Impact of a pilot pathway for the management of gastroenteritis-like symptoms in an emergency department: A case study following a Salmonella outbreak

Objective: This research aims to describe the effect of standard care (control) versus a clinical management pathway (intervention) on patient length of stay and admission rates during a public health emergency at one Australian ED. Methods: A retrospective audit of hospital records for patients who presented in May 2013 with gastroenteritis-like symptoms was undertaken following a surge in patient presentations from a Salmonella outbreak. Patients who presented with gastroenteritis-like symptoms between 15 and 19 May 2013 received care according to a clinical management pathway (intervention). The focus of the intervention was based on symptom management, including a standardised approach to analgesia, anti-emetics and rehydration. Patient characteristics, such as age and gender are described using descriptive statistics. A Mann-Whitney test was used to compare continuous data, and a Fisher's exact test was used to compare categorical data, between the two groups. Results: Over an 8 day period, 110 patients presented with gastroenteritis-like symptoms. The median length of stay was statistically different between the two groups (P