standard management for emergency department patients with acute mild traumatic brain injury

Introduction: The emergency department (ED) is often the first point of health care contact for patients with mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI). Spontaneous resolution occurs in most patients within 7 days, yet 15-30% will develop post-concussion syndrome (PCS). Given the paucity of effective management strategies to prevent PCS and emerging evidence supporting exercise, the objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of prescribed early light exercise compared to standard discharge instructions for acute MTBI patients in the ED. Methods: This was a randomized controlled trial conducted in three Canadian EDs. Consecutive, adult (18-64 years) ED patients with a MTBI sustained within the preceding 48 hours were eligible for enrollment. The intervention group received discharge instructions prescribing 30 minutes of daily light exercise (e.g., walking), and the control group was given standard MTBI instructions advising gradual return to exercise following symptom resolution. Participants documented their daily physical activities and completed follow-up questionnaires at 7, 14, and 30 days. The primary outcome was the proportion of patients with PCS at 30 days, defined as the presence of ≥ 3 symptoms on the Rivermead Post-concussion Symptoms Questionnaire (RPQ) at 30 days. Results: 367 patients were enrolled (control n = 184; intervention n = 183). Median age was 32 years and 201 (57.6%) were female. There was no difference in the proportion of patients with PCS at 30 days (control 13.4 vs intervention 14.6; Δ1.2, 95% CI: -6.2 to 8.5). There were no differences in median change of RPQ scores (control 14 vs intervention 13; Δ1, 95% CI: -1 to 4), median number of return health care provider visits (control 1 vs intervention 1; Δ0, 95% CI: 0 to 0), or median number of missed school or work days (control 2 vs intervention 2; Δ0, 95% CI: 0 to 1) at 30 days. There was a nonsignificant difference in unplanned return ED visits within 30 days (control 9.9% vs intervention 5.6%; Δ1, 95% CI: -1.4 to 10.3). Participants in the control group reported fewer minutes of light exercise at 7 days (30 vs 35; Δ5, 95% CI: 2 to 15). Conclusion: To our knowledge, this is the first randomized trial of prescribed early light exercise for adults with acute MTBI. There were no differences in recovery or healthcare utilization outcomes. Results suggest prescribed early light exercise should be encouraged as tolerated at ED discharge following MTBI, but exercise prescription alone is not sufficient to prevent PCS.

Systematic Treatment and Management of Postpartum Hypertension (STAMPP-HTN) [38M

INTRODUCTION: Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy are a leading cause of morbidity during pregnancy. The postpartum (PP) period is equally morbid, however attendance at recommended PP blood pressure (BP) follow-up appointments is poor. Strategies to bridge this gap are needed. METHODS: A bundled approach to PP management was implemented which included education for obstetric providers, standardized protocols, educational videos, standardized discharge instructions, follow-up appointments and PPHTN clinics. This analysis sought to identify impact of this intervention and predictors of non-compliance. RESULTS: Among all 495 patients, 80.4% were African-American (AA), 68% had Medicaid, and the median age was 28 (IQR 23, 33) years. Factors associated with appointment non-compliance included younger maternal age, older gestational age, shorter PP length of stay, primary obstetric providers outside the study hospital, those who experienced spontaneous labor, current smokers and AA race (all P&lt;.01). When comparing the beginning of the study period (September/October 2018) to the last two months (August/September 2019), PP appointments made before discharge increased (49.3% to 98.7%; P&lt;.001) as did the proportion of patients who followed up within six weeks (26.8% to 45.6%; P=.01). Median [IQR] systolic BPs immediately post-delivery were higher in the beginning of the study period as compared to the end (152 [139,161] vs 139 [133,150]; P=.0001). A significant increase in PP antihypertensive use was also observed (34.2% vs 45.6%, P=.04). CONCLUSION: The STAMPP-HTN bundle improved PP compliance with BP control however response was not universal. Additional tools are needed to improve PP follow-up and BP control in this population.

Providing individualized written asthma action plans during the pediatric emergency department visit

Introduction: Among children presenting to the pediatric emergency department (PED) with an asthma exacerbation, the objective was to determine if creating an individualized written asthma action plan (WAAP) during the PED visit, when compared with standard discharge instructions, led to fewer asthma-related unplanned return visits up to three months after the PED visit. Secondary outcomes included rates of routine follow up with a healthcare provider, asthma control scores and caregiver confidence measures.Methods: Children ages 2–17 who presented to the PED with an asthma exacerbation and did not already have a WAAP were randomized to receive discharge instructions including a WAAP versus standard discharge instructions. The WAAP was ordered by the physician and reviewed with families by a respiratory therapist as part of a brief educational session during the PED visit. Parents completed follow-up surveys at one and three months after the PED visit.Results: 91 families were enrolled and 83/91 (91%) completed at least one follow-up survey. Fewer families in the WAAP group reported an unplanned visit to a healthcare provider during the follow-up period [WAAP 7/39 (18%), Control 17/44 (39%), p = 0.038]. Inhaled corticosteroids were prescribed more commonly in the WAAP group [WAAP 29/45 (64%), Control 15/46 (33%), p = 0.002]. There was no difference in rates of routine follow-up visits, asthma control scores or caregiver confidence measures during the follow-up period.Conclusions: Families who were provided a written asthma action plan during their pediatric emergency department visit for an asthma exacerbation reported fewer unplanned visits during the subsequent three months.

Improved Concussion Discharge Instructions in a Pediatric Emergency Department.

Pediatric concussions are common and many children seek care in emergency departments. Providing concussion discharge instructions to patients and families is part of routine standard of care. The objective of this study was to determine whether the use of the Acute Concussion Evaluation-Emergency Department Discharge Instructions (ACE-ED DI) improves the caregiver's knowledge of injury management, specifics about returning to school and sports activities, and outpatient follow-up. This was a quasi-experimental study conducted in an urban Level 1 trauma center pediatric emergency department (PED). A convenience sample of caregivers of children aged 5-18 years who presented to the PED with a concussion was recruited and consented to participate. Caregivers completed a 16-item survey to assess overall understanding of concussion management after instructions were given. Caregivers received the standard discharge instructions (SDIs) in Phase 1 and SDIs plus the ACE-ED DI in Phase 2. Descriptive statistics were used for demographic variables and t-test to compare groups. Sixty-three of 68 (93%) caregivers participated; 30 in the SDI group and 33 in the SDI plus ACE-ED DI group. Demographic characteristics were similar between groups. Caregivers who received the ACE-ED DI reported a 24% increase in helpfulness of written materials (p < 0.001), a 25% increase in perceived understanding about concussion injury and management (p < 0.001), a 23% increase in understanding about returning to school activities (p < 0.001), and were 17% more likely to follow up with their primary care provider (p < 0.001). The ACE-ED DI used in a PED was found to be more effective at increasing caregivers' perceived knowledge of concussion management, specifics about returning to school and sports activities, and outpatient follow-up.