Tag: er
Observation Medicine Playing Bigger Role in the ER
April 20th, 2012by: Dr. Rob Flint
Traditional observation units often focus on chest pain and a few other diagnosis. But as the health care market continues to change, so has the need to decrease length of stay, decrease re-admissions, and streamline patent care. Accordingly, our Observation Services at Western Maryland Health System continues to grow. We have physically expanded from ten to […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare, Observation Care
The Decline and Fall of Triage in the ER
April 13th, 2012by: Dr. Vipul Kella
The national trend toward overcrowding in emergency rooms is having an interesting effect on a process that was conceived to handle a large number of injured patients: triage. One might expect that as more and more patients flow into the ER, the process of triage would become even more central to the smooth flow and […]
read articlePosted in Quality Efficiency Utilization
Medicaid Rule for Emergency Departments Used a Hammer to Tighten a Screw
April 4th, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
There are a thousand places to look for cost savings in healthcare, but this week in Washington State officials grappled with one of the most visible of those: emergency care. Thankfully, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire has suspended implementation of a rule that would have denied emergency rooms payment from Medicaid if the patient was diagnosed […]
read articlePosted in Future of Healthcare
5 Strategies To Head Off Malpractice Claims in the ER
March 27th, 2012by: Dr. Jonathan Wenk
I have always had an interest in risk management in the ER, a world in which it is a statistical inevitability that there will be bad outcomes. This interest stems from my fundamental belief that Emergency Physicians are well-intentioned, morally upright individuals. And so it frustrates me when some bad outcomes lead to malpractice litigation. […]
read articlePosted in Leadership, Quality Efficiency Utilization
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
When Are ER Docs Hunting the Snark?
March 5th, 2012by: Dr. Mike Perraut
The old saying about the doctor who tells a patient to “take two of these and call me in the morning” is losing its meaning in today’s modern healthcare system. Today, doctors are weary of sending their patients home without something more, usually an expensive test that either confirms or (less commonly) contradicts their diagnosis. […]
read articlePosted in Life in the ER, Quality Efficiency Utilization
Addiction and Pain: Who Gets a Script?
February 27th, 2012by: Dr. Julian Orenstein
As if we as ER docs didn’t have enough on our plates already with proliferating drug shortages, adapting to the Affordable Care Act, the capriciousness of a new and very temperamental EMR, and my teenage daughter’s mood swings (wait, how did that get in there?), we also find ourselves under the microscope for our treatment […]
read articlePosted in Quality Efficiency Utilization
We Want Our Healthcare Like We Want our Fast Food
February 24th, 2012by: Dr. Angelo Falcone
With due respect to those patient souls among us, America is, in general, an impatient nation. That includes how we think about our healthcare. This is why I read with some interest, and some amusement, stories like “A real ‘doc fix,’” published this week in the New York Times. Basically it says we need to […]
read articlePosted in Quality Efficiency Utilization
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
When an Emergency Room Gets New Management, Relationships Come First
January 20th, 2012by: Dr. Noah Keller
It’s no big surprise that there is anxiety when a new management group takes over an Emergency Department. The question is, what can our group do to effectively confront that anxiety? At midnight on December 31st, 2011, our group took over management of the emergency room at Bristol Hospital. The previous group had managed the ER there […]
read articlePosted in Hospital Partnership, Leadership, Life in the ER