Bloustein School Assistant Professor Melinda Rushing, Ph.D., LMSW, has received a National Institutes of Health Career Development Award to advance research aimed at improving emergency department care for people living with sickle cell disease. The award, funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), supports her project, “Understanding and Improving VOC Pain Management for Sickle Cell Disease in Emergency Departments.” The five-year K01 award will provide Rushing with advanced training in implementation science, qualitative research, quantitative analysis, and clinical decision support while supporting her development as an independent investigator focused on improving sickle cell disease care.
Sickle cell disease is a genetic blood disorder that can cause severe episodes of pain known as vaso-occlusive crises (VOC), which are a frequent reason for emergency department visits. NHLBI guidelines call for rapid assessment and treatment of VOC pain, but adherence can vary across emergency departments. Rushing’s recent research examining 7,160 emergency department visits by 1,401 individuals with sickle cell disease in a large New Jersey health system found substantial variation in the timeliness of pain treatment. Building on that work, her NIH-funded research will examine patient and emergency department characteristics associated with guideline-concordant care and identify operational factors that can help or hinder timely treatment.
Working within the RWJBarnabas Health emergency department system, Rushing will also evaluate the implementation of clinical decision support tools, including order sets, automated alerts, and individualized pain plans, and develop strategies to strengthen their use across the health system. Her mentoring team includes Shawna Hudson, Ph.D., Joel Cantor, Sc.D., Ethan Halm, M.D., MPH, Dr. Alice Cohen, and Robert Eisenstein whose expertise spans implementation science, health services research, and electronic health record-based interventions. Ultimately, the project is designed to provide evidence for future large-scale trials of strategies that improve adherence to evidence-based sickle cell disease treatment guidelines and help patients experiencing painful vaso-occlusive crises receive more timely and consistent care.