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Evaluation of a digital triage platform in Uganda: A quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to antibiotic administration.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND:Sepsis is the leading cause of death in children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The rapid identification of the sickest children and timely antibiotic administration may improve outcomes. We developed and implemented a digital triage platform to rapidly identify critically ill children to facilitate timely intravenous antibiotic administration. OBJECTIVE:This quality improvement initiative sought to reduce the time to antibiotic administration at a dedicated children's hospital outpatient department in Mbarara, Uganda. INTERVENTION AND STUDY DESIGN:The digital platform consisted of a mobile application that collects clinical signs, symptoms, and vital signs to prioritize children through a combination of emergency triggers and predictive risk algorithms. A computer-based dashboard enabled the prioritization of children by displaying an overview of all children and their triage categories. We evaluated the impact of the digital triage platform over an 11-week pre-implementation phase and an 11-week post-implementation phase. The time from the end of triage to antibiotic administration was compared to evaluate the quality improvement initiative. RESULTS:There was a difference of -11 minutes (95% CI, -16.0 to -6.0; p < 0.001; Mann-Whitney U test) in time to antibiotics, from 51 minutes (IQR, 27.0-94.0) pre-implementation to 44 minutes (IQR, 19.0-74.0) post-implementation. Children prioritized as emergency received the greatest time benefit (-34 minutes; 95% CI, -9.0 to -58.0; p < 0.001; Mann-Whitney U test). The proportion of children who waited more than an hour until antibiotics decreased by 21.4% (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION:A data-driven patient prioritization and continuous feedback for healthcare workers enabled by a digital triage platform led to expedited antibiotic therapy for critically ill children with sepsis. This platform may have a more significant impact in facilities without existing triage processes and prioritization of treatments, as is commonly encountered in low resource settings.

SUBMITTER: Lee V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7531789 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Evaluation of a digital triage platform in Uganda: A quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to antibiotic administration.

Lee Victor V Dunsmuir Dustin D Businge Stephen S Tumusiime Robert R Karugaba James J Wiens Matthew O MO Görges Matthias M Kissoon Niranjan N Orach Sam S Kasyaba Ronald R Ansermino J Mark JM

PloS one 20201002 10

<h4>Background</h4>Sepsis is the leading cause of death in children under five in low- and middle-income countries. The rapid identification of the sickest children and timely antibiotic administration may improve outcomes. We developed and implemented a digital triage platform to rapidly identify critically ill children to facilitate timely intravenous antibiotic administration.<h4>Objective</h4>This quality improvement initiative sought to reduce the time to antibiotic administration at a dedi ...[more]

PMID: 33007047

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Project description:BackgroundEffective triage at hospitals can improve outcomes for children globally by helping identify and prioritize care for those most at-risk of death. Paper-based pediatric triage guidelines have been developed to support frontline health workers in low-resource settings, but these guidelines can be challenging to implement. Smart Triage is a digital triaging platform for quality improvement (QI) that aims to address this challenge. Smart Triage represents a major cultural and behavioural shift in terms of managing patients at health facilities in low-and middle-income countries. The purpose of this study is to understand user perspectives on the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of Smart Triage to inform ongoing and future implementation.MethodsThis was a descriptive qualitative study comprising of face-to-face interviews with health workers (n = 15) at a regional referral hospital in Eastern Uganda, conducted as a sub-study of a larger clinical trial to evaluate Smart Triage (NCT04304235). Thematic analysis was used to assess the usability, feasibility, and acceptability of the platform, focusing on its use in stratifying and prioritizing patients according to their risk and informing QI initiatives implemented by health workers.ResultsWith appropriate training and experience, health workers found most features of Smart Triage usable and feasible to implement, and reported the platform was acceptable due to its positive impact on reducing the time to treatment for emergency pediatric cases and its use in informing QI initiatives within the pediatric ward. Several factors that reduced the feasibility and acceptability were identified, including high staff turnover, a lack of medical supplies at the hospital, and challenges with staff attitudes.ConclusionHealth workers can use the Smart Triage digital triaging platform to identify and prioritize care for severely ill children and improve quality of care at health facilities in low-resource settings. Future innovation is needed to address identified feasibility and acceptability challenges; however, this platform could potentially address some of the challenges to implementing current paper-based systems.

