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Background: Influenza vaccine uptake is low among underserved populations whose primary health care access occurs in emergency departments. We sought to determine whether implementation of two interventions would increase 30-day influenza vaccine uptake in unvaccinated patients in the emergency department. Methods: This three-group, prospective, cluster-randomized controlled trial compared two interventions with a control group in noncritically ill, adult patients in the emergency department who were not vaccinated for influenza in the current vaccine season. The unit of randomization was individual calendar days. Participants received either Intervention M (an influenza vaccine messaging platform consisting of a video, one-page flyer, and scripted message, followed by a vaccine acceptance question and provider notification if participants indicated vaccine acceptance), Intervention Q (no messaging but the vaccine acceptance question and provider notification), or control (usual care/no intervention). The primary outcome was receipt of an influenza vaccine at 30-days ascertained by electronic health record review and telephone follow-up, comparing the Intervention M group with the control group. Secondary outcomes included comparisons of 30-day vaccine uptake in Intervention Q versus control and Intervention M versus Intervention Q. Results: Between October 2022 and February 2023, a total of 767 trial participants were enrolled at six emergency departments in five U.S. cities. Median age was 46-years; 353 (46%) participants were female, 274 (36%) were African American, and 158 (21%) were Latinx; 126 (16%) lacked health insurance, and 244 (32%) lacked primary care. The Intervention M, Intervention Q, and control groups had 30-day vaccine uptakes of 41%, 32%, and 15%, respectively (P<0.0001 for Intervention M vs. control). Comparing Intervention M versus Intervention Q, the adjusted difference in 30-day vaccine uptake was 8.7 percentage points (95% confidence interval, -0.1 to 17.6 percentage points). Conclusions: Implementation of influenza vaccine messaging platforms (video clips, printed materials, and verbal scripts) improved 30-day vaccine uptake among unvaccinated patients in the emergency department. (Funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT05836818.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine whether the authors' emergency medicine department has seen a significant change in CT pulmonary angiography (CTPA) utilization or positive rates for pulmonary embolism (PE) over a 10-year period for the 2 years before and 8 years after the implementation of patient population-specific D-dimer recommendations.Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed among all patients belonging to a geographically isolated health maintenance organization who underwent CTPA for the evaluation of acute PE in the emergency department between 2010 and 2019. The positive rate for acute PE among these studies was calculated and stratified by serum D-dimer value collected within 48 hours previously.Results: A total of 6,013 CT pulmonary angiographic studies were reviewed, of which 40.2% had serum D-dimer ≥ 1.0 μg/mL (positive rate 10.6%), 42.5% did not have serum D-dimer drawn (positive rate 7.3%), and 17.2% had serum D-dimer < 1.0 μg/mL (positive rate 0.6%). There was a significant increase in positivity on CTPA in 2012 with the health group's formal recommendation of a D-dimer cutoff of 1.0 μg/mL. This improvement also corresponded with fewer orders for CTPA after a negative D-dimer result. However, in the following years, CTPA utilization and percentage positivity were found to be reverting to the prerecommendation statistics.Conclusions: The failure to mandate the use of serum D-dimer with a higher threshold value for patients who are to undergo CTPA for possible PE has resulted in poor lasting compliance despite promising early results. A firmer approach is likely necessary to yield positive long-term outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: While high-sensitivity (hs) troponin (cTn) has been associated with shorter emergency department (ED) length of stay (LOS) and decreased hospital admissions outside the United States (US), concerns have been raised that it will have opposite effects in the US. In this study, we aimed to compare ED LOS, admissions, and acute coronary syndrome (ACS) diagnoses before and after the implementation of hs-cTn.Methods: We conducted a single-institution, retrospective study of two temporally matched six-month study periods before and after the implementation of hs-cTn. We included consecutive adults presenting with chest pain. The primary outcome was ED LOS, which was log transformed and analyzed using multiple linear regression. Binary secondary outcomes of admissions, cardiac testing, cardiology consultation, and ACS diagnoses were analyzed using multiple logistic regression.Results: We studied 1589 visits before and 1616 visits after implementation of hs-cTn. Median age and sex ratios were similar between study periods. Median ED LOS was longer in the post-implementation period [post: 384 (interquartile range, IQR 260-577) minutes; pre: 374 (IQR 250-564) minutes; adjusted geometric mean ratio 1.05; 95% confidence interval, CI 1.01-1.10)]. Admissions were lower in the post-implementation period [post: 24% (385/1616) vs. pre: 28% (447/1589); adjusted odds ratio, aOR 0.75 (95% CI 0.64-0.88)]. Cardiac risk stratification testing [pre: 9% (142/1589) vs post: 9% (144/1616); aOR 0.95 (95% CI 0.74-1.22)], cardiology consultation [pre: 13% (208/1589) vs post: 13% (207/1616); aOR 0.91 (95% CI 0.73-1.12)], and ACS diagnoses [pre: 7% (116/1589) vs post: 7% (120/1616); aOR 0.94 (95% CI 0.72-1.24)] were similar between the two study periods.Conclusion: In this single-center study, transition to hs-cTn was associated with an increased ED LOS, decreased admissions, and no substantial change in cardiac risk stratification testing, cardiology consultation, or ACS diagnoses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is limited data regarding the use of emergency departments (EDs) for infectious disease screening and vaccination in resource-limited regions. In these settings, EDs are often the only contact that patients have with the healthcare system, turning an ED visit into an opportune time to deliver preventative health services.Methods: In this pilot study, patients that met inclusion criteria were prospectively tested for hepatitis B surface antigen test (HBsAg). Previously unvaccinated patients who tested negative for HBsAg were offered HBV vaccination. The study setting was a public infectious disease hospital in Cordoba, Argentina. The primary outcomes were new HBV diagnoses, as well as vaccination completion between screening modalities (Point-of-Care-Testing-POCT vs. laboratory testing) and same vs. different day vaccination.Results: We screened 100 patients for HBV (75 POCT & 25 laboratory). The median age of participants was 35 years (IQR 24-52) and 55% were male. No patients tested positive for HBsAg. All patients who completed first dose vaccination were initially screened with the POCT. No patients screened with laboratory testing returned for vaccination. Patients who were scheduled for vaccination the same day were more likely to complete vaccination compared to those scheduled for another day (75% vs. 14%, p < .001).Conclusion: Our study supports the use of HBV POCTs in the ED in conjunction with vaccination of HBV-negative individuals. In regions with low HBV endemicity, direct vaccination without HBsAg testing may be more cost effective. We believe that this acute-care screening model is applicable to other resource-limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]