-
There was no one precipitating study or finding that prompted the Oakbrook Terrace, IL-based Joint Commission (JC) to issue a Sentinel Event Alert regarding the radiation risks of diagnostic imaging, stresses Ana Pujols McKee, MD, the JC's executive vice president and chief medical officer.
-
One of the ways busy EDs are attempting to manage long wait times is by enabling patients who do not need immediate care to make an appointment to be seen in the ED one or two hours in advance.
-
In addition to tracking drug shortages, the Drug Information Service at the University of Utah Healthcare in Salt Lake City, UT, has also attempted to figure out why the shortages are occurring. The underlying causes aren't all well-understood, but some of the problems are clear.
-
Emergency department managers should take note of a couple of standards that had very high non-compliance rates for the first six months of 2011, according to data released by the Oakbrook Terrace, Il-based Joint Commission.
-
Like EDs, emergency medical service (EMS) providers have also been struggling with drug shortages in recent years.
-
When a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed, the emergency physician (EP) and the hospital are often represented by the same defense counsel, but there are times when this is not in the EP's best interest, according to Robert B. Takla, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief of the Emergency Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI.
-
Overcrowding and emergency department (ED) boarding are the two top liability risks that Douglas Brunette, MD, assistant chief of emergency medicine for clinical affairs at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota, sees for EDs currently.
-
When Robert B. Takla, MD, MBA, FACEP, chief of the Emergency Center at St. John Hospital and Medical Center in Detroit, MI, was named in a lawsuit early in his career, he was certain he hadn't breached the standard of care, though the same may not have been true regarding one of his emergency physician (EP) colleagues.
-
Abdominal pain is an exceedingly common presentation in the emergency department. Every clinician fears missing the diagnosis of appendicitis. Children are particularly challenging since appendicitis is less common, and the history and physical may be subtle. The diagnostic use of CT is not without its risks and must be balanced against the potential risk of appendicitis in each individual patient. This article provides a comprehensive review of appendicitis in children.
-
If an ED patient dies because she doesn't take antibiotics, as instructed by the emergency physician (EP), this doesn't mean that her family won't later sue for medical malpractice.
