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The ED at North Memorial Medical Center in Robbinsdale, MN, has been able to increase the percentage of criteria blood draws from 31% to 41% one of the keys to slashing lab specimen turnaround time. But since only a specific percentage of patients meet the criteria at any given time, how is that possible?
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In 1997, the ED at Parkview Hospital in Fort Wayne, IN, was in the 45th percentile in South Bend, IN-based Press Ganey Associates satisfaction rankings. That same year, Southern Ohio Medical Center in Portsmouth, languished in the ninth percentile.
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Drug-seeking behaviors are commonplace in emergency departments. Many physicians have faced patients with multiple alleged allergies to narcotics who are asking for a medication that the physician never would have initially thought of prescribing, whose medications were stolen, and who become angry, threatening, and agitated upon refusal to refill the stolen prescription. This article defines various terms used in the drug-seeking literature, provides an overview of drug-seeking behaviors, and proposes some techniques to manage these patients both at the individual and at the institutional levels.
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Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy range from chronic pre-existing disease to life-threatening conditions such as HELLP syndrome (hemolysis, elevated liver enzymes, low platelets) and eclampsia. They often represent a continuum from bad to worse. The emergency department physician is likely to evaluate a pregnant patient for many conditions unrelated to the pregnancy itself, and knowledge of abnormalities that warrant further assessment and follow-up is essential.
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Viagra: Maximum Capacity at High-Altitudes?; FDA Actions.
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Septic shock is one of the common causes of hypotension in the ICU. For decades, adrenergic agents with variable alpha- and beta-adrenergic activities have been the mainstay among vasopressor agents. Very few randomized controlled trials have been done that identify the efficacy or superiority of any one particular agent.
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This single-center prospective observational study reveals that the presence of 3 factors (low cough peak flow, high secretion volume, and poor neurologic score per a simple 4-task test) may be useful in predicting extubation failure.
