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

September 11, 2008 updated by: University of Alberta
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.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

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.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

6217

Phase

  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Alberta
      • Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, T6G 2B7
        • University of Alberta Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

17 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

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.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
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.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Total ED length of stay
Time Frame: in the Emergency Department
in the Emergency Department

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Left without being seen (LWBS) rates
Time Frame: in the Emergency Department
in the Emergency Department
nurse and physician satisfaction
Time Frame: following Emergency Department shift
following Emergency Department shift
ambulance turnaround times (time
Time Frame: in the Emergency Department
in the Emergency Department

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Alberta

Collaborators

Capital Health, Canada

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Michael Bullard, MD, University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2B7, Canada

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

August 1, 2007

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2007

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 5, 2007

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 5, 2007

First Posted (Estimate)

July 6, 2007

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

September 12, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

September 11, 2008

Last Verified

September 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • B-130607

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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