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Novel electronic health records-based consultation workflow improves time to operating room for surgery patients in
Micaella R Zubkov1, John Iguidbashian1, Zhixin Lun2
1Department of Surgery, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, USA.
Background:
A novel electronic health records (EHR)-based workflow was implemented at a quaternary referral center to improve the efficiency of inpatient surgical consultation processes for patients requiring trauma or acute care surgery (TACS) consultation.
Methods:
The EHR-driven consultation workflow automated notifications, communication of patient information, and data-tracking. Timeliness of care was compared between pre-implementation (1/1/2020-1/31/2022), early post-implementation (2/1/2022-1/31/2023), and late post-implementation (2/1/2023-1/31/2024) cohorts.
Results:
Of 5724 consultations, 2658 required surgery (733 pre-, 830 early post-, 1095 late post-implementation). Time between consult to OR was reduced overall by 27 % post-implementation (pre = 726 min; early post = 577; late post = 532; p < 0.001) and by 48 % (pre = 531 min; early post = 290; late post = 277; p < 0.001) for urgent/emergent cases. Length of stay decreased post-implementation with no difference in 30-day clinical outcomes.
Conclusion:
Implementation of the novel EHR consultation workflow was safe and associated with decreased time-to-OR, which persisted throughout the post-implementation phase with greatest impact on patients requiring urgent/emergent operations.
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