ED Management 2009-02-01

Rochester study shows telemedicine could reduce pediatric ED visits

Telemedicine has long been recognized for improving access to care as well as access to specialist expertise, particularly in rural facilities. Now, in an unpublished study just completed in Rochester, NY, the lead author says it also can offer a possible solution to overcrowding when it comes to pediatric ED patients, many of whom, he asserts, easily could be treated by a primary care physician.

Lawsuits may arise from ED 'boarding' practice

An emergency physician is managing an acute myocardial infarction, arranging for a patient transfer, sewing up a laceration, and putting in a chest tube, with 20 people still waiting to be seen in the waiting room.

Discharge unit helps speed patient flow

ED managers agree that overcrowding and gridlock, while often manifested most graphically in their department, are decidedly hospitalwide issues, and the experience of Sarasota (FL) Memorial Hospital seems to prove their point.

ED Coding Update: Here's how you can ramp up your department's revenues

National economic paranoia seems to have taken over, and although ED volumes continue to climb, joblessness combined with the economic downturn promise to make it a rocky 2009 for many. There is a lot of emphasis on patient satisfaction, safety, and security these days, and each requires resources to manage. To sustain our objectives, it will be necessary to ensure the revenue streams to support them.

Staff involvement key to satisfaction gains

As a small (10,000 visits a year) department, the ED at Boone (IA) County Hospital is fortunate it doesn't have to deal with the long waiting times that face many other EDs. But that fact alone does not necessarily guarantee high patient satisfaction levels.

ED Accreditation Update: New Sentinel Event Alert gives warning: IT implementation has inherent safety risks

While the introduction of new technologies such as computerized physician order entry (CPOE) were lauded by proponents as "silver bullets" that dramatically would improve patient safety, The Joint Commission is warning in a new Sentinel Event Alert that "users must be mindful of the safety risks and preventable adverse events that these implementations can create or perpetuate."

ED Accreditation Update: Preparation can help avoid IT problems

The best way to avoid (or at least minimize) problems with information technology (IT) implementation in the ED is to take certain steps to make sure you are adequately prepared, advises James Walker, MD, FACP, chief medical information officer of Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA.

ED Accreditation Update: Joint Commission urges these preventive actions

Below are suggested actions to help prevent patient harm related to the implementation and use of health information technology (IT) and converging technologies.

ED Accreditation Update: No new NPSGs, but no time for EDs to relax

ED managers might breathe a small sigh of relief following the announcement from The Joint Commission (TJC) that there will be no new National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) developed for 2010, but experts say that doesn't mean they should pay any less attention to improving patient safety strategies.

ED Management – February 1, 2009

February 1, 2009