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The use of high-tech diagnostic imaging in EDs has quadrupled since the mid-1990s, says a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Misdiagnosis of aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage in the ED has been reported to occur in a significant proportion of cases, due in part to a wide spectrum of presentations and subtle initial signs.
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Your ED patient's bad outcome might have nothing to do with the fact that he or she was held in the hallway while awaiting an inpatient bed. However, it could impact the outcome of subsequent litigation against the ED.
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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 may be brief, initial examination and assessment will often dictate the course of the patient's treatment after admission to the hospital.
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The Food and Drug Administration is alerting healthcare professionals not to use certain intravenous (IV) bags of metronidazole, ondansetron, and ciprofloxacin because of potential contamination.
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Hospitals have expanded their environmental cleaning programs to respond to the epidemic of Clostridium difficile, but many are unaware whether patient rooms and environmental surfaces are actually being decontaminated, the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology reports.
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The unprotected exposure of a respiratory therapist who later developed bacterial meningitis has triggered the first citations under California's new Aerosol Transmissible Disease Standard. Fines of $101,485 including two "willful" violations, the strongest possible penalty were levied against Alta Bates Summit Medical Center in Oakland, CA.
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In a report that may prove to be the cornerstone of a long-anticipated national surveillance system for healthcare associated infections (HAIs), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported an 18% decline in the national incidence of central line-associated bloodstream infections (CLABSIs).
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In this before-after study in a surgical ICU, addition to the daily physician worksheet of a red box requiring the checking of "yes" or "no" to continued need for central venous and urinary catheters was associated with a significant reduction in the duration of catheterization.