Quasi-Randomized Evaluation of the UCLA Next Day Clinic (NDC)
The Next Day Clinic (NDC) is a quality improvement initiative that will be launched and operated by UCLA Health starting July 22, 2024. Its goals are to improve patient care and safety and to maximize cost effectiveness. The way it does this is by identifying patients in the ED who would normally be admitted for low-acuity conditions, and diverting them to a high-acuity clinic the following day called the NDC. This will help decompress the ED and the hospital, and allow for overall higher quality care. The Health System has partnered with UCLA's Healthcare Value Analytics and Solutions \[UVAS\] group which specializes in these types of program evaluations. The analysis conducted by the study team will be used to directly inform NDC operations, scaling, and future plans.
• 18 years of age or older
• About to be admitted through the ED for one of the NDC diagnoses or a synonym (per Study Protocol document), defined by the presence of a Plan to Admit order or Bed Request order, OR recently admitted under observation or inpatient status for one of the NDC diagnoses.
• Identified as at-risk for an avoidable hospitalization in the ED based on a pre-determined set of lab and vital parameters.
• Insurance that authorizes the patient to follow-up at UCLA Health, or self-pay
• Admitted or being admitted to an internal medicine service