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This is the last of a three-part series addressing the top five issues that lead to malpractice claims in the emergency department and how you can reduce the risk. In the last two issues, we addressed chest pain, headache, and abdominal pain. This month, ED Management looks at head injury and stroke.
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Another strategy for improving patient satisfaction in the ED at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) in Little Rock is the calming effect, which aims to create an environment that is less stressful for the patient.
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Sometimes, you have to look beyond the walls of your ED for solutions to your overcrowding problems, says Sandy Vecellio, RN, BSN, clinical manager of the ED at Gwinnett Medical Center in Lawrenceville, GA. And when things really get rough, she advises, send out an SOS.
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The liability crisis in many states is an overwhelming threat to our nations emergency care system, says Angela Gardner, MD, an emergency physician and board member of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in Irving, TX.
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Some 20 trials dedicated to the pursuit of more rapid and more complete reperfusion have been published in the last few years, and sorting through the literature can be dizzying. The following article will highlight the major recent developments in AMI reperfusion therapy. It will accent which of the many therapeutic options currently are considered acceptable, and present treatment guidelines for the emergency physician faced with the patient who presents to the emergency department with acute ST elevation MI.
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Question: Were debating two questions in our hospital regarding when EMTALA applies. First, does the law apply to patients who only are holding in the ED because there are no beds available in the hospital? And does it apply when an air ambulance uses our helipad but does not bring the patient to our ED?
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The first step in formalizing your list of drug seekers or other frequent visitors to your ED is to avoid any disparaging names for them or the list, says Joel Geiderman, MD, FACEP, co-chair of the ED at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.
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Whether you use a list or not, the best way to deal with drug seekers in your ED is to get tough with them, says John Burke, commander of the Warren County (OH) Drug Task Force in Cincinnati, and a former police officer.
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To illustrate how EDs set themselves up for malpractice liability when treating head injuries, Diane M. Sixsmith, MD, MPH, FACEP, chairman of emergency medicine at New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in Flushing, tells the story of a 22-year-old boxer who was knocked out in a training session.
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Patient satisfaction improves dramatically if your staff pay more attention to the soft skills of ED care, such as the way you talk to people, while simultaneously improving the physical surroundings.
