Quality improvement initiative: improving obstetric triaging practices in a rural maternal hospital in central India.

Triaging of obstetric patients by emergency care providers is paramount. It helps provide appropriate and timely management to prevent further injury and complications. Standardised trauma acuity scales have limited applicability in obstetric triage. Specific obstetric triage index tools improve maternal and neonatal outcomes but remain underused. The aim was to introduce a validity-tested obstetric triage tool to improve the percentage of correctly triaged patients (correctly colour-coded in accordance with triage index tool and attended to within the stipulated time interval mandated by the tool) from the baseline of 49% to more than 90% through a quality improvement (QI) process.A team of nurses, obstetricians and postgraduates did a root cause analysis to identify the possible reasons for incorrect triaging of obstetric patients using process flow mapping and fish bone analysis. Various change ideas were tested through sequential Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles to address issues identified.The interventions included introduction and application of an obstetric triage index tool, training of triage nurses and residents. We implemented these interventions in eight PDSA cycles and observed outcomes by using run charts. A set of process, output and outcome indicators were used to track if changes made were leading to improvement.Proportion of correctly triaged women increased from the baseline of 49% to more than 95% over a period of 8 months from February to September 2020, and the results have been sustained in the last PDSA cycle, and the triage system is still sustained with similar results. The median triage waiting time reduced from the baseline of 40 min to less than 10 min. There was reduction in complications attributable to improper triaging such as preterm delivery, prolonged intensive care unit stay and overall morbidity. It can be thus concluded that a QI approach improved obstetric triaging in a rural maternity hospital in India.

The role of stroke care infrastructure on the effectiveness of a hub-and-spoke telestroke model in South Carolina.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between stroke care infrastructure and stroke quality-of-care outcomes at 29 spoke hospitals participating in the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) hub-and-spoke telestroke network. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Encounter-level data from MUSC's telestroke patient registry were filtered to include encounters during 2015-2022 for patients aged 18 and above with a clinical diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke, and who received intravenous tissue plasminogen activator. Unadjusted and adjusted generalized estimating equations assessed associations between time-related stroke quality-of-care metrics captured during the encounter and the existence of the two components of stroke care infrastructure-stroke coordinators and stroke center certifications-across all hospitals and within hospital subgroups defined by size and rurality. RESULTS: Telestroke encounters at spoke hospitals with stroke coordinators and stroke center certifications were associated with shorter door-to-needle (DTN) times (60.9 min for hospitals with both components and 57.3 min for hospitals with one, vs. 81.2 min for hospitals with neither component, p <.001). Similar patterns were observed for the percentage of encounters with DTN time of ≤60 min (63.8% and 68.9% vs. 32.0%, p <.001) and ≤45 min (34.0% and 38.4% vs. 8.42%, p <.001). Associations were similar for other metrics (e.g., door-to-registration time), and were stronger for smaller (vs. larger) hospitals and rural (vs. urban) hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Stroke coordinators or stroke center certifications may be important for stroke quality of care, especially at spoke hospitals with limited resources or in rural areas.

Are patient volume and care level in teaching hospitals variables affecting clinical outcomes in adult intensive care units?

Teixeira et al. showed that patients admitted to the intensive care unit of a teaching hospital in a non-metropolitan region needed more support, had worse prognostic indices, and had a higher nursing workload in the first 24 hours of admission. In addition, worse outcomes, including mortality, need for dialysis, pressure injury, infection, prolonged mechanical ventilation, and prolonged hospital stay, were observed in the teaching hospital. Worse outcomes were more prevalent in the teaching hospital. Understanding the importance of teaching hospitals to implement well-established care protocols is critical. OBJECTIVE: To compare the clinical outcomes of patients admitted to the intensive care unit of teaching (HI) and nonteaching (without an academic affiliation; H2) hospitals. METHODS: In this prospective cohort study, adult patients hospitalized between August 2018 and July 2019, with a minimum length of stay of 24 hours in the intensive care unit, were included. Patients with no essential information in their medical records to evaluate the study outcomes were excluded. Resuslts: Overall, 219 patients participated in this study. The clinical and demographic characteristics of patients in H1 and H2 were similar. The most prevalent clinical outcomes were death, need for dialysis, pressure injury, length of hospital stay, mechanical ventilation >48 hours, and infection, all of which were more prevalent in the teaching hospital. CONCLUSION: Worse outcomes were more prevalent in the teaching hospital. There was no difference between the institutions concerning the survival rate of patients as a function of length of hospital stay; however, a difference was observed in intensive care unit admissions.

