Emergency Medicine Topics
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Rapid Diagnostic Testing in the ED for Mononucleosis, Strep Pharyngitis, Influenza, Respiratory Syncytial Virus, and Procalcitonin
Clinicians strive to use the most accurate tests available while also considering other factors, such as cost, ease of use, and turnaround time for results. It is important to understand the limitations of a test while interpreting the results. This issue will deal with a few of the most common rapid or point-of-care tests used in the emergency department.
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Flu Shot Can Reduce Adverse Heart Outcomes
Those with heart disease can lower their risk of death or other serious complications by receiving the influenza vaccine.
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New Approaches for Ethically Challenging ED Cases
For emergency providers, time is precious. If a full-blown consult is not possible, ethicists can help discern the most critical aspect of a concern these clinicians may express. Quick, in-person responses; phone consults; and telemedicine consults all are possible approaches.
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Veterans with PTSD, TBI at Much Higher Risk for Heart Attack
Such patients also more likely to experience first attack at a younger age than the general population.
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American Heart Association Calls for End to Structural Racism
Group “declares its unequivocal support of antiracist principles” in a recent presidential advisory.
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Length of Time in ED Linked to Patient Safety Events
The odds of a patient safety event (defined as a near-miss event or adverse event) increase by 4.5% for every additional hour a patient stays in the ED, according to the authors of a recent study.
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Hospitals Mistakenly View Boarding as an ‘ED Problem’
Since hospitals rely on elective surgeries for financial viability, patients admitted from the ED tend to be a somewhat lower priority. Asking hospital administrators to observe the risks of ED boarding firsthand can help change this perception.
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Report Links ED Boarding to Worse Clinical Outcomes
Some hospitals have found a novel solution in the form of resuscitative care units, which are ICUs based in EDs. Patients who need time-sensitive respiratory, metabolic, neurologic, or hemodynamic critical care can receive it in the ED. This prevents these patients from waiting so long for a bed to finally open in the appropriate specialty ICU.
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Angry Encounters Can Adversely Affect Clinical Decision-Making
A patient screams and spits at the emergency physician and nurse who are trying to determine if a life-threatening emergency exists. Another patient is extremely grateful, cooperative, and respectful. Assuming both patients presented with the exact same clinical situation, would ED providers treat them any differently? The authors of two recent studies examined this interesting question.
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Partly Driven by Defensive Medicine, ED Imaging Orders Rise Dramatically
Investigators analyzed advanced Medicare imaging use and paid malpractice claims, examining claims data for a 5% sample of Medicare beneficiaries from 2004 to 2016 and the National Practitioner Data Bank. For every 1% increase in the number of paid malpractice claims, there was a corresponding 0.20% increase in advanced imaging use.