-
Many health care providers harbor the delusion that hospital 'incident reports,' or 'occurrence screens,' are privileged and protected from discovery or admission as evidence against them in malpractice litigation.
-
The number of ED patients who leave without being seen (LWBS) has increased from 1.1 million in 1995 to 2.1 million in 2002, and also, vulnerable populations such as younger, Hispanic, and uninsured patients are at higher risk, says a new study.
-
Both nurses and physicians are at high risk for communication lapses during change of shift, says Francis L. Counselman, MD, chairman and program director for the department of emergency medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School.
-
The appropriate management of pain by medical professionals is becoming an increasingly popular topic of discussion and litigation.
-
Missed diagnoses in the ED are typically the result of multiple breakdowns in the diagnostic process, with several contributing factors, according to a new study.
-
Writing prescriptions for colleagues or their family members is done commonly by some ED physicians, but this carries significant legal risks.
-
Whenever a resident is sued in a malpractice case, the plaintiff's counsel can label that doctor as a student whose training is incomplete.
-
The body of law that deals with end-of-life decision making is hardly settled law. Because the welfare of citizens is largely the concern of individual states, judicial decisions regarding end-of-life issues in health care vary among the states.
-
Are residents in training who moonlight in emergency departments (EDs) more likely to experience clinical errors and oversights? The answer is a definite "yes," say experts.
-
This checklist reminds us of potential steps or options that should be considered to reduce risks when caring for patients with shortness of breath in the emergency department (ED).