Quality of Care Before and After Mergers and Acquisitions of Rural Hospitals.

Importance: Rural hospitals are increasingly merging with other hospitals. The associations of hospital mergers with quality of care need further investigation. Objectives: To examine changes in quality of care for patients at rural hospitals that merged compared with those that remained independent. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this case-control study, mergers at community nonrehabilitation hospitals in Federal Office of Rural Health Policy-eligible zip codes during 2009 to 2016 in 32 states were identified from Irving Levin Associates and the American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Outcomes for inpatient stays for select conditions and elective procedures were derived from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases. Difference-in-differences linear probability models were used to assess premerger to postmerger changes in outcomes for patients discharged from merged vs comparison hospitals that remained independent. Data were analyzed from February to December 2020. Exposures: Hospital mergers. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was in-hospital mortality among patients admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, stroke, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, hip fracture, or pneumonia, as well as complications during stays for elective surgeries. Results: A total of 172 merged hospitals and 266 comparison hospitals were analyzed. After matching, baseline patient characteristics were similar for 303 747 medical stays and 175 970 surgical stays at merged hospitals and 461 092 medical stays and 278 070 surgical stays at comparison hospitals. In-hospital mortality among AMI stays decreased from premerger to postmerger at merged hospitals (9.4% to 5.0%) and comparison hospitals (7.9% to 6.3%). Adjusting for patient, hospital, and community characteristics, the decrease in in-hospital mortality among AMI stays 1 year postmerger was 1.755 (95% CI, -2.825 to -0.685) percentage points greater at merged hospitals than at comparison hospitals (P < .001). This finding held up to 4 years postmerger (DID, -2.039 [95% CI, -3.388 to -0.691] percentage points; P = .003). Greater premerger to postmerger decreases in mortality at merged vs comparison hospitals were also observed at 5 years postmerger among stays for heart failure (DID, -0.756 [95% CI, -1.448 to -0.064] percentage points; P = .03), stroke (DID, -1.667 [95% CI, -3.050 to -0.283] percentage points; P = .02), and pneumonia (DID, -0.862 [95% CI, -1.681 to -0.042] percentage points; P = .04). Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that rural hospital mergers were associated with better mortality outcomes for AMI and several other conditions. This finding is important to enhancing rural health care and reducing urban-rural disparities in quality of care.

Strategies to ensure efficient laboratory functioning while navigating through the COVID-19 crisis in developing countries: An early experience from a tertiary care centre in India.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID 19) is a zoonotic viral infection that originated in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. It was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization shortly thereafter. This pandemic is going to have a lasting impact on the functioning of pathology laboratories due to the frequent handling of potentially infectious samples by the laboratory personnel. To deal with this unprecedented situation, various national and international guidelines have been put forward outlining the precautions to be taken during sample processing from a potentially infectious patient. PURPOSE: Most of these guidelines are centered around laboratories that are a part of designated COVID 19 hospitals. However, proper protocols need to be in place in all laboratories, irrespective of whether they are a part of COVID 19 hospital or not as this would greatly reduce the risk of exposure of laboratory/hospital personnel. As part of a laboratory associated with a rural cancer hospital which is not a dedicated COVID 19 hospital, we aim to present our institute's experience in handling pathology specimens during the COVID 19 era. CONCLUSION: We hope this will address the concerns of small to medium sized laboratories and help them build an effective strategy required for protecting the laboratory personnel from risk of exposure and also ensure smooth and optimum functioning of the laboratory services.

The impact of Covid-19 pandemic related lockdown on clubfoot practice: Type of study design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

