Emergency Department Management & Law
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Evolving Legal Exposure for Supervising EPs
If an ED patient seen by a nurse practitioner or a physician assistant sues for malpractice, the supervising emergency physician is likely to be named as a co-defendant. That is true even if the emergency physician never saw or heard about the patient, according to a recent study.
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ED Malpractice Claims Differ for Attendings, Trainees, NPs, PAs
Emergency medicine is an inherently high-risk specialty regarding malpractice liability because of complex cases and a fast-paced environment. Increasingly, EDs are staffed by advanced practice providers. It is unclear whether this changes liability for EDs and, if so, in what way.
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Many Patients Perceive Discrimination at ED Visit
Is a patient unhappy with the way they were treated in the ED? Some patients might assume they received poor care because of their race, gender, or age, or because of their appearance, income, or health literacy level.
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New Sepsis Rule Puts Teeth Behind the SEP-1 Bundle, Putting Revenue at Risk for Providers Who Fail to Meet Benchmarks
A coalition of large healthcare associations, including the American College of Emergency Physicians, is taking issue with a new rule from the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services that will require hospitals to meet the provisions outlined in the Severe Sepsis/Septic Shock Management Bundle, a series of labs, measurements, and therapies often referred to as SEP-1.
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Behavioral Flags in ED Charts Have Unintended Consequences
If a patient attacked an ED nurse, the next ED nurse caring for that individual probably would want to know specifics about what happened. Some EDs place behavioral flags in ED charts to warn other providers.
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EDs Need Processes for Transfer of Pediatric Mental Health Patients
ED visits by children and adolescents with mental health disorders are unique in many ways, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Health Statistics.
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EDs Are Getting Clarity on State Abortion Laws
After the Dobbs decision, clinical practices changed in some EDs in states with abortion bans. The changes did not come about directly because of state laws, per se, but more so over uncertainty about how the laws could be interpreted.
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OB Emergencies Pose Patient Safety, Legal Risks
Patients with pregnancy complications presenting to EDs with little or no obstetric services may require transfer to another facility. This situation poses multiple risks for emergency physicians.
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ED Nurses Lack Knowledge of Legal Implications of OB Cases
Staffing challenges and low birth volumes are leading health systems to close their obstetric services, particularly in rural areas. More than one-third of counties nationwide have become “maternity care deserts” with no birth centers or obstetric hospitals and no obstetric providers.
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AMA: Burnout Is Causing an Increasingly Serious Physician Shortage
In a related development to the rollout of the CDC’s new “Impact Wellbeing” program, the American Medical Association is warning that physician burnout is causing well-trained clinicians to leave their medical careers, leading to a physician shortage that is about to get much worse.