Association between Ambient Air Pollution and Hospital Emergency Admissions for Respiratory and Cardiovascular Diseases in Beijing: a Time Series Study

Objective To investigate the association between ambient air pollution and hospital emergency admissions in Beijing. Methods In this study, a semi-parametric generalized additive model （GAM） was used to evaluate the specific influences of air pollutants （PM10, SO2, and NO2） on hospital emergency admissions with different lag structures from 2009 to 2011, the sex and age specific influences of air pollution and the modifying effect of seasons on air pollution to analyze the possible interaction. Results It was found that a 10μg/m3 increase in concentration of PMlo at lag 03 day, SO2 and NO2 at lag 0 day were associated with an increase of 0.88%, 0.76%, and 1.82% respectively in overall emergency admissions. A 10 lag/m3 increase in concentration of PM10, SO2 and NO2 at lag 5 day were associated with an increase of 1.39%, 1.56%, and 1.18% respectively in cardiovascular disease emergency admissions. For lag 02, a 10 μg/m3 increase in concentration of PM10, SO2 and NO2 were associated with 1.72%, 1.34%, and 2.57% increases respectively in respiratory disease emergency admissions. Conclusion This study further confirmed that short-term exposure to ambient air pollution was associated with increased risk of hospital emergency admissions in Beijing.

Evaluating spatial accessibility to healthcare services from the lens of emergency hospital visits based on floating car data

Public medical facilities that are closely related to the health of residents have been recognised as one of the most crucial elements in sustainable urban planning.For the sake of social equality of medical services(especially for emergency medical conditions),the spatial distributions of medical resources need to be accurately measured and continuously optimized.This study presents an effective method to examine night emergency hospital visit and analyse its spatiotemporal characteristics using float car data(FCD).By extracting the hospital service areas,the two-step floating catchment area(2SFCA)methodology was improved to calculate hospital accessibility.Then,the balance between hospital accessibility and population density was analysed.In addition,we investigated the relationship between individual hospital choice preferences and hospital level and analysed several factors that affect individual choices.These results help us understand the special requirements and need of emergency hospital travel in cities and identify areas where medical resources are scarce.They can be used as guidance for urban hospital planning and construction.And the approach of hospital access behaviour investigation and the improved 2SFCA method can also provide insights for other activity-based travel behaviour research.

Effects of a general practitioner cooperative co-located with an emergency department on patient throughput

BACKGROUND:In 2013 a General Practitioner Cooperative(GPC) was introduced at the Emergency Department(ED) of our hospital.One of the aims of this co-located GPC was to improve throughput of the remaining patients at the ED.To determine the change in patient flow,we assessed the number of self-referrals,redirection of self-referrals to the GPC and back to the ED,as well as ward and ICU admission rates and length of stay of the remaining ED population.METHODS:We conducted a four months' pre-post comparison before and after the implementation of a co-located GPC with an urban ED in the Netherlands.RESULTS:More than half of our ED patients were self-referrals.At triage,54.5%of these selfreferrals were redirected to the GPC.After assessment at the GPC,8.5%of them were referred back to the ED.The number of patients treated at the ED declined with 20.3%after the introduction of the GPC.In the remaining ED population,there was a significant increase of highly urgent patients(P<0.001),regular admissions(P<0.001),and ICU admissions(P<0.001).Despite the decline of the number of patients at the ED,the total length of stay of patients treated at the ED increased from 14 682 hours in the two months' control period to 14 962 hours in the two months' intervention period,a total increase of 270 hours in two months(P<0.001).CONCLUSION:Introduction of a GPC led to efficient redirection of self-referrals but failed to improve throughput of the remaining patients at the ED.

Construction of an intelligent patient satisfaction assessment system and its application in emergency management

Hospital emergency management work is of great importance which not only related to the life and health of the people but also related to social stability.It is necessary to construct and improve the patient satisfaction assessment system so that doctors and patients can interact in a timely and effective manner,and the hospital can alert or respond promptly.This study constructs a closed-loop emergency management system consisting of patient-end,data center and decision-making-end,and apply the feedback information to hospital emergency management.In the preliminary applications,the system has a significant effect on the hospital emergency management mechanism.The researchers will improve the system in the follow-up study。

Developing Additional Hospital Capacity at the Community Level

Hospitals in the United States are being challenged to provide the capacity for adult medicine and surgery care. The study suggested that the hospitals of Syracuse, New York have generated additional inpatient capacity through a number of efforts. One program involved moving some low severity of illness inpatient procedures to ambulatory care. A different approach has also avoided inpatient utilization by diverting incoming ambulances to different providers. The third program evaluated in the study, length of stay reduction, was a different type of initiative. It has generated additional inpatient capacity by reducing the amount of inpatient care provided. In effect, it has increased inpatient capacity by addressing the efficiency of care. These programs illustrate the potential for improving hospital capacity at the community level. Each of them was developed by acute care providers using local services.

Dynamically monitoring tissue factor and tissue factor pathway inhibitor following secondary brain injury

Objective: To study the altering rule of coagulation function at molecular level in patients with secondary brain injury (SBI). Methods: Tissue factor (TF) and tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI) were studied in 32 patients 1, 2, 3 and 7 days after craniocerebral injury. Repeated cranial CT scans and platelet counts were made simultaneously. Same measurements were done in 30 normal adults except CT scan. Results: No obvious difference was found in age, sex and platelet count between the injured and the normal groups. TFPI/TF decreased markedly in the first week after injury in patients with SBI, but only decreased on the 7th day in the patients without obvious SBI. For the patients who developed delayed intracranial hematoma (DIH) or hematoma enlargement, TF rose only 1 and 2 days after injury, but TFPI had a tendency to rise again after a fall on the 3rd day. For those patients who developed no DIH, TF rose all the time within the 1st week. Conclusions: Decrease of TFPI/TF for a long time, especially within 3 days after injury, may be one of the most important reasons for SBI. High expression of TF for a relative short time and increase of TFPI after a fall within 3 days may be one of the important reasons for DIH or hematoma enlargement.