ABSTRACT: We investigated whether the number of pediatric patients with congenital clubfoot treated with the Ponseti method decreased during the Covid-19 pandemic or not in a rural area. So we aimed to guide orthopedic surgeons and health infrastructure for future pandemics to be prepared in hospitals of rural areas for the treatment of children with congenital clubfoot.One hundred and fifty-four patients with clubfoot who were admitted to our clinic were evaluated retrospectively from March 2017 to December 2020. Institutional hospital electronic database was used to detect the number of weeks between the birth and first cast performed in clinic and the number of casts been applied and unilaterality or bilaterality. Patients were divided into four groups, which included pandemic period and three previous years. Recorded data were analyzed statistically to detect if there is a difference between the numbers of the patients in pandemic period and three previous years.The number of patients with clubfoot admitted to our hospital between March 2020 and December 2020 increased by 140% compared to previous year. There was a statistically significant difference between the average number of cast applications of Group 4 and other groups (P <.001). Achilles tenotomy was performed in 44 (61.1%) of 72 patients admitted during the pandemic period. Only 4 (13.3%) out of 30 patients admitted between March 2019 and December 2019 were performed Achilles tenotomy.We detected an increase in the number of clubfoot cases admitted to our rural-based hospital during the Covid-19 pandemic, treated with casting or surgically. We think this is because of preventive measures during the pandemic, which caused parents could not reach urban for treatment.

US Rural Surgeon Responses to the COVID-19 Pandemic: Leadership in a Time of Crisis.

Nine surgeons from rural and remote communities in the United States share early experiences preparing for the COVID-19 pandemic. Relating experiences remarkably different from health care providers in urban areas in America most affected by the first stages of the outbreak, they tell the challenges of organizing resources in facilities already struggling with poverty-stricken communities far from established health care resources and supplies. From Alaska to Appalachia and the Navajo Nation to the rural midwest, they show the leadership and professionalism that exemplify rural surgery.

[Medical laboratories and quality of care: the most neglected components of rural hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo]. / Laboratoires médicaux et qualité des soins: la partie la plus négligée au niveau des hôpitaux ruraux de la République Démocratique du Congo.

INTRODUCTION: Quality of care is essential to save people living with different diseases. However, inappropriate diagnosis may in no case lead to proper patient management as well as to quality of care. We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive analysis in three laboratories at the General Hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. METHODS: A team of national experts in the field of laboratories conducted a survey in the three clinical laboratories of the General Hospitals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Observations, visits and structured interviews using a questionnaire were used to assess the performance of these clinical laboratories. We also used a national evaluation guidance for the assessment of laboratories. RESULTS: The clinical laboratories of the General Hospitals visited showed many deficits, in particular, in infrastructures, in the basic and continuous training of the personnel, in the equipment, in supervision and quality control. Technical performances of these laboratories were not adapted to meet the needs of the population with regard to diseases frequently encountered in these areas. We also noted that these laboratories are little or almost not assisted and that there was no coordination team dedicated to the supervision and the assessment of laboratories in the hospital or even in the health zone. In addition, technicians working in their different laboratories had not been supervised over many years. CONCLUSION: Clinical laboratory improvement would allow for proper diagnosis of different diseases. This improvement should take into account local diseases. Within the system, it is important to devote more attention to clinical laboratories. Advocacy for this neglected component of the health system is necessary, as this situation could be the same in many developing countries.

Improving urinary catheterisation practices in a rural hospital in Ontario.

INTRODUCTION: A urinary catheter constitutes a one-point patient restraint, can induce deconditioning and may lead to patient mortality. An audit performed at Winchester District Memorial Hospital revealed that 20% of patients had a urinary catheter, of whom 31% did not meet the criteria for catheterisation. The main objective of this study was to use the Influencer Change Model and the Choosing Wisely Canada toolkit to create a bundle of interventions that would reduce the unnecessary use of urinary catheters in hospitalised patients. METHODS: In a rural teaching hospital, a time-series quasi-experiment was employed to decrease inappropriate use of urinary catheters. Both the Choosing Wisely Canada toolkit for appropriate use of urinary catheters and the Influencer change management approach were used to create effective interventions. RESULTS: This study revealed that there was no improvement in appropriate urinary catheter use during Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycle 1. There was gradual improvement during PDSA cycle 2, with the percentage of inappropriate urinary catheter use dropping from an initial 31% before any interventions to less than 5% by the end of this study. DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: This study aimed to reduce the inappropriate use of urinary catheters in a rural hospital with limited resources. The findings indicate that by using a change model, such as the Influencer Change Model, it is possible to promote better patient care through empowering healthcare staff to implement accepted protocols more stringently and thereby to decrease the inappropriate use of urinary catheters to 0%.

Impact of rural hospital environments on patients and nurses.

