Evaluation of a Software for the Secondary Prioritization of Patients in the Pediatric Emergency Department

NCT ID: NCT05994196

Last Updated: 2023-08-16

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

1599 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-03-15

Study Completion Date

2021-04-23

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The goal of this randomized, controlled, open-label trial is to test the use of secondary prioritization software (Optimum®) in the pediatric emergency department (PED).

The aim of this study is to determine:

1. whether the use of this secondary prioritization software (Optimum®) reduces the patients' median length of stay (LOS) in the PED
2. how this software is accepted by the staff. The PED staff will be asked to manage the patients according to the Optimum® software indications (intervention) or according to the standard dashboard (control).

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Design: randomized, controlled open-label trial in the PED at Lille University Medical Center, Lille, France.

Period: between March 15th and April 23rd, 2021.

Randomization: each day was randomized for the use of Optimum® software (intervention group) or the PED's standard patient management dashboard (control group).

Inclusion criteria:

\- All children admitted between 10:00 am and 0:00 am at the PED.

Exclusion criteria:

* Patients who left without being seen
* Patients admitted to a short-stay unit at the PED.

Authorizations: the study protocol was registered with the French National Data Protection Commission (Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés, Paris, France; registration number: DEC21-056). This research was submitted to the institutional review board, which replied that this type of study, without patient intervention, did not require validation by the ethics committee. The patients and their parents were shown a study information sheet at the PED reception desk and were free to object to their child's participation.

The prioritization software: Optimum® was developed in 2015. Five variables with a statistically significant influence on the LOS were identified; the reason for admission, the number of patients present in the PED simultaneously, the prescription of imaging, the prescription of blood tests, and the prescription of treatment. Optimum®'s purpose is to remove the mental load of prioritization from the PED staff. The software first prioritizes the triage of new patients by the PED staff and the first evaluation of a new patient by the medical team. Optimum® then prioritizes blood sample collections and care (for nurses) and checks on imaging results, blood test results or an evaluation by a specialist (for physicians). Lastly, Optimum® prioritizes the final step in patient management by a senior physician, when appropriate.

Primary endpoint: the LOS for each patient. Number of patients needed: with a hypothesis of a 15-minute difference in the LOS between the Optimum® and control groups, when considering a mean of 78 patients/day and a median LOS of 190 minutes, with an α-risk of 0.05 and a power (1-ß risk) of 0.8, a total of 1542 patients had to be included (i.e., 771 per group).

Secondary endpoints:

* number of patients present at the same time in the PED,
* time intervals between each stage in patient management from nurse triage to discharge,
* PED staff's level of satisfaction using the standardized System Usability Scale (SUS).

Study procedures :

1. training of all the PED staff members in use of Optimum® 2 weeks prior to the study.
2. study setting up: with days randomized to Optimum® vs. the standard dashboard using the "random" formula in Excel® (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA). Weekdays and weekend/public holiday days were randomized separately. An investigator not involved in the management of the patients during the study period was present throughout the inclusion period and prospectively recorded the time intervals for each patient's stay in the PED: time of arrival at the PED, evaluation by the triage nurse, the first medical evaluation (by a medical student or a junior physician), the first evaluation by a senior physician, the evaluation by a specialist physician (if applicable), the results of imaging and lab tests (if prescribed), the final medical decision, and discharge.

Data collected: in addition to the LOS and to the time intervals of the different phases of management, the other variables recorded were age, gender, reason for admission, triage level, and mode of discharge. There were five categories of reasons for admission: fever, a respiratory disorder, a digestive tract disorder, trauma, and other reasons.

3\) the PED staff involved in the study will fill out the standardized SUS questionnaire as a guide to the perceived utility of the Optimum® software and the level of user satisfaction. According to the literature, the SUS score is considered to be very poor if it is less than 51, poor if between 51 and 68, average if 68, good if between 68 and 80.3, and excellent if greater than 80.3.

Statistical analysis:

1. description of patients' characteristics
2. the normality of the data distributions was checked graphically and using the Shapiro-Wilk test.
3. Intergroup comparisons of the total LOS and the various time intervals during patient management times were performed by covariance analysis.
4. Analysis of the standardized System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire filled out by the PED staff at th end of the study to perceive the utility of the Optimum® software and the level of user satisfaction. A Spearman's test was used to analyze the correlation between the age of the PED staff and the SUS score.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Length of Stay

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

OTHER

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Optimum

the secondary prioritization software of patients

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Optimum, a secondary prioritization software of patients in the pediatric emergency department (ED)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Optimum®'s purpose is to remove the mental load of prioritization from the Pediatric ED staff. The software first prioritizes the triage of new patients by the ED staff and the first evaluation of a new patient by the medical team. Optimum® then prioritizes blood sample collections and care (for nurses) and checks on imaging results, blood test results or an evaluation by a specialist (for physicians). Lastly, Optimum® prioritizes the final step in patient management by a senior physician, when appropriate.

Control

the standard dashboard of patients

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

Optimum, a secondary prioritization software of patients in the pediatric emergency department (ED)

Optimum®'s purpose is to remove the mental load of prioritization from the Pediatric ED staff. The software first prioritizes the triage of new patients by the ED staff and the first evaluation of a new patient by the medical team. Optimum® then prioritizes blood sample collections and care (for nurses) and checks on imaging results, blood test results or an evaluation by a specialist (for physicians). Lastly, Optimum® prioritizes the final step in patient management by a senior physician, when appropriate.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* All children admitted between 10:00 am and 0:00 am

Exclusion Criteria

* Patients who left without being seen
* Patients subsequently admitted to the short-stay unit
Minimum Eligible Age

3 Days

Maximum Eligible Age

16 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

University Hospital, Lille

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

François Dubos, MD, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Lille University Hospital

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

Hôpital Roger Salengro, CHU

Lille, , France

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

France

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Schiro J, Marcilly R, Leroy N, Wawrzyniak C, Martinot A, Pelayo S. Design and evaluation of a patient website to reduce crowding in emergency departments: a preliminary study. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2015;210:663-5.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25991232 (View on PubMed)

Windal F, Jeribi K, Ficheur G, Degoul S, Martinot A, Beuscart R, Renard JM. Pediatric emergency department crowding: survival tree clustering for length of patient stay. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2014;205:1095-9.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 25160358 (View on PubMed)

Gravel J, Fitzpatrick E, Gouin S, Millar K, Curtis S, Joubert G, Boutis K, Guimont C, Goldman RD, Dubrovsky AS, Porter R, Beer D, Doan Q, Osmond MH. Performance of the Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale for children: a multicenter database study. Ann Emerg Med. 2013 Jan;61(1):27-32.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2012.05.024. Epub 2012 Jul 27.

Reference Type BACKGROUND
PMID: 22841173 (View on PubMed)

Lun T, Schiro J, Cailliau E, Tchokokam J, Liber M, de Jorna C, Martinot A, Dubos F. Randomized controlled open-label trial to evaluate prioritization software for the secondary triage of patients in the pediatric emergency department. Int J Emerg Med. 2024 Apr 8;17(1):53. doi: 10.1186/s12245-024-00623-3.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 38589780 (View on PubMed)

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

NI2021_01

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.