Medscape October 6, 2022
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.
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....