Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33455841›Full record

ArticleAnnals of emergency medicine2021

Fair Play: Application of Normalized Scoring to Emergency Department Throughput Quality Measures in a National Registry.

Arjun Venkatesh, Shashank Ravi, Craig Rothenberg, Jeremiah Kinsman, Jean Sun, Pawan Goyal, James Augustine, Stephen K Epstein

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Annals of emergency medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Arjun VenkateshDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT; Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale New Haven Health System, New Haven, CT. Electronic address: arjun.venkatesh@yale.edu.
Shashank RaviDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Craig RothenbergDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Jeremiah KinsmanDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Jean SunDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT.
Pawan GoyalAmerican College of Emergency Physicians, Washington, DC.
James AugustineNational Clinical Governance Board, US Acute Care Solutions, Canton, OH.
Stephen K EpsteinDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA; Department of Emergency Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA.

Funding

Institutional Career Development CoreKL2TR001862 · NCATS · YALE UNIVERSITY · PI CANTLEY, LLOYD G, EDELMAN, E. JENNIFER · 2016 to 2025
$12.2M
NCATS NIH HHS KL2 TR001862
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

STUDY

objectiveThe measurement of emergency department (ED) throughput as a patient-centered quality measure is ubiquitous; however, marked heterogeneity exists between EDs, complicating comparisons for payment purposes. We evaluate 4 scoring methodologies for accommodating differences in ED visit volume and heterogeneity among ED groups that staff multiple EDs to improve the validity and "fairness" of ED throughput quality measurement in a national registry, with the goal of developing a volume-adjusted throughput measure that balances variation at the ED group level.

methodsWe conducted an ED group-level analysis using the 2017 American College of Emergency Physicians Clinical Emergency Data Registry data set, which included 548 ED groups inclusive of 889 unique EDs. We calculated ED throughput performance scores for each ED group by using 4 scoring approaches: plurality, simple average, weighted average, and a weighted standardized score. For comparison, ED groups (ie, taxpayer identification numbers) were grouped into 3 types: taxpayer identification numbers with only 1 ED; those with multiple EDs, but no ED with greater than 60,000 visits; and those with multiple EDs and at least 1 ED with greater than 60,000 visits.

resultsWe found marked differences in the classification of ED throughput performance between scoring approaches. The weighted standardized score (z score) approach resulted in the least skewed and most uniform distribution across the majority of ED types, with a kurtosis of 12.91 for taxpayer identification numbers composed of 1 ED, 2.58 for those with multiple EDs without any supercenter, and 3.56 for those with multiple EDs with at least 1 supercenter, all lower than comparable scoring methods. The plurality and simple average scoring approaches appeared to disproportionally penalize ED groups that staff a single ED or multiple large-volume EDs.

conclusionApplication of a weighted standardized (z score) approach to ED throughput measurement resulted in a more balanced variation between different ED group types and reduced distortions in the length-of-stay measurement among ED groups staffing high-volume EDs. This approach may be a more accurate and acceptable method of profiling ED group throughput pay-for-performance programs.

Indexed as

Quality Indicators, Health CareCenters for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.Emergency Service, HospitalHumansLength of StayQualitative ResearchRegistriesReimbursement, IncentiveUnited States

Identifiers

PMID33455841
PMCPMC9103009

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.