Rural hospitals provide life-saving acute care from a consistent group of care providers. Rural hospitals with financial difficulties operate under tight margins as an attempt to prevent closure, which could contribute to not completing repairs needed to the hospital building. This paper explores an ethical dilemma for rural hospital nurse administrators, which is, "Is it better for a rural hospital building is disrepair to remain open so that it can provide a place for some degree of acute care services to be offered in the rural community-or-if a hospital building has structural problems that could lead to harm, should hospital operations cease until a solution is found?" To illustrate this dilemma, I will discuss the challenges of rural hospital administrators and a first-hand experience I had as a bedside nurse who experienced a dangerous near miss related to the built environment. Rural hospitals operating in a built environment in disrepair might need to consider nontraditional, even unusual, solutions to provide safer care given financial constraints. Rural businesses and institutions could consider sharing their building space to provide a safer built environment for nurses and patients while also not placing hospitals at further risk of financial distress.

Narrowing performance gap between rural and urban hospitals for acute myocardial infarction care.

BACKGROUND: Rural communities experience significant barriers to quality healthcare, including disparities in medical care following acute myocardial infarctions (AMI). This study sought to determine if the population density of the county where Medicare patients were hospitalized following AMI predicted short-term outcomes and to quantify longitudinal changes in hospital performance on quality of care metrics. METHODS: Hospital-level data was queried from the 2012 and 2018 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services archives. Each hospital was classified based on residing county using the National Center for Health Statistics Rural-Urban Continuum Codes (RUCC). Variations and longitudinal changes in risk-adjusted outcomes and quality of care metrics were stratified by RUCC classification and analyzed. RESULTS: Among the 4798 hospitals identified, rural hospitals had significantly higher risk-adjusted 30-day mortality (rs = 0.095, p < 0.001) and decreased statin prescribed at discharge (rs = -0.066, p = 0.004). Only aspirin (R2 = 0.003, p = 0.024) and statin (R2 = 0.006, p = 0.001) prescribed at discharge were correlated with improved 30-day mortality. Despite these differences, from 2012 to 2018 the performance gap between rural and urban hospitals narrowed for all but one quality of care metric, with concurrent 1.83% [95% CI 1.76-1.90] and 3.37% [95% CI 3.30-3.44] reductions in mortality and hospital readmissions, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In the United States, only modest variations currently exist between rural and urban hospitals in the medical care of AMI. Although the performance gap has narrowed, new strategies to improve timely and effective care are necessary to alleviate residual cardiovascular healthcare disparities in rural communities.

Are Rural Hospitals in Pakistan Responding to the Global Surgery Movement? An Analysis of the Gaps, Challenges and Opportunities.

BACKGROUND: Access to essential surgical care is vital for reduction in mortality and morbidity as a result of surgical conditions. These account for 28-32% of the overall global burden of disease, yet billions of people lack access to safe, affordable surgical and anesthesia care when needed. The purpose of this study was to assess the capacity for surgical care in rural hospitals across four provinces of Pakistan. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study undertaken in 10 rural hospitals across four provinces of the country. Of these, six were district and four sub-district hospitals that were purposively selected in consultation with the government. Data were gathered using the WHO-PGSSC Surgical Assessment Tool. RESULTS: This study estimated 3 of the 6 indicators proposed by the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery. While most hospitals had basic provisions of infrastructure and equipment, severe shortage of specialists was observed with 0.56 specialists (surgeons, gynecologists and anesthetists) present per 100,000 population. Two-hour access was possible for the catchment population of 7 out of the 10 hospitals. Of the 43 essential surgical procedures assessed, 13 or 30% procedures were available per hospital. The three Bellwether procedures were provided by only 1 hospital. Mean number of surgeries performed was 753 ± 979 per 100,000 population. CONCLUSIONS: Our study has demonstrated major gaps in the provision of surgical care in rural hospitals in Pakistan. While developing a strategy and national action plan is necessary, implementation can immediately begin at the local level to address the gaps that need urgent attention.

Benchmarking blood sugar control in the small rural intensive care unit.

