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A recent study in the Annals of Emergency Medicine finds that patients with traumatic brain injuries who are transported by medical helicopters have higher chances of survival and better recoveries than ground-transported patients.
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Joe DiMaggio Childrens Hospital in Hollywood, FL, improved patient satisfaction from the 81st percentile in March 2005 to the 99th percentile in June 2005, and it has remained at that level. At newly opened Memorial Hospital in Miramar, FL, satisfaction rates rose from 85% to 99% in one quarter.
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An accelerated triage process developed by the ED staff at University of California San Diego (UCSD) Medical Center has reduced the frequency of patients who left without being seen by a physician by almost 50% from about 8% to 4%.
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Many stories are emerging from the EDs and field hospitals responding to patient needs following Hurricane Katrina, but few have been as moving as the e-mail by Hemant H. Vankawala, MD, an emergency physician with Questcare partners in Dallas, Denton (TX) Regional Medical Center, and the downtown Dallas Baylor University Medical Center, sent to several of his colleagues.
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In making changes to address new accreditation standards on patient flow (LD.3.11), and surge capacity (IC.6.10), one hospital has reduced its average throughput in the ED from 3.2 hours to 2.3 hours.
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In the wake of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, health care professionals across the country are revisiting their disaster preparedness plans.
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In early January, Mansfield, OH, was hit by an ice storm. We essentially had a town without power for six or seven days, recalls Anthony Midkiff, MD, FACEP, director of emergency services at MedCentral/ Mansfield Hospital.
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There are times when EDs can achieve dramatic improvements in average length of stay (ALOS) or reductions in their left without being seen (LWBS) percentages in a relatively short period of time by instituting significant new process improvements, such as bedside registration or new triage protocols.
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ED managers are deluged with statistical reports from many government agencies, and yes, your eyes can glaze over glancing over page after page of seemingly endless numbers.
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In a trend that promises to create a serious challenge for EDs for the foreseeable future, talented ED managers are being lured away from their positions to alternative career paths. And, say observers, while compensation may be one factor, it is far from the only factor.