Purpose:
To systematically analyze the consult service requests fromNorth Shore, Long Island Jewish hospital, and SchneiderhildrensHospital with subcategories delineating need for varying subspecialties,analyzing differences in inpatient vs. ER consults and to epidemiologicallyrecord variablitiy in requests based on the time of year andage of patient.
Methods:
Retrospectivally analyze each consult seen in 2006 at NorthShore,LIJ, and Schneider hospital and subcategorize into variousareas of interest. Categories included month of consult, hospitalof request, primary diagnosis, age of patient and inpatientor outpatient service.
Results:
Total number of consults: 1306. More consults from inpatientversus outpatient services, most consults requests in the monthof January, followed by July. Most trauma documented in Julyand August. Most inpatient consults requested for patients ages60-79 and from the ER for ages 40-59. Most common primary dignosis:post op corneal abrasion and orbital wall fractures.
Conclusions:
North Shore, LIJ, and Schneider see a wide range of diagnosticchallenges. Most trauma occurs in the summer months and consultrequests increase in the summer months with another peak notedin January. The forementioned data, along with various specificresults from the compiled data was useful for educational purposesin the training of new ER residents in July and also for incidentreporting and resource distribution within the institutions.The project also allowed for the assessment of the strengthsand weaknesses of the residency program based on exposure tovarious diagnoses and may also lead to an electronic recordof future consults by the residents.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: prevalence/incidence • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: health care delivery/economics/manpower