Objective: We sought to determine a benchmark for our blood glucose monitoring and compare our data to published data.Methods: Natividad Medical Center is a 172-bed rural hospital located in Salinas, California.Point of care blood glucose (POC-BG) data was extracted from our EMR for all ICU patients greater than 18 years of age between January 2014 and May 2018. Patient day-weighted mean POC-BGs were calculated for each patient by calculating the average POC-BG per day for each patient. Proportion measurements for each of our measurements groups were recorded (>180 mg/dL, <70 mg/dL, >250 mg/dL and <50 mg/dL). Monthly averages were plotted for visual comparison. Benchmarks were calculated by using 2x Standard Deviation for each measurement group.Results: A total of 3164 patients were found with 21,006 POC-BG measurements. The average POC-BG was 136 mg/dL and median 119 mg/dL. Proportion measurements of monthly day-weighted mean POC-BGs ranged from 0-1.2%, 5.3-44.8%, 0-0.3% and 0.6-16.5%, respectively for less than 70 mg/dL, greater than 180 mg/dL, less than 50 mg/dL and greater than 250 mg/dL. A 2x Standard Deviation was used to calculate our benchmark cut offs which provides a 95% confidence interval and includes 97.5% when neglecting the lower range. Our calculated benchmark values are 1.2, 38.2, 0.19, and 13.1% respectively for measurement groups less than 70 mg/dL, greater than 180 mg/dL, less than 50 mg/dL and greater than 250 mg/dL.Conclusion: Here we present data from a small rural hospital in the Western United States. We calculated benchmarks that could be used to track our ongoing hyper/hypoglycemia improvement projects. We found that when compared to published data, our hyper/hypoglycemia data was comparable to national data.

Exploring physicians, nurses and ward-based pharmacists working relationships in a Swedish inpatient setting: a mixed methods study.

Background In Sweden there has been limited work investigating the integration and nature of collaborative relationships between pharmacists and other healthcare practitioners. Objective To explore the working relationships of physicians, nurses and ward-based pharmacists in a rural hospital after the introduction of a clinical pharmacy service. Setting General medical ward in a rural hospital in northern Sweden. Method Mixed methods involving face-to-face semi-structured interviews with nurses, physicians and pharmacists, and a physician survey using the Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration Index to measure the extent of physician-reported collaborative working relationships. Main outcome measure Perceptions about collaborative working relationships between physician, nurses and pharmacists. Results All physicians (n = 9) who interacted with the clinical pharmacists completed the survey. The mean total score was 78.6 ± 4.7, total 92 (higher scores represent a more advanced relationship). Mean domain scores were highest for relationship initiation (13.0 ± 1.3, total 15), and trustworthiness (38.9 ± 3.4, total 42), followed by role specification (26.3 ± 2.6, total 30). The interviews (with nurses and physicians), showed how communication, collaboration and joint knowledge-exchange in the intervention changed and developed over time. Conclusion This study provides new insights into collaborative working relationships from the perspectives of physicians and nurses. The Physician-Pharmacist Collaboration Index scores suggest that physicians felt that clinical pharmacists were active in providing patient care; could be trusted to follow up on recommendations; and were credible. The interviews suggest that the team-based intervention provided good conditions for creating new ways to work to achieve commitment to professional working relationships.

Relevance of using length of stay as a key indicator to monitor emergency department performance: Case study from a rural hospital in Thailand.

OBJECTIVE: The present study explores factors related to length of stay (LOS) in a rural public hospital in Thailand and assesses the feasibility of using LOS as an ED key performance indicator. METHODS: Using a mixed-methods approach, qualitative methods (in-depth interviews, patients' chart review and participatory observations) were used to guide and elaborate findings from quantitative analysis of 555 electronic ED records. RESULTS: Multivariate analysis revealed that age, Emergency Severity Index score and number of laboratory tests were significantly associated with LOS. The qualitative approach provided contradicting evidence on the linkage between LOS and patient outcomes. On the one hand, considering the 4 h rule, a child with asthma was referred to a tertiary care hospital because of deterioration after 4 h of ED care. On the other hand, a woman with sepsis was hospitalised with improved condition despite 7 h of ED care. Interviews revealed the waiting time to see doctors was probably the top priority issue for patients. CONCLUSIONS: Factors related to LOS in a rural hospital in Thailand are similar and in contrast to those of a previous study in a medical school setting. Reasons for the discrepancy of findings and implications for improving ED services were discussed. Our data support the notion of controversy in using LOS as a key indicator of ED performance in this rural hospital setting. Thus, it is imperative to not rely on any single throughput or process indicators to monitor ED performance, but to take into account a set of indicators including patient outcomes.

Nurses' experiences of working in rural hospitals: An integrative review.

