Updating a Healthcare System-wide Clinical Pathway for Managing Chest Pain and Acute Coronary Syndromes.

Clinical pathways are useful tools for conveying and reinforcing best practices to standardize care and optimize patient outcomes across myriad conditions. The NewYork-Presbyterian Healthcare System has utilized a clinical chest pain pathway for more than 20 years to facilitate the timely recognition and management of patients presenting with chest pain syndromes and acute coronary syndromes. This chest pain pathway is regularly updated by an expanding group of key stakeholders, which has extended from the Columbia University Irving Medical Center to encompass the entire regional healthcare system, which includes 8 hospitals. In this 2023 update of the NewYork-Presbyterian clinical chest pain pathway, we present the key changes to the healthcare system-wide clinical chest pain pathway.

Novel Use of Telepalliative Care in a New York City Emergency Department During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus-2 (COVID-19) is a global pandemic. As of August 21, mortality from COVID-19 has reached almost 200,000 people, with the United States leading the globe in levels of morbidity and mortality. Large volumes of high-acuity patients, particularly those of advanced age and with chronic comorbidities, have significantly increased the need for palliative care resources beyond usual capacity. More specifically, COVID-19 has changed the way we approach patient and family member interactions. DISCUSSION: Concern for nosocomial spread of this infection has resulted in strict visitation restrictions that have left many patients to face this illness, make difficult decisions, and even die, alone in the hospital. To meet the needs of COVID patients, services such as Emergency Medicine and Palliative Care have responded rapidly by adopting novel ways of practicing medicine. We describe the use of telepalliative medicine (TM) implemented in an emergency department (ED) setting to allow family members the ability to interact with their loved ones during critical illness, and even during the end of life. Use of this technology has helped facilitate goals of care discussions, in addition to providing contact and closure for both patients and their loved ones. CONCLUSION: We describe our rapid and ongoing implementation of TM consultation for our ED patients and discuss lessons learned and recommendations for others considering similar care models.

Freestanding Emergency Critical Care During the Aftermath of Hurricane Sandy: Implications for Disaster Preparedness and Response.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of an emergency intensive care unit (EICU) established concomitantly with a freestanding emergency department (ED) during the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed records of all patients in Bellevue's EICU from freestanding ED opening (December 10, 2012) until hospital inpatient reopening (February 7, 2013). Temporal and clinical data, and disposition upon EICU arrival, and ultimate disposition were evaluated. RESULTS: Two hundred twenty-seven patients utilized the EICU, representing approximately 1.8% of freestanding ED patients. Ambulance arrival occurred in 31.6% of all EICU patients. Median length of stay was 11.55 hours; this was significantly longer for patients requiring airborne isolation (25.60 versus 11.37 hours, P<0.0001 by Wilcoxon rank sum test). After stabilization and treatment, 39% of EICU patients had an improvement in their disposition status (P<0.0001 by Wilcoxon signed rank test); upon interhospital transfer, the absolute proportion of patients requiring ICU and SDU resources decreased from 37.8% to 27.1% and from 22.2% to 2.7%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: An EICU attached to a freestanding ED achieved significant reductions in resource-intensive medical care. Flexible, adaptable care systems should be explored for implementation in disaster response. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:496-502).