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This issue of ED Legal Letter is the second of a four-part series related to pitfalls associated with evaluating patients with abdominal pain. The series will analyze high-risk and life-threatening disease processes that ED physicians will encounter in their daily practice. Part two explores gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and the necessity of Hemoccult testing; the diagnosis and treatment of aortic aneurysms and abdominal trauma; and extra-abdominal causes of abdominal pain.
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What is your No. 1 obstacle to reducing delays and improving patient flow? For many ED managers, the culprit increasingly is inpatients being held in the ED for hours or even days.
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Now that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has announced its 2003 National Patient Safety Goals, what are you doing to comply? Technology could be a crucial part of your strategy.
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If you fail to implement effective systems to prevent pediatric medication errors, there can be liability risks for you and your facility.
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Bentley PN, Wilson AG, Derwin ME, et al. Reliability of assigning correct current procedural terminology-4 E/M codes. Ann Emerg Med 2002; 40:269-274.
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Streamlining your ED coding and billing system isnt something you can do alone. It takes the expertise and cooperation of numerous individuals working together on each element of the process. However, the rewards are great both in the areas of improving revenue and assuring conformance with the hospital compliance program.
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Are you giving admitted patients being held in your ED patients the same level of care they would receive in the critical care units? If not, you are violating standards from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations that require the same standard of care be provided.
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Schwetz named acting director of OHRP; Books help prepare for FDA inspections; NEJM retracts study after authors point to forgery;
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Its as simple as typing in an Internet URL, entering a few keywords, and hitting return across any persons computer screen comes a nationwide listing of clinical trials under way at various research institutions. Some sites even offer matching services. Could use of these listing services be considered recruitment?
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As research institutions begin to digest the new recommendations from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academies in Washington, DC, theres general agreement that many changes it promotes in IRB structure and research activities are necessary to better protect human subjects.
