Racial and sex disparities in difficult intravenous access

Risk factors for difficult IV access (DIVA) include provider experience, patient medical history, female gender, vein characteristics, and history of difficult access [5,6]. Delays in medical care are a source of concern in the ED given the undifferentiated nature of most patients and the potential for time sensitive conditions including myocardial infarctions, strokes, sepsis and infections, and surgical emergencies. Future directions for research also include interventions to decrease possible bias and reduce these delays, as well as further characterization of the specific downstream impact of DIVA-related delays in medical care and disposition on outcomes in time-sensitive conditions.Presentations None.Financial support This is a non-funded study, with no compensation or honoraria for participation, consulting or conducting the study.Author contributions MRS: methodology, writing-original draft, review & editing, MAL: data curation, formal analysis, WMK: writing: review & editing, HS: conceptualization, methodology, writing- review & editingConflict of interest disclosure MRS reports no conflict of interest.