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Diagnostic procedures range from easy and unobtrusive (maybe just a quick nasal swab, that's all), to highly obtrusive and uncomfortable (read, colonoscopy), with this spectrum largely determining patient willingness to pursue them.
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In April of this year the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed changes to the Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) regulations that would once again significantly impact EMTALA's patient transfer rules.
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By nature of their training, skills, and in some hospitals, based on their job descriptions, emergency physicians often respond to hospital "Code Blue" alerts. Not surprisingly, many patients involved in Code Blue situations have poor outcomes, and patients or their families may elect to bring medical malpractice claims against the physicians involved in the resuscitation attempts.
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After waiting 22 hours to be transferred to another facility, a homeless man committed suicide in a Douglasville, GA, ED seclusion room. An investigation by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) found that the man had not been properly monitored by ED staff.
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ED physicians responding to "code blue" alerts on inpatient units is a common practice but one that exposes them to considerable legal risks.
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Even with rapid diagnosis and initiation of treatment, bacterial meningitis continues to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality in adult patients. Mortality rates for this neurological emergency vary between 13% and 27%, even with adequate and timely antibiotic therapy.
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A color-coded scale is effective at pain assessment in pediatric patients, says a new study that looked at 126 children between 5 and 12 years old presenting to a pediatric ED with acute pain.
