Implementation of Lung Protective Ventilation in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure

Study Design:

This is an observational quality improvement study comparing outcomes before, and after, implementation of a proven lung protective ventilation protocol in an electronic medical record system, iCentra, that will be implemented in phases across Intermountain Healthcare hospitals. A phased implementation with a two-month washout period will be used to evaluate the primary outcome of interest, ventilator free days (VFDs) to 28 days. Secondary outcomes will include: use of the protocol by clinicians, compliance with protocol instructions, hospital discharge disposition, hospital, 30-day, and 90-day mortality, time to first ICU activity, hospital length of stay, ICU length of stay, heath care utilization, quality of life, and costs of care. As the iCentra electronic medical record is implemented at Intermountain Healthcare hospitals, clinicians will have the opportunity to use the computerized lung protective ventilation protocol, or to order mechanical ventilation settings independently. This is an observational study designed to measure how often the computerized lung protective ventilation protocol will be ordered, compliance with the instructions of the protocol, and clinical outcomes among patients who are managed with the protocol. Physicians may choose to use the protocol on intubated patients requiring mechanical ventilation or they may choose to order other specific mechanical ventilator settings.

Inclusion criteria

• Initiation of mechanical ventilation in the emergency department or intensive care unit at an Intermountain Healthcare hospital
• Age ≥ 18 years

Exclusion criteria

• Transition to comfort care in the emergency department or on the same day of admission to the ICU
• Death on the same day of admission to the emergency department or ICU