A review of inpatient ward location and the relationship to Medical Emergency Team calls

Objective: To identify the relationship between in-hospital location and patient outcomes as measured by Medical Emergency Team calls. Study design: A narrative systematic review of the literature. Data sources: A systematic search of the literature was conducted in October 2014 using the electronic databases: Embase, Cochrane, Medline, CINAHL, Science Direct and Google Scholar for the most recent literature from 1997 to 2014. Inclusion criteria: Non-randomised study designs such as case control or cohort studies were eligible. Articles were selected independently by two researchers using a predetermined selection criterion. Data synthesis: The screening process removed manuscripts that did not meet the inclusion criteria resulting in an empty review with one manuscript meeting most of the criteria for inclusion. The protocol was revised to a narrative synthesis including a broader scope of studies. The search strategy was expanded and modified to include manuscripts of any study design that comprise both inlier and outlier patients. Two manuscripts were selected for the narrative synthesis. Conclusion: Two recently published studies investigated the incidence of MET calls for outlier patients, and whilst MET calls were increased in outlier hospital patients, definitive conclusions associated with patient outcomes cannot be made at this time due to paucity of studies.