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Measuring the number of ED malpractice claims that are avoided by calling patients post-discharge is difficult, acknowledges Jeanie Taylor, RN, BSN, MS, vice president of risk services for Emergency Physicians Insurance Company (Epic) in Roseville, CA. "It is hard to measure what did not occur, so the effectiveness of callback programs from a claims perspective is largely anecdotal," she says.
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My mother was on warfarin for a number of years and her degree of anticoagulation was difficult to manage. She had a number of complications, including bleeding episodes. So, I was enthusiastic about these new anticoagulants with their more predictable therapeutic effect. As with all new drugs, there are downsides; currently the lack of a readily available coagulation test to assess if there is a significant coagulopathy and an effective reversal agent. As these drugs are increasingly used, emergency physicians will see patients such as the three cases presented below.
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With surging demand from patients with both medical and mental health needs, and continuing pressure to reduce costs, ED managers have a full plate of concerns to contend with.
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Getting an entire staff of physicians, nurses, and techs to do things differently is never easy, but you can clear away hurdles by giving them the ability to formulate some of their own solutions.
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In early March, a swath of deadly tornadoes plowed across the nation's Midwest and South, once again underscoring the importance of hospital disaster planning.
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Procedural sedation is an important skill for emergency physicians to possess to mitigate the patient's intense physical and emotional reactions to painful and threatening procedures.
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When Hurricane Sandy was taking aim at states along the northeastern coastline in late October, hospitals and emergency management officials in the region had several days to prepare.
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While 2012 has been a year of uncertainty in health care, as both the Supreme Court and voters made judgments on whether provisions of the Accountable Care Act will continue to unfold, salaries for ED leaders have remained relatively stable, according to the results of the 2012 ED Management Salary Survey.
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While blood transfusions are often essential in the care of trauma patients, several prominent health care organizations recognize that too often providers are ordering blood transfusions when they are not medically necessary. This drives up costs and exposes patients to unnecessary risks, according to experts. And it also essentially wastes precious blood supplies.
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A new study, led by researchers at the University of Michigan (UM) in Ann Arbor, MI, suggests that clinicians might not be spending enough time discussing some of the most complex patients when they are handing-off these cases during shift changes. And there is a simple reason why, according to Michael Cohen, PhD, professor of complex systems, information, and public policy at UM.