Patient Identification of Their Emergency Department Providers: Assessing the Impact of a Targeted Intervention

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

10-2024

Publication Title

Annals of Emergency Medicine

Abstract

Study Objectives: In the dynamic environment of the emergency department (ED), establishing meaningful patient-provider relationships is challenged by the complex interplay of large care teams with diverse training levels. Recognizing the pivotal role identification plays in this interaction, we sought to address the prevalent issue of patients struggling to identify their providers. Our intervention aimed to enhance patient recognition of their care team during their ED experience. Methods: A single-center prospective randomized controlled trial was performed at a large academic hospital from August 2022 to November 2023. English-speaking patients 18 years or older with at least 2 hours of exposure to ED staff were considered for inclusion. Exclusions applied to hemodynamically unstable or mentally altered patients. The randomized allocation placed individuals in alternating fashion into either the intervention or control group. Patients in the intervention group underwent additional education and were provided with photographs of their care providers, accompanied by a succinct explanation of each provider’s role in their medical care. Following this intervention, both the intervention and control groups completed a survey while still in the ED. Categorical data underwent analysis through the Chi-square test, while continuous variables were assessed using the Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: A total of 117 patients were enrolled with 56 assigned to the study arm and 61 to the control arm. Mean age across all patients was 56. Patient and provider demographics, including age, race, and education level, exhibited similarities between the groups. Notably, a female predominance was observed in the study group (67%, p¼0.008). Patients in the study group were able to correctly identify their providers more frequently than controls (59.0% vs 41.1%, p¼0.05). Identification was not influenced by whether the provider was masked (p¼0.84). Conclusion: Implementation of a targeted patient education intervention yielded improvements in patient identification of their providers in the ED setting

Volume

84

Issue

4 Suppl 1

First Page

S199

Comments

American College of Emergency Physicians ACEP Research Forum, Sept 29 - Oct 2, 2024, Las Vegas, NV

DOI

10.1016/j.annemergmed.2024.08.442

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS