Interhospital transfers resulting in liver transplantation: Clinical, regulatory, and economic issues.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Hussain SF
PROVIDER: S-EPMC9745295 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Dec
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Interhospital transfers resulting in liver transplantation: Clinical, regulatory, and economic issues.
Hussain Syed Fowaz SF Kim Nicole J NJ Biggins Scott W SW Naugler Scott S Ahn Joseph J Volk Michael L ML
Clinical liver disease 20221212 6
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Project description:ObjectivesTo study the effects of tele-ICU monitoring on interhospital transfers from community-based ICUs to the quaternary care hospital at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.DesignThis is a retrospective review of data on interhospital transfers comparing trends prior to tele-ICU implementation to those following implementation.SettingTele-ICU programs are increasingly utilized to fill resource gaps in caring for critically ill patients. How such programs impact population and bed management within a healthcare system are not known. Mayo Clinic serves as quaternary referral care center for hospitals in the region within the Mayo Clinic Health System. In August 2013, we implemented tele-ICU monitoring at six Mayo Clinic Health System hospital ICUs.SubjectsAll adult ICU admissions during the study period (preimplementation phase: January 1, 2012, to December 31, 2012; and postimplementation phase: January 1, 2014, to December 31, 2014) in any of the six specified community ICUs were included in the study.Measurements and main resultsInterhospital transfers significantly increased post institution of tele-ICU (p = 0.040) and was attributed primarily to transfer from less specialized ICUs (p = 0.037) as compared with more resource-intensive ICUs (p = 0.88). However, for such patient transfers, there were no significant differences before and after severity of illness scores, ICU mortality, or inhospital mortality.ConclusionIn a regional healthcare system, implementation of a tele-ICU program is associated with an increase in interhospital transfers from less resourced ICUs to the referral center, a trend that is not readily explained by increased severity of illness.
| S-EPMC5511079 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is highly prevalent worldwide and can cause serious disease among immunocompromised individuals, including persons with HIV and transplant recipients on immunosuppressive therapies. It can also result in congenital cytomegalovirus when women are infected during pregnancy. Treatment and prevention of CMV in solid organ and haematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients is accomplished in one of three ways: (1) prophylactic therapy to prevent CMV viraemia; (2) pre-emptive therapy for those with low levels of replicating virus; and (3) treatment for established disease. Despite the high prevalence of CMV, there are few available approved drug therapies, and those that are available are hampered by toxicity and less-than-optimal efficacy. New therapies are being developed and tested; however, inconsistency in standardisation of virus levels and questions about potential endpoints in clinical trials present regulatory hurdles that must be addressed. This review covers the current state of CMV therapy, drugs currently under investigation, and clinical trial issues and questions that are in need of resolution.
| S-EPMC4967965 | biostudies-other
Project description:BackgroundPoor communication causes fragmented care. Studies of transitions of care within a hospital and on discharge suggest significant communication deficits. Communication during transfers between hospitals has not been well studied. We assessed the written communication provided during interhospital transfers of emergency general surgery patients. We hypothesized that patients are transferred with incomplete documentation from referring facilities.MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of written communication provided during interhospital transfers to our emergency department (ED) from referring EDs for emergency general surgical evaluation between January 1, 2014 and January 1, 2016. Elements of written communication were abstracted from referring facility documents scanned into the medical record using a standardized abstraction protocol. Descriptive statistics summarized the information communicated.ResultsA total of 129 patients met inclusion criteria. 87.6% (n = 113) of charts contained referring hospital documents. 42.5% (n = 48) were missing history and physicals. Diagnoses were missing in 9.7% (n = 11). Ninety-one computed tomography scans were performed; among 70 with reads, final reads were absent for 70.0% (n = 49). 45 ultrasounds and x-rays were performed; among 27 with reads, final reads were missing for 80.0% (n = 36). Reasons for transfer were missing in 18.6% (n = 21). Referring hospital physicians outside the ED were consulted in 32.7% (n = 37); consultants' notes were absent in 89.2% (n = 33). In 12.4% (n = 14), referring documents arrived after the patient's ED arrival and were not part of the original documentation provided.ConclusionsThis study documents that information important to patient care is often missing in the written communication provided during interhospital transfers. This gap affords a foundation for standardizing provider communication during interhospital transfers.
| S-EPMC5614521 | biostudies-literature
Project description:Transferring patients between emergency departments (EDs) is a complex but important issue in emergency care regionalization. Social network analysis (SNA) is well-suited to characterize the ED transfer pattern. We aimed to unravel the underlying transfer network structure and to identify key network metrics for monitoring network functions. This was a retrospective cohort study using the National Electronic Referral System (NERS) database in Taiwan. All interhospital ED transfers from 2014 to 2016 were included and transfer characteristics were retrieved. Descriptive statistics and social network analysis were used to analyze the data. There were a total of 218,760 ED transfers during the 3-year study period. In the network analysis, there were a total of 199 EDs with 9516 transfer ties between EDs. The network demonstrated a multiple hub-and-spoke, regionalized pattern, with low global density (0.24), moderate centralization (0.57), and moderately high clustering of EDs (0.63). At the ED level, most transfers were one-way, with low reciprocity (0.21). Sending hospitals had a median of 5 transfer-out partners [interquartile range (IQR) 3-7), while receiving hospitals a median of 2 (IQR 1-6) transfer-in partners. A total of 16 receiving hospitals, all of which were designated base or co-base hospitals, had 15 or more transfer-in partners. Social network analysis of transfer patterns between hospitals confirmed that the network structure largely aligned with the planned regionalized transfer network in Taiwan. Understanding the network metrics helps track the structure and process aspects of regionalized care.
| S-EPMC9909649 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BACKGROUND: The necessity of widening the indications for living donor liver transplantation (LDLT) has been emphasised. Clarification of the advantages and limitations of using a left liver graft for LDLT in adults is essential for donor safety. METHODS: Between June 1990 and November 2002, 185 patients underwent LDLT at Shinshu University Hospital, Japan. In 97 of these, the graft comprised the left liver with or without the left portion of the caudate lobe. The peri-hepatectomy profiles of the donors, significance of left liver grafts, postoperative courses of the donors and recipients, and survival of the recipients were investigated. RESULTS: All the donors recovered well and returned to a normal lifestyle. None required banked-blood transfusion or repeat surgery, and postoperative liver function tests had satisfactory results. The cold ischaemic time for the graft was 127+/-54 minutes. The graft volumes (GVs) ranged from 230 to 625 ml, and GV/standard liver volume (SV) ratios varied from 22% to 65%, at the time of transplantation. Although 85% of the liver grafts had GV/SV ratios <50%, no patient developed immediate postoperative liver failure. Patient survival rates were 89%, 84% and 84% at 1, 3 and 5 years, respectively. DISCUSSION: Although LDLT using a left liver graft imposes potential postoperative complications (a small liver is more vulnerable to injury, and recipients of small grafts are at higher risk of complications during recovery), such grafts have yielded acceptable results in adult LDLT, with minimal burden to the donors.
| S-EPMC2020662 | biostudies-other
Project description:ObjectivesThis quality improvement project sought to enhance clinical information sharing for interhospital transfers to an inpatient hepatology service comprised of internal medicine resident frontline providers (housestaff) with the specific aims of making housestaff aware of 100% of incoming transfers and providing timely access to clinical summaries.InterventionsIn February 2020, an email notification system to senior medicine residents responsible for patient triage shared planned arrival time for patients pending transfer. In July 2020, a clinical data repository ("Transfer Log") updated daily by accepting providers (attending physicians and subspecialty fellows) became available to senior medicine residents responsible for triage.MethodsLikert scale surveys were administered to housestaff before email intervention (pre) and after transfer log intervention (post). The time from patient arrival to team assignment (TTA) in the electronic medical record was used as a proxy for time to patient assessment and was measured pre- and postinterventions; >2 hours to TTA was considered an extreme delay.ResultsHousestaff reported frequency of access to clinical information as follows: preinterventions 4/31 (13%) sometimes/very often and 27/31 (87%) never/rarely; postinterventions 11/26 (42%) sometimes/very often and 15/26 (58%) never/rarely (p = 0.02). Preinterventions 12/39 (31%) felt "not at all prepared" versus 27/39 (69%) "somewhat" or "adequately"; postinterventions 2/24 (8%) felt "not at all prepared" versus 22/24 (92%) somewhat/adequately prepared (p = 0.06). There was a significant difference in mean TTA between pre- and posttransfer log groups (62 vs. 40 minutes, p = 0.01) and a significant reduction in patients with extreme delays in TTA post-email (18/180 pre-email vs. 7/174 post-email, p = 0.04).ConclusionEarly notification and increased access to clinical information were associated with better sense of preparedness for admitting housestaff, reduction in TTA, and reduced frequency of extreme delays in team assignment.
