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Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) - Evaluation of a Novel Approach to Address Emergency Department Overcrowding

This study has been completed.
Sponsor:
Collaborator:
Capital Health, Canada
Information provided by:
University of Alberta
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT00497393
First received: July 5, 2007
Last updated: September 11, 2008
Last verified: September 2008
History of Changes
  Purpose

This randomized controlled trial will introduce a Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) into the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department(ED)and assess the influence on ED length of stay, patients who leave without being seen, and other ED Overcrowding outcomes.


Condition Intervention Phase
Acute Illness
 Behavioral: Clinical Decision Unit
 Phase 4

Study Type: Interventional
Study Design: Allocation: Randomized
Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Open Label
Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
Official Title: Clinical Decision Unit (CDU) - Evaluation of a Novel Approach to Address Emergency Department Overcrowding

Further study details as provided by University of Alberta:

Primary Outcome Measures:
  • Total ED length of stay [ Time Frame: in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:
  • Left without being seen (LWBS) rates [ Time Frame: in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: Yes ]
  • nurse and physician satisfaction [ Time Frame: following Emergency Department shift ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  • ambulance turnaround times (time [ Time Frame: in the Emergency Department ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Enrollment: 6217
Study Start Date: July 2007
Study Completion Date: December 2007
Primary Completion Date: August 2007 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)
Arms Assigned Interventions
No Intervention: Control
regular use of the 2-bed areas in the Emergency department
 Behavioral: Clinical Decision Unit
a dedicated 2-bed area to see patients and then rotate them back into the waiting room area for labs and diagnostic imaging.

Detailed Description:

The study will take place over a 6-week period that will be spilt into three-two-week blocks. Using computerized blocks of 2 weeks, days of the week will be randomly allocated so that each day of the week receives one intervention (CDU) and one control day for the study period. The CDU involves transforming an ED bed location to a 6-chair internal waiting room with 2 adjacent beds assigned to act as assessment and treatment locations. Patients will transition between the chair and stretcher to optimize the use of ED space.

  Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:   17 Years and older
Genders Eligible for Study:   Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:   No
Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Only adult patients (>17 years of age) presenting to the University of Alberta Hospital Emergency Department (UAH ED), during the study interval will be included in the evaluation.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Direct admits/Pediatric patients.
  Contacts and Locations
Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00497393

Locations
Canada, Alberta
University of Alberta Hospital
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
Sponsors and Collaborators
University of Alberta
Capital Health, Canada
Investigators
Principal Investigator: Michael Bullard, MD University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2B7, Canada
  More Information

No publications provided

Responsible Party: Brian Holroyd, University of Alberta
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT00497393     History of Changes
Other Study ID Numbers: B-130607
Study First Received: July 5, 2007
Last Updated: September 11, 2008
Health Authority: Canada: Ethics Review Committee

Keywords provided by University of Alberta:
Emergency department, administration, overcrowding

Additional relevant MeSH terms:
Emergencies
Disease Attributes
Pathologic Processes

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on June 17, 2013