Emergency
RSSArticles
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Is ED Patient’s Conduct a Viable Defense Strategy?
The plaintiff in one malpractice claim had been seen in the ED for injuries he sustained while fleeing the scene of a crime. However, it was unclear whether a jury would ever get to hear about the patient’s criminal conduct.
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Study: Electronic Medical Record Design Flaws Can Hurt Patients
Patients can be harmed when there are problems in electronic medical records related to how information is conveyed to other providers and how test results get displayed, according to a recent study.
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Update on the Management of Hypertension in the Emergency Department
This article will provide emergency physicians with a roadmap to help navigate the evaluation and management of hypertension in the emergency department.
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Trauma Mythology: Looking Beyond the ABCD and ATLS
This article examines some commonly held assumptions related to the emergency care and stabilization of trauma patients. It provides the practicing clinician with information needed to inform important clinical decisions about spinal immobilization, thromboelastography, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), and the Focused Abdominal Sonography in Trauma (FAST) exam.
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Better Management of Patients With Psychiatric Needs
Recognizing an urgent need to improve the way patients with psychiatric needs are managed in the ED, the Institute for Healthcare Improvement has teamed up with Well Being Trust and nine participating hospitals to test and implement new approaches.
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Burnout Linked to Medical Errors, Malpractice, and Suicide
While no specialty is spared, emergency physicians are particularly vulnerable to burnout, a problem that produces several negative consequences. Experts note the problem must be addressed at both the individual and system levels, but stress that effective interventions likely will deliver a return on investment.
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Which Chest Pain Patients Require Further Testing, Intervention, or Discharge?
Hospitals in Kaiser Permanente’s Southern California region have implemented a new approach to help identify which patients who present with chest pain require further testing or intervention and which can be discharged safely. The core of this approach is use of the HEART score, a tool developed in the Netherlands to help physicians risk-stratify such patients quickly.
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Offering Patients Hospital Care at Home
There is growing interest in an approach that delivers hospital-level care to appropriate patients in their homes. Generally, such programs identify potential candidates for the approach upon their presentation to the ED. Depending on the program, emergency physicians and/or hospitalists determine whether patients should be offered the option of receiving care for their acute condition at home. Investigators have found the approach can deliver equal or superior outcomes to similar hospitalized patients at considerably lower cost, although reimbursement remains a major obstacle.
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Chronic Abdominal Pain Disorders: Chronic Pancreatitis and Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome
It is important for emergency providers to understand the pathophysiology and management of chronic abdominal pain disorders. This article will review two common chronic abdominal pain disorders encountered in the ED: chronic pancreatitis and cyclic vomiting syndrome.
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Are In-hospital Deaths Related to Community-acquired Pneumonia Preventable?
This secondary analysis of data from five tertiary care centers found that among patients hospitalized for community-acquired pneumonia, very few deaths potentially were related to a lapse in in-hospital quality of pneumonia care.