Tag: emergency-department
Amid Change, Physicians are Faced With a Choice
April 16th, 2013by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
Amid massive change in our healthcare delivery systems and seismic shifts in many regional markets, physicians are increasingly being faced with a simple choice: be acquired or become employed as part of a large healthcare system, or stay independent while offering a compelling service that hospitals and health systems value. The changes occurring in our […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Hospital Partnership
Leadership in the ED: Being a Floor General for Your Team
March 20th, 2012by: Dr. Vipul Kella
In sports, the most successful athletes are not necessarily those that have had the best individual statistics, but are those that have managed to make their teammates better around them: Magic Johnson, Isaiah Thomas, or to use a hot new name – Jeremy Lin. These athletes epitomize selfless leadership on the court. While their own […]
read articlePosted in Life in the ER
America’s Healthcare System Needs a Social Contract
March 15th, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
As a citizen it’s easy to clamor for rights. It’s much harder to live up to our responsibilities. And so it is in health care. As citizens we have implicitly agreed to abide by a social contract, which means a person’s moral and political obligations are dependent on an agreement among them to form the […]
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Sometimes the Best Emergency Medicine is No Medicine at All
February 3rd, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
I was recently reminded by a patient experience that the best medicine sometimes is no medicine at all. I cared for a young woman who had been seen the last few nights complaining of shortness of breath. When it was obvious that she had normal breath sounds, no wheezing and normal oxygen level I started […]
read articlePosted in Quality Efficiency Utilization
Leading from the Front in a New Emergency Department
January 31st, 2012by: Dr. David Klein
I recently spent a week working clinically at our new hospital partner, Bristol Hospital, in Connecticut. I worked along many other experienced, seasoned physicians and leaders. In fact, nearly all of our group’s top leadership and senior partners have worked clinical shifts in the Emergency Department there in recent weeks. And “leading from the front,” so to […]
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After 20 Years in Emergency Medicine, The Worries and Tools I Take to a New ER
January 24th, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
When I completed my training nearly 20 years ago, I always wondered what type of emergency department I would work in. Two decades later I can say I’ve worked in a lot of different emergency departments, seven of them to be specific. They range from bustling suburban hospitals to small rural facilities to busy trauma […]
read articlePosted in Life in the ER, Quality Efficiency Utilization
It’s Mandatory Flu Shot Season Again!
October 7th, 2011by: Dr. Julian Orenstein
It’s flu season again, which means it’s flu shot season again. As it has last year, Shady Grove Adventist Hospital mandated that all employees get vaccinated, and while most people are compliant, the policy generates a lot of talk. The usual stuff: “I don’t think it really works,” and “I always get sicker from the […]
read articlePosted in Life in the ER
Death at UMass Memorial: Is the Problem “Alarm Fatigue,” or Something Bigger?
September 27th, 2011by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
Last week, the Boston Globe reported on the second death in four years at UMass Memorial Medical Center related to “alarm fatigue.” Anyone who works in a hospital, particularly an area like an emergency department where critical patients are seen, can understand how a tragedy like this happens. Monitor alarms go off all the time. The […]
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Emergency Medicine – Where Do We Go From Here?
May 30th, 2011by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
We cost too much. We take care of URIs and ankle sprains. We don’t coordinate care well. We use too many resources. We’ve all heard it in the media, even our President taking passing shots at the usefulness and cost effectiveness of emergency care. Of course the reality is federal law requires us to see […]
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Reducing Medical Errors Through Improved Communication
May 24th, 2011by: Dr. Jeremy Tucker
The most important take away point from this WSJ article “Hospitals Overhaul ER’s to Reduce Mistakes” is communication. The article states that most errors in judgment involve missing pieces of critical data or information that one team member may be aware of and assume that others know. In an ideal world, the best model for […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Quality Efficiency Utilization