Emergency Medicine Topics
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An Admissions Unit Accelerates ED Flow, Helping Upper Floors Better Manage Incoming Patients
Administrators at a Wisconsin hospital created a separate unit where ED patients destined for admission could be placed while waiting for an inpatient bed upstairs. The new unit is staffed by float pool nurses who initiate care while the patients are waiting and help ensure they are directed to the right unit and the right level of care.
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Beware of Risks Regarding Medication Noncompliance
The key lies in ensuring the discharge plan is complete, understandable, and achievable.
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Plaintiff Attorney May Decline to Pursue Claim if Patient Was Noncompliant
If a patient does not follow discharge instructions, and a bad outcome happens, the patient or family may decide to sue the emergency care provider. However, it may be difficult finding a lawyer to take the case.
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Lawsuits Allege Delays, Failure to Treat with Mechanical Thrombectomy
Malpractice claims involving intravenous thrombolytic therapy to treat acute ischemic stroke patients are more likely to allege failure to treat than to allege complications related to therapy. A group of researchers wanted to know if the same was true regarding mechanical thrombectomy.
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Emergency Physicians Rarely Bill for Advance Care Planning
Clinicians should be aware of the opportunity to provide this important service to patients – while also receiving appropriate compensation.
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Advanced Practice Providers Are Seeing High-Acuity Patients in EDs
If advanced practice providers see high-acuity patients without direct supervision by a qualified emergency physician, patients may not receive appropriate comprehensive care.
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U.S. Public Health Officials Warn Frontline Providers to Watch for Malaria Cases
Clinicians should raise their suspicion levels for the mosquito-borne illness when patients present with fever with an unknown etiology, even if the patients have not traveled recently to a country where malaria is endemic.
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Boarded Mental Health Patients: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
Many EDs routinely board mental health patients for days on end, awaiting transfer to a mental health facility. An expert offers tips to help emergency medicine providers alleviate safety and medical/legal risks.
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Consensus Panel Offers Guidance for Pediatric Mental Health Boarding
EDs nationwide continue to see pediatric mental health patients boarded in the department for long periods while awaiting inpatient bed placement. A group of 23 experts from 17 health systems sought to identify what EDs are facing, to learn how departments are handling the problem, and to offer recommendations to standardize practices.
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To Alleviate Boarding, Consider Creating Discharge Lounge
Several months into the new process, leaders at Northwestern Medicine Palos Hospital report they have shortened the average discharge process from four hours to one hour, they have halved the ED’s leave-without-being-seen rate, and patient satisfaction scores have begun to rise in both the ED and inpatient settings.