| S-EPMC9433165 | biostudies-literature
Project description:BackgroundWhile 20-80% of regular visitors to (sub)tropical regions become colonised by extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (ESBL-PE), those hospitalised abroad often also carry other multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria on return; the rates are presumed to be highest for interhospital transfers.AimThis observational study assessed MDR bacterial colonisation among patients transferred directly from hospitals abroad to Helsinki University Hospital. We investigated predisposing factors, clinical infections and associated fatalities.MethodsData were derived from screening and from diagnostic samples collected between 2010 and 2019. Risk factors of colonisation were identified by multivariable analysis. Microbiologically verified symptomatic infections and infection-related mortality were recorded during post-transfer hospitalisation.ResultsColonisation rates proved highest for transfers from Asia (69/96; 71.9%) and lowest for those within Europe (99/524; 18.9%). Of all 698 patients, 208 (29.8%) were colonised; among those, 163 (78.4%) carried ESBL-PE, 28 (13.5%) MDR Acinetobacter species, 25 (12.0%) meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, 25 (12.0%) vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus, 14 (6.7%) carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, and 12 (5.8%) MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 46 strains tested carbapenemase gene-positive. In multivariable analysis, geographical region, intensive care unit (ICU) treatment and antibiotic use abroad proved to be risk factors for colonisation. Clinical MDR infections, two of them fatal (1.0%), were recorded for 22 of 208 (10.6%) MDR carriers.ConclusionsColonisation by MDR bacteria was common among patients transferred from foreign hospitals. Region of hospitalisation, ICU treatment and antibiotic use were identified as predisposing factors. Within 30 days after transfer, MDR colonisation manifested as clinical infection in more than 10% of the carriers.
| S-EPMC8485579 | biostudies-literature
Project description:IntroductionTreatment of seriously ill patients is often complicated by prolonged or complex transfers between hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa. Difficulties or inefficiency in these transfers can lead to poor outcomes for patients. "On-call" triage systems have been utilized to facilitate communication between facilities and to avoid poor outcomes associated with patient transfer. This study attempts to examine the effects of a pilot study to implement such a system in Rwanda.MethodsData collection occurred prospectively in two stages, pre-intervention and intervention, in the emergency department (ED) at Kigali University Teaching Hospital (CHUK). All patients transferred during the pre-determined timeframe were enrolled. Data were collected by ED research staff via a standardized form. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA version 15.0. Differences in characteristics were assessed using χ2 or Fisher's exact tests for categorical variables and independent sample t-tests for normally distributed continuous variables.ResultsDuring the "on call" physician intervention, the indication for transfer was significantly more likely to be for critical care (P <.001), transfer times were faster (P <.001), patients were more likely to be displaying emergency signs (P <.001), and vital signs were more likely to be collected prior to transport (P <.001) when compared to the pre-interventional phase.ConclusionThe "[Emergency Medicine] EM Doc On Call" intervention was associated with improved timely interhospital transfer and clinical documentation in Rwanda. While these data are not definitive due to multiple limitations, it is extremely promising and worthy of further study.
| S-EPMC10445112 | biostudies-literature
Project description:ObjectivesWe examine the dynamics of patient-sharing relations within an Italian regional community of 35 hospitals serving approximately 1,300,000 people. We test whether interorganizational relations provide individual patients access to higher quality providers of care.Research design and methodsWe reconstruct the complete temporal sequence of the 3461 consecutive interhospital patient-sharing events observed between each pair of hospitals in the community during 2005-2008. We distinguish between transfers occurring between and within different medical specialties. We estimate newly derived models for relational event sequences that allow us to control for the most common forms of network-like dependencies that are known to characterize collaborative relations between hospitals. We use 45-day risk-adjusted readmission rate as a proxy for hospital quality.ResultsAfter controls (eg, geographical distance, size, and the existence of prior collaborative relations), we find that patients flow from less to more capable hospitals. We show that this result holds for patient being shared both between as well as within medical specialties. Nonetheless there are strong and persistent other organizational and relational effects driving transfers.ConclusionsDecentralized patient-sharing decisions taken by the 35 hospitals give rise to a system of collaborative interorganizational arrangements that allow the patient to access hospitals delivering a higher quality of care. This result is relevant for health care policy because it suggests that collaborative relations between hospitals may produce desirable outcomes both for individual patients, and for regional health care systems.
| S-EPMC4036796 | biostudies-literature
Project description:The use of liver transplantation (LT) as a treatment for alcoholic liver disease (ALD) has been highly controversial since the beginning. The ever increasing shortage of organs has accentuated the low priority given to patients suffering from ALD, which is considered a "self-inflicted" condition. However, by improving the long-term survival rates, making them similar to those from other indications, and recognizing that alcoholism is a primary disease, ALD has become one of the most common indications for LT in Europe and North America, a situation thought unfathomable thirty years ago. Unfortunately, there are still many issues with the use of this procedure for ALD. There are significant relapse rates, and the consequences of excessive drinking after LT range from asymptomatic biochemical and histological abnormalities to graft failure and death. A minimum three-month period of sobriety is required for an improvement in liver function, thus making LT unnecessary, and to demonstrate the patient's commitment to the project, even though a longer abstinence period does not guarantee lower relapse rates after LT. Recent data have shown that LT is also effective for severe alcoholic hepatitis when the patient is unresponsive to corticosteroids therapy, with low relapse rates in highly selected patients, although these results must be confirmed before LT becomes a standard procedure in this setting. Finally, LT for ALD is accompanied by an increased risk of de novo solid organ cancer, skin cancer, and lymphoproliferative disorders, which has a large impact on the survival rates.
| S-EPMC4607899 | biostudies-other