Project description:BackgroundSepsis is a clinical syndrome characterized by organ dysfunction due to presumed or proven infection. Severe cases can have case fatality ratio 25% or higher in low-middle income countries, but early diagnosis and timely treatment have a proven benefit. The Smart Triage program in Jinja Regional Referral Hospital in Uganda will provide expedited sepsis treatment in children through a data-driven electronic patient triage system. To complement the ongoing Smart Triage interventional trial, we propose methods for a concurrent cost-effectiveness analysis of the Smart Triage platform.MethodsWe will use a decision-analytic model taking a societal perspective, combining government and out-of-pocket costs, as patients bear a sizeable portion of healthcare costs in Uganda due to the lack of universal health coverage. Previously published secondary data will be used to link healthcare utilization with costs and intermediate outcomes with mortality. We will model uncertainty via probabilistic sensitivity analysis and present findings at various willingness-to-pay thresholds using a cost-effectiveness acceptability curve.DiscussionOur proposed analysis represents a first step in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of an innovative digital triage platform designed to improve clinical outcomes in pediatric sepsis through expediting care in low-resource settings. Our use of a decision analytic model to link secondary costing data, incorporate post-discharge healthcare utilization, and model clinical endpoints is also novel in the pediatric sepsis triage literature for low-middle income countries. Our analysis, together with subsequent analyses modelling budget impact and scale up, will inform future modifications to the Smart Triage platform, as well as motivate scale-up to the district and national levels.Trial registrationTrial registration of parent clinical trial: NCT04304235, https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04304235. Registered 11 March 2020.

Project description:ImportanceHospitalized patients with asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) often receive unnecessary antibiotic treatment, which increases antibiotic resistance and adverse events.ObjectiveTo determine whether diagnostic stewardship (avoiding unnecessary urine cultures) or antibiotic stewardship (reducing unnecessary antibiotic treatment after an unnecessary culture) is associated with better outcomes in reducing antibiotic use for ASB.Design, setting, and participantsThis 3-year, prospective quality improvement study included hospitalized general care medicine patients with a positive urine culture among 46 hospitals participating in a collaborative quality initiative, the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium. Data were collected from July 1, 2017, through March 31, 2020, and analyzed from February to October 2022.ExposureParticipation in the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium with antibiotic and diagnostic stewardship strategies at hospital discretion.Main outcomes and measuresOverall improvement in ASB-related antibiotic use was estimated as change in percentage of patients treated with antibiotics who had ASB. Effect of diagnostic stewardship was estimated as change in percentage of patients with a positive urine culture who had ASB. Effect of antibiotic stewardship was estimated as change in percentage of patients with ASB who received antibiotics and antibiotic duration.ResultsOf the 14 572 patients with a positive urine culture included in the study (median [IQR] age, 75.8 [64.2-85.1] years; 70.5% female); 28.4% (n = 4134) had ASB, of whom 76.8% (n = 3175) received antibiotics. Over the study period, the percentage of patients treated with antibiotics who had ASB (overall ASB-related antibiotic use) declined from 29.1% (95% CI, 26.2%-32.2%) to 17.1% (95% CI, 14.3%-20.2%) (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.94 per quarter; 95% CI, 0.92-0.96). The percentage of patients with a positive urine culture who had ASB (diagnostic stewardship metric) declined from 34.1% (95% CI, 31.0%-37.3%) to 22.5% (95% CI, 19.7%-25.6%) (aOR, 0.95 per quarter; 95% CI, 0.93-0.97). The percentage of patients with ASB who received antibiotics (antibiotic stewardship metric) remained stable, from 82.0% (95% CI, 77.7%-85.6%) to 76.3% (95% CI, 68.5%-82.6%) (aOR, 0.97 per quarter; 95% CI, 0.94-1.01), as did adjusted mean antibiotic duration, from 6.38 (95% CI, 6.00-6.78) days to 5.93 (95% CI, 5.54-6.35) days (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.99 per quarter; 95% CI, 0.99-1.00).Conclusions and relevanceThis quality improvement study showed that over 3 years, ASB-related antibiotic use decreased and was associated with a decline in unnecessary urine cultures. Hospitals should prioritize reducing unnecessary urine cultures (ie, diagnostic stewardship) to reduce antibiotic treatment related to ASB.

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Evaluation of a digital triage platform in Uganda: A quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to antibiotic administration.

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Evaluation of a digital triage platform in Uganda: A quality improvement initiative to reduce the time to antibiotic administration.

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