Life in the ER
Celebrating Women: Words of Wisdom from an Admired USACS Physician
As we conclude Women’s History Month, The Shift had a conversation with one of the most admired leaders at US Acute Care Solutions, Chairman of the National Clinical Governance Board Joan Kolodzik, MD, FACEP, also a physician in the southwest Ohio area, serving clinically in many of the Mercy Health hospitals. Her home base is […]
Read ArticleThe Value of 24/7 In-House Intensivist Coverage
Hospitals across the country are implementing 24/7 in-house Intensivist coverage. The pressure COVID-19 places on ICUs has accelerated this trend. Regardless of the pandemic’s impact, numerous studies show that in-house Intensivist services positively impact patient outcomes, nursing and provider satisfaction, and overall quality and efficiency, especially in high acuity, high volume hospitals such as tertiary […]
Read ArticleAchieving Sepsis Performance Excellence in the Emergency Department
Excellence in the management of severe sepsis and septic shock, and compliance with SEP-1, the national core measure for sepsis, are top priorities for healthcare leaders across the country. This priority is driven by an increasing incidence of sepsis that coincides with disproportionate growth of the elderly population in the U.S., high mortality associated with […]
Read ArticleTaking Provider-in-Triage Efficiencies to the Next Level with Collaborative Focus on Appropriate Timely Discharges and Admissions
Many emergency departments do not focus resources on lobby triage. This is due, in part, to a misconception that the most influential patient entry point is ED traffic from EMS. This perspective results in strong team members and efficiency and quality strategies being allocated outside of lobby triage. In this post, former VEP Healthcare Chief […]
Read Article“When This Disaster Happened, We Were There…”
The Story of Hurricane Florence Through the Eyes of The Providers Who Worked Through It Wednesday, September 12th The week leading up to landfall for Hurricane Florence had been difficult from a planning perspective. The storm had weakened, then strengthened again. It had shifted course and slowed. Governors from Maryland down to Georgia had all […]
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Opioid Treatment in the ED: A Revolving Door, or an Open Door?
Last year, Ariana Sampson treated a young man for opioid addiction in the emergency department of Marshall Medical Center in Placerville, California. His family told her that he’d been a golden child and a star athlete in high school. But after a football injury, he had been prescribed the painkiller Norco. Within six months of […]
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You’re the Pilot: A Guide for Successful Shifts Your First Year Out of EM Residency
So, you’ve signed your first contract. You’ve successfully navigated your first real job search in nearly a decade. You’ll be graduating from residency in the near future, and it’s finally beginning to hit you: all too soon, you’ll be on your own. As USACS’ Vice President of Marketing and Recruiting, I am often in touch […]
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What It Really Means To Have Your Work Be A Family
A family, says Dr. Kurtis Mayz, doesn’t always get along: “It’s not all rainbows and butterflies,” he said in a recent interview. “We fight, we have our disagreements, we play together, we love together, and at the end of the day, we’re a family. We all pull together in the same direction and we move […]
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The Electric Daisy Carnival: What It’s Like to Provide Medical Coverage for a 400,000 Person Rave
Peter Carlo recalls the first time he was asked to provide medical staffing for a rave – he had had never heard of a rave before. “I was like, a rave? Explain.” But this wasn’t just any rave. This was the Electric Daisy Carnival, or EDC. It is one of the largest electronic dance music […]
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Priorities and the Right Time: Looking Back On My Last Shift
On January of this year, I worked my last clinical shift in an ER. I realized recently that it’s been ten months since I cared for a patient at a bedside. The question some would ask is this: why, after 25 years of doing this, did I stop? Do I still miss it? Will I […]
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