A provider-only patient care protocol was safe and efficient for delivery of emergency department (ED) care in response to pandemic-related staff shortages, based on data from nearly 3000 patients.
The COVID-19 pandemic sparked a shortage of healthcare personnel, according to Tanveer Gaibi, MD, of INOVA Fairfax Hospital, Falls Church, Virginia, and colleagues. To help manage these challenges, the INOVA emergency department developed a Provider-Only Patients (POP) protocol for patients who required minimal nursing care.
Dr Tanveer Gaibi
In a study presented at the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) 2022 Scientific Assembly, the researchers reported the outcomes of a cohort of patients with suspected COVID-19 who were treated in the emergency department using the POP between Dec. 1, 2021, and Jan. 15, 2022. The patients ranged in age from 21 to 64, and all presented with COVID-19-related complaints, with an Emergency Severity Index (ESI) of 4 or 5, with 1 being the most urgent and 5 being the least urgent.
Patients were triaged by a physician or nurse to determine POP status. Those deemed POP patients were seen and discharged directly by a physician or advanced practice provider (APP). The researchers reviewed data from a total of 640 patients treated via POP and 2386 non-POP patients with ESI of 4 or 5.
