Precision emergency medicine in health care delivery and access: Framework development and research priorities

Abstract

BackgroundThe integration of precision emergency medicine (EM) into our conceptualization of the health care system affords the opportunity to improve health care access, delivery, and outcomes for patients. As part of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Consensus Conference, we conducted a rapid literature review to characterize the current state of knowledge pertaining to the intersection of precision EM (defined as the use of big data and technology to deliver acute care for individual patients and their communities) with health care delivery and access. We then used our findings to develop a proposed conceptual model and research agenda.MethodsWe completed a rapid review of the existing literature on the utilization of big data and technology to ensure and enhance access to acute/unscheduled care for individual patients and their communities. Literature searches were conducted using Ovid MEDLINE, Embase.com, Cochrane CENTRAL via Ovid, and ClinicalTrials.gov in January 2023. Using the identified articles, we determined core domains, developed a framework to guide the conceptualization of precision EM in health care delivery and access, and used these to identify a research agenda.ResultsOf the 815 studies identified for initial screening, 60 underwent full‐text review by our technical expert panel and 21 were included in the evaluation. Core domains identified included expedited/personalized prehospital care, delivery to the right level of care, personalized ED care, alternatives to ED care/post‐ED care, prediction tools for system readiness, and creation of equitable systems of care. A research agenda with four priority research questions was defined following identification of the core domains.ConclusionsPrecision EM includes consideration of the health care delivery system as a mechanism for improving access to emergency care using data‐driven strategies. This provides a unique opportunity to use data and technology to advance systems of care while also centering patients, communities, and equity in these advances.