ED Management – October 1, 2008
October 1, 2008
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EDs receive unexpected 'visitors': chemically contaminated patients
It's enough of a challenge when an ED is alerted by its local EMS that victims of chemical contamination are on their way by ambulance. But when these patients arrive by car unannounced that brings your response to an entirely different level. -
Incentives can boost productivity, revenues
(Editor's note: This is the second in a three-part series on innovative approaches to documentation that can significantly enhance your department's revenues, without making any changes in patient flow and throughput processes. This article discusses how the use of incentives can improve documentation and increase revenues. The final installment will discuss excellence in coding and billing practices.) -
New discharge form keeps satisfaction high
For the past two years, the ED at Avera Weskota Medical Center, a small, rural critical-access hospital in Wessington Springs, SD, has been using a new "Emergency Services Aftercare" instruction form to help patients remember vital information about the care they received and instructions to follow once they get home. -
'Smart card' speeds triage, boosts safety
ED managers are not often thought of as inventors, but David Soria, MD, chief of emergency medicine at Wellington (FL) Regional Medical Center, has created a device that has helped his department knock an average of 2-3 minutes off its triage time, which was already an impressive 10-15 minutes. -
ACEP: Diagnose, treat TIAs more rapidly
Citing a growing body of evidence showing that patients who have had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) are at a significant risk of having a stroke within 48 hours, authors of a four-article supplement in the latest edition of the Annals of Emergency Medicine have underscored the need to diagnose and treat TIA much more quickly than previously believed. -
Moving admitted patients out of ED increases profits
Moving admitted patients out of the ED and into inpatient beds reduces overcrowding more than adding beds to the department does, and -- in one hospital at least -- brings in more profits, according to two studies published online in advance of the October 2008 issue of Annals of Emergency Medicine.