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[Editor's note: This is the second in a two-part series on placing pharmacists in the ED. In our last installation, we examined the performance improvements that the University of Rochester (NY) Medical Center achieved as the result of placing a pharmacist inside the ED. In addition, we discuss how a pharmacist's recommendations to dispense a medication orally instead of using an IV enabled the ED to save a considerable amount of money while at the same time improving patient safety. In this issue, we look at additional benefits these pharmacists offer, from the perspective of ED nurses and physicians.]
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The Joint Commission is hoping that its suspension of a policy that triggers an "automatic" adverse decision if an organization fails to complete an acceptable root cause analysis in response to a sentinel event or its related measure of success within a specified time frame will encourage more self-reporting and advance root cause analysis activities.
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The Joint Commission has suspended its policy that triggers an "automatic" adverse decision if an organization fails to complete an acceptable root cause analysis in response to a sentinel event or its related measure of success within a specified time frame. The change is retroactively effective as of Jan. 1, 2010.
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The practice of emergency medicine is unique in that an emergency medicine physician acts as a gatekeeper. While treatment of a patient might be brief, initial examination and assessment often will dictate the course of the patient's treatment after admission to the hospital.
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Several years ago the security plans for the ED at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, OH, were significantly revamped. The process required strong teamwork between ED leadership and hospital security.
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Just as identify theft has been steadily increasing in the general populace, so has it grown in the medical setting, with the ED perhaps feeling the greatest impact of all.
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Consider evaluating educational materials, such as an educational sheet, self-care instructions, or an informational website, with a usability test instead of a focus group, says Dana Botka, manager of customer communications with the Washington Department of Labor and Industries in Olympia.
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Imagine being an occupational health nurse at a plant that had 10% of its workforce off work because of work-related injuries or illnesses. That was the challenge facing consultant Patricia B. Strasser, PhD, RN, COHN-S/CM, FAAOHN, principal of Partners in BusinessHealth Solutions in Toledo, OH.
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Low-income women with abnormal mammogram results are more likely to receive appropriate diagnostic procedures in a shorter time frame when a case manager guides them through follow-up care, a study has shown.
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After two successful pilot projects aimed at reducing readmission rates, Capital District Physicians' Health Plan Inc. (CDPHP) has implemented a program aimed at ensuring that its Medicare Advantage members get the care they need after discharge to avoid a return trip to the hospital.