-
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."
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
[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].]
-
If highly religious nurses or physicians feel that it is appropriate to pray with patients and to share their faith, some patients will appreciate this, while others might not. However, it's unlikely this practice will lead to a lawsuit.
-
"It's too bad someone didn't give you thrombolytics, because you probably wouldn't be paralyzed now."
-
How's this for a turnaround? A few years ago, patient satisfaction levels in the three EDs of the Cambridge (MA) Health Alliance were in the lowest decile in Massachusetts, and now they are consistently in the top quartile.
-
Unless they are return patients, it's a rare event for ED providers to see the individuals they treat after they've been discharged.
