Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37474172›Full record

ArticleBMJ open2023

Impact of sequential capacity building on emergency department organisational flow during COVID-19 pandemic: a quasi-experimental study in a low-resource, tertiary care centre.

Syed Ghazanfar Saleem, Saima Ali, Ahwaz Akhtar, Adeel Khatri, Nabeel Ashraf, Imran Jamal, Quratulain Maroof, Tariq Aziz, Sama Mukhtar

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open, 2023. 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. Article
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

9 authors.

Syed Ghazanfar Saleem *Indus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan ghazanfar.saleem@tih.org.pk.
Saima Ali *Indus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Ahwaz AkhtarIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.ORCID 0000-0001-6535-174X
Adeel KhatriIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Nabeel AshrafIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Imran JamalIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Quratulain MaroofIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Tariq AzizIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.
Sama MukhtarIndus Hospital & Health Network, Karachi, Pakistan.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionA quasi-experimental study was conducted to estimate the impact of sequential emergency department (ED) capacity building interventions on key performance indicators such as patients' length of stay (LOS) and wait time (WT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This was achieved through augmenting personnel education and head count, space restructuring and workflow reorganisation. SETTING AND

participantsThis study included 268 352 patients presenting from January 2019 to December 2020 at Indus Hospital and Health network Karachi, a philanthropic tertiary healthcare facility in a city of 20 million residents. A follow-up study was undertaken from January to December 2021 with 123 938 participants. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: These included mean and median ED-LOS and WT for participants presenting in different cohorts. The results of the pre-COVID-19 year 2019 (phase 0) were compared with that of the COVID-19 year, 2020 (phases 1-3 corresponding to peaks, and phase 4 corresponding to reduction in caseloads). The follow-up was conducted in 2021 to see the sustainability of the sequential capacity building.

resultsPhases 1, 2 and 3 had a lower mean adjusted LOS (4.42, 3.92 and 4.40 hours) compared with phase 0 (4.78 hours, p<0.05) with the lowest numbers seen in phase 2. The same held true for WT with 45.1, 23.8 and 30.4 min in phases 1-3 compared with 49.9 in phase 0. However, phase 4 had a higher LOS but a lower WT when compared with phase 0 with a p<0.05.

conclusionSequential capacity building and improving the operational flow through stage appropriate interventions can be used to off-load ED patients and improve process flow metrics. This shows that models created during COVID-19 can be used to develop sustainable solutions and investment is needed in ideas such as ED-based telehealth to improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Indexed as

COVID-19Capacity BuildingEmergency Service, HospitalFollow-Up StudiesHumansLength of StayPandemicsRetrospective StudiesTertiary Care Centersadult intensive & critical careCOVID-19public health

Identifiers

PMID37474172
PMCPMC10360418

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.