AIM: To critically analyse the international literature describing the experiences of nurses working in rural hospitals. BACKGROUND: Nursing shortages in rural areas is an ongoing issue. Given the significant role nurses play in the delivery of rural health care, a sufficient workforce is essential. However, maintaining this workforce is challenging. Understanding the experiences of nurses working in rural hospitals is essential to inform strategies around job satisfaction and staff retention. EVALUATION: An integrative review was conducted. Six primary sources were included related to the experiences of nurses working in rural hospitals. RESULTS: Four themes emerged, namely: (a) Professional Development; (b) Workplace stressors; (c) Teamwork; and (d) Community. CONCLUSION: There is a need for further research exploring the experiences of nurses working in rural hospitals and its impact on job satisfaction, turnover intention and patient safety. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: This review highlights some key issues impacting nurses' working in rural hospitals. This understanding can be used by nurse managers to inform strategies for recruitment and retention of nurses in these areas.

Hospital Quality Metrics: "America's Best Hospitals" and Outcomes After Ischemic Stroke.

BACKGROUND: Developing quality metrics to assess hospital-level care and outcomes is increasingly popular in the United States. The U.S. News & World Report ranking of "America's Best Hospitals" is an existing, popular hospital-profiling system, but it is unknown whether top-ranked hospitals in their report have better outcomes according to other hospital quality metrics such as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publicly reported 30-day stroke measures. METHODS: The analysis was based on the 2015-2016 U.S. News & World Report ranking of the 50 top-rated hospitals for neurology and neurosurgery and 2012-2014 CMS Hospital Compare Data. We used mixed models adjusted for hospital characteristics and weighted by hospital volume to compare 30-day risk-standardized mortality and readmission between top-ranked and other hospitals. Among the 50 top-ranked hospitals, we determined whether ranking order was associated with the CMS outcomes. RESULTS: Compared with 2737 other hospitals, the 50 top-ranked hospitals had lower 30-day mortality (14.8% versus 15.3%) but higher readmission (14.5% versus 13.3%). These patterns persisted in adjusted analyses with top-ranked hospitals having .72% (95% confidence interval [CI] -1.09%, -.34%) lower mortality and .41% (95% CI .16%, .67%) higher readmission. Among top-ranked hospitals, rank order was not associated with mortality (.05% decrease in mortality with each rank, 95% CI -.10%, .01%) or readmission (.02% increase; 95% CI -.03%, .06%). CONCLUSION: Admission to a top-ranked hospital for neurology or neurosurgery was associated with lower 30-day risk-standardized mortality but higher readmission after ischemic stroke. There was heterogeneity in outcomes among the 50 top-ranked hospitals.

Implementing Safe Practices in Administering Pro re nata Medications in a Rural Hospital.

Developing and implementing a policy for safe pro re nata medications practices became a priority when 1 nurse questioned a regularly occurring double-range narcotic order. This article describes how double-range medications can compromise patient safety and how a small rural hospital with minimal resources was able to develop an interdisciplinary practice standard to ensure safe medication practices.

Outcomes comparison in patients admitted to low complexity rural and urban intensive care units in the Veterans Health Administration.

PURPOSE: To evaluate mortality, length of stay, and inter-hospital transfer in the Veteran Health Administration (VHA) among low complexity Intensive Care Unit (ICU) patients. MATERIALS AND METHOD: Retrospective study of adult ICU admissions identified in VHA Medical SAS®; 2010-2015 at Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Centers. Facilities classified by the Rural Urban Commuting Area code algorithm as large rural (referred to as rural) (N = 6) or urban (N = 33). RESULTS: In rural hospitals, patients (N = 9665) were less likely to have a respiratory (12.9% v. 18.9%; p < .001) diagnosis, more likely diagnosed with sepsis (17.6% v. 4.9%), and had a higher illness severity score (42.0 vs. 41.4; p = .01) compared to urban (N = 65,846) counterparts. Mortality within ICU did not vary across facility rurality. In unadjusted analyses, facility rurality (rural vs. urban) was associated with reduced inter-hospital transfers (OR = 0.74; 95% CI = [0.69, 0.80]; p < .001) and a shorter ICU length of stay (RR = 0.82; 95% CI = [0.74, 0.91]; p < .001). This did not hold when the hierarchical data was accounted for. CONCLUSIONS: Despite challenges, low complexity ICUs in rural VA facilities fare similarly to urban counterparts. Being part of a national healthcare system may have benefits to explore in sustaining critical care access in rural areas outside the VA healthcare system.