Impact of a pilot pathway for the management of @entity1902 -like symptoms in an emergency department: A case study following a XXXX outbreak.

@entity1 @entity1337 @entity5746 @entity1902
OBJECTIVE: This research aims to describe the effect of standard care (control) versus a clinical management pathway (intervention) on @entity1 length of stay and admission rates during a public health emergency at one Australian ED. METHODS: A retrospective audit of hospital records for @entity1 who presented in May 2013 with @entity1902 -like symptoms was undertaken following a surge in @entity1 presentations from a @entity5746 outbreak. @entity1 who presented with @entity1902 -like symptoms between 15 and 19 May 2013 received care according to a clinical management pathway (intervention). The focus of the intervention was based on symptom management, including a standardised approach to @entity1337 , anti-emetics and rehydration. @entity1 characteristics, such as age and gender are described using descriptive statistics. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare continuous data, and a Fisher's exact test was used to compare categorical data, between the two groups. RESULTS: Over an 8 day period, 110 @entity1 presented with @entity1902 -like symptoms. The median length of stay was statistically different between the two groups (P   <   0.001). More @entity1 were admitted to hospital from the control group (n   =   5) when compared with the intervention group (n   =   0); however, given the small number of @entity1 in these groups, inferential statistical analysis was not a reasonable consideration. CONCLUSION: The length of stay for @entity1 between the two groups was statistically different, suggesting that the implementation of a clinical management pathway for @entity1 with @entity1902 -like symptoms reduced the ED length of stay. This finding is useful in future planning for similar public health emergency responses and/or for use when @entity1 present with @entity1902 -like symptoms on a daily basis.
