Patient and transfer process characteristics in baseline and intervention time periods
| Characteristic | Baseline (n=1004) | Intervention (n=654) | P-value |
| Age, mean (SD) | 65.8 (14.9) | 65.0 (16.1) | 0.46 |
| Male sex, n (%) | 565 (56.3) | 394 (60.2) | 0.11 |
| Race/ethnicity, n (%) White non-Hispanic Black non-Hispanic Hispanic *Other | 830 (82.7) 59 (5.9) 65 (6.5) 50 (5.0) | 546 (83.5) 40 (6.1) 27 (4.1) 41 (6.3) | 0.89 |
| Insurance category, n (%) Private Medicare Medicaid †Other | 437 (43.5) 476 (47.4) 62 (6.2) 29 (2.9) | 319 (48.8) 269 (41.1) 38 (5.8) 28 (4.3) | 0.45 |
| Annual income category by zip code (in USD), n (%) ≤$82 935 $82,936–$102 814 $102,815–$124 023 ≥$124 024 | 249 (24.8) 260 (25.9) 239 (23.8) 244 (24.3) | 161 (24.6) 148 (22.6) 172 (26.2) 165 (25.2) | 0.44 |
| Diagnosis category on admission, n (%) Infectious diseases Diseases of circulatory system Diseases of digestive system Diseases of respiratory system Neoplasms ‡Other | 83 (8.3) 383 (38.2) 58 (5.8) 42 (4.2) 80 (8.0) 358 (35.7) | 28 (4.3) 284 (43.4) 31 (4.7) 37 (5.7) 69 (10.6) 205 (31.4) | 0.71 |
| Elixhauser score,29 mean (SD) | 13.8 (10.9) | 15.4 (12.0) | 0.01 |
| eCart score,30 mean (SD) | 36.4 (124.0) | 43.6 (140.6) | 0.20 |
| Admit service, n (%) Medicine Cardiology Oncology ICU | 153 (15.2) 423 (42.1) 280 (27.9) 148 (14.7) | 25 (3.8) 277 (42.4) 184 (28.1) 168 (25.7) | <0.001 |
| Transfer quarter, n (%) Q1 (August–September) Q2 (October–December) Q3 (January–March) Q4 (April–June) | 108 (10.8) 297 (29.6) 304 (30.3) 295 (29.4) | 67 (10.2) 205 (31.4) 211 (32.3) 171 (26.2) | 0.42 |
| Team census on date of patient admission, mean (SD) | 11.9 (4.1) | 11.8 (4.2) | |
| §Service census on date of patient admission, n (%) Normal census Extreme census | 375 (37.4) 629 (62.7) | 325 (49.7) 329 (50.3) | <0.001 |
| Hospital COVID census on date of admission, median (SD) | 35.3 (30.7) | 35.4 (29.2) | 0.64 |
Boldface p-values indicate statistically significant differences between baseline and intervention time periods.
*Other race includes: Asian; other; declined; unavailable || other ethnicity includes: unavailable; other.
†Other insurance categories include: self-pay; international; other government.
‡Other diagnosis categories include: diseases of the blood and blood-forming organs; endocrine, nutritional and metabolic diseases; mental, behavioural and neurodevelopmental diseases; diseases of the nervous system; diseases of the eye and adnexa; diseases of the ear and mastoid process; diseases of the skin and subcutaneous tissue; diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue; diseases of the genitourinary system; pregnancy, childbirth and the puerperium; certain conditions originating in the perinatal period; congenital malformations, deformations and chromosomal abnormalities; injury, poisoning and certain other consequences of external causes; symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified.
§Service census is categorised into ‘normal’ vs ‘extreme’ census based on previously defined thresholds by service within the hospital.
ICU, intensive care unit; Q, quarter.