The EDOU provides an ideal environment for data acquisition, thereby facilitating detailed quality management, utilization review, and clinical research. 

Chest Pain
Drs. Zull and Stone (EDOU Co-Directors) received a $25,000 grant from the Women's Board of NMH to investigate the impact of the EDOU on the evaluation of chest pain in women in the new unit.  During the course of the study, data acquisition was completed on 300 chest pain patients admitted to the EDOU.  Three abstracts derived from this data base were presented at the Scientific Assembly in 2004, and a research paper is currently under submission at a prominent emergency medicine journal. 

Syncope
Drs. Zull and Stone received a grant from the Northwestern Memorial Foundation for $50,000 to study syncope in the EDOU, entitled “Syncope: A Prospective Validation of Clinical Predictors of Outcome in an Emergency Department Observation Unit.”  Data was collected on 130 patients and is currently under analysis for abstract presentation at a national meeting.

Cellulitis
IRB approval was received for an EDOU study on cellulitis, entitled “Cellulitis:  A Prospective Evaluation of Clinical Predictors of Outcome in an Emergency Department Observation Unit.”  Data collection will commence in December, 2005.

Renal Colic
IRB approval was received and a retrospective study is currently underway evaluating outcomes in the first 24 hours of patients admitted to the EDOU with renal colic.

Other studies based in the EDOU are currently under development, including the management of geriatric patients in the EDOU and prospective evaluations of outcome for such diagnoses as pyelonephritis, diverticulitis, and gastroenteritis.