-
-
Previous studies have shown that the use of a multi-part daily rounding checklist reduces errors of omission in the ICU such as failure to discontinue empirically started antibiotics, to perform spontaneous breathing trials to see whether ventilated patients can be weaned and extubated, or to provide prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis (DVT).
-
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has made it clear that cell phone applications that aid in clinical decision-making or act as medical devices will soon be subject to the strictest Class II and Class III regulations.
-
Most accredited hospitals have been reporting ORYX performance data to the Joint Commission (JC) on a monthly basis since 2002.
-
This is the second of a two-part series on liability risks involving ordering of diagnostic tests in the ED. This month, we report on possible lawsuits for future cancers, strategies if patients threaten to sue because a test wasn't ordered, and liability risks specific to pediatric patients.
-
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Florida's cap does not violate the federal Constitution, but punted whether the cap violates the Florida Constitution to the Florida Supreme Court.
-
-
After the actress Natasha Richardson died in 2009 from an epidural hematoma that media reports emphasized could have been diagnosed with a head CT scan, EPs were flooded with requests for the test, even for patients with very minor head injuries, recalls John Burton, MD, chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, VA.
-
The "second-look EKG" is a good risk-management strategy, according to Robert Broida, MD, FACEP, chief operating officer of Physicians Specialty Limited Risk Retention Group in Canton, OH. If you are the treating physician for any patient with chest pain being considered for discharge, it is a good practice to have another physician review and initial the EKG before discharge, he advises.
-
Drowning is defined as asphyxia or suffocation from submersion/immersion in a liquid medium.