ED Management – September 1, 2018
September 1, 2018
View Archives Issues
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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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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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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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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.