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If an ED nurse at Christiana Care Health System in Wilmington, DE, suspects a patient could be having a myocardial infarction (MI), he or she does the EKG immediately at the bedside and interprets it on the spot, says Patricia L. Blair, RN, BSN, CEN, patient care coordinator.
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When John Provost, RN, started working in the ED in 2006 at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, AZ, he purchased a PalmPilot, then added some software with medical information.
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Are you able to try sticking your patient more than once or twice? Can you wait for the best possible nurse to be free? Do you need to consider alternative access immediately?
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Minor respiratory complaints were all that a man reported to ED nurses at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, but in fact, he was suicidal.
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Like many EDs, the one at Norwalk (CT) Hospital has an isolated room to the rear of the department where intoxicated people are brought to sober up. But don't you dare call it a "drunk tank."
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It's always an honor to win an excellence award, but the EDs in the Carolinas Healthcare System that recently were recognized for service excellence under the J.D. Power and Associates Distinguished Hospital Program also can point to specific areas in which they stood out. J.D. Power says it bases the award on five drivers: speed and efficiency; dignity and respect; comfort; information and communication; and emotional support.
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University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh has successfully tested the Emergency Department Notification System (EDNS) by Waltham, MA-based Thermo Fisher Scientific, which a member of the ED staff describes as "novel technology" for radiation detection.
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While experts might differ regarding the extent of risk posed by radiation exposure from computed tomography (CT) scans and other imaging procedures, there is broad consensus that this risk should be minimized, especially in young patients.
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More and more, it seems, EDs are harnessing the power of the digital world to make their operations more efficient and to enhance patient services.
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[This quarterly column on coding in the ED is written by Caral Edelberg, CPC, CPMA, CAC, CCS-P, CHC, president of Edelberg Compliance Associates, Baton Rouge, LA. If there are coding issues you would like to see addressed in this column, contact Edelberg at phone: (225) 454-0154. E-fax: (225) 612-6904. E-mail:
[email protected].]
