https://www.selleckchem.com/products/gyy4137.html 4-100%), a negative predictive value of 100% (95% CI, 97.5-100%) and a specificity of 44.4% (95% CI, 39.2-49.7%) for acute appendicitis. Normal WBC and pCRP correctly identified 171 of 342 (50.0%) patients who did not have appendicitis with 2 (2.5%) false negatives, while normal ANC and pCRP identified 150 of 338 (44.3%) of patients without appendicitis with no false negatives. Conclusion The combination of normal WBC and ANC with normal pCRP levels exhibited high sensitivity and negative predictive value for acute appendicitis in this prospective adult patient cohort. Confirmation and validation of these findings with further study using commercially available CRP assays is needed.Introduction A host of variables beyond the control of the ED physician affect ED throughput. In-process time represents the period most directly affected by physician decision-making patterns. This study attempts to evaluate implications of variable decision-making for those patients placed in observation status for throughput and financial implications. Methods A retrospective review of all ED admissions to observation status over an 8-month period, for observation decision times (ODT) was performed. The average cost per patient bed hour in the ED, opportunity cost from patients not being seen during excessive ODTs, and the cost of an unfilled bed in an observation unit were estimated. Results Of 2693 observation cases reviewed, 114 (4.2%) had ODTs longer than two standard deviations above the median. These accumulated ODTs lead to an additional cost of $12,307, or $107 per admission. An additional 45 patients could have been treated during these excess ODTs, from which result an opportunity loss ranging from $32 to $1350 per hour. There is an additional cost of $8036 to maintain empty observation beds in the hospital. Conclusion For those ODTs beyond two standard deviations above the median, there is a direct unreimbursed cost to the ho