Table 2.
ED timeliness of care, ED-related variables, and in-hospital outcomes of patients in the two study groups.
| Variables | non-IHT (n = 16295) | IHT (n = 1856) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| ED timeliness of care (min), median (interquartile range) | |||
| Arrival to ED physicians | 7.0 (4.0–12.0) | 8.0 (4.0–13.0) | <0.001* |
| ED physicians to decision | 315.0 (137.0–1016.0) | 195.0 (85.0–864.5) | <0.001* |
| Decision to disposition | 357.0 (118.0–1185.5) | 252.0 (98.0–1022.8) | <0.001* |
| ED LOS | 1068.0 (413.0–2194.0) | 706.0 (277.8–1783.3) | <0.001* |
| ED specific treatments to time-sensitive diseases, n (%) | |||
| Antibiotics usage | 8364 (51.3) | 870 (46.8) | <0.001* |
| Anticoagulant usage | 1377 (8.4) | 201 (10.8) | <0.001* |
| Inotropic agent usage | 744 (4.5) | 141 (7.6) | <0.001* |
| Non-invasive ventilation | 455 (2.8) | 46 (2.5) | 0.433 |
| Invasive ventilation | 375 (2.3) | 163 (8.8) | <0.001* |
| CVC placement | 176 (1.1) | 18 (1.0) | 0.661 |
| CPR | 23 (0.1) | 7 (0.4) | 0.018* |
| Admitting services, n (%) | |||
| Medical, non-critical care | 11571 (71.0) | 1052 (56.7) | <0.001* |
| Medical, critical care | 1473 (9.0) | 349 (18.8) | <0.001* |
| Surgery, non-critical care | 2772 (17.0) | 315 (17.0) | 0.968 |
| Surgery, critical care | 479 (3.0) | 140 (7.5) | <0.001* |
| In-hospital outcomes | |||
| Hospital LOS (day), median (interquartile range) |
6.0 (4.0–11.0) | 8.0 (5.0–14.0) | <0.001* |
| In-hospital death,n (%) | 946 (5.8) | 169 (9.1) | <0.001* |
IHT, inter-hospital transfer; CVC, central venous catheter; CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation; LOS, length of stay.
Data of continuous and categorical variables were compared by using the Wilcoxon rank sum test and Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test, respectively. *P < 0.05.