ED Management articles from March 2006

ED Management archives from March 2006

EDs finish last in national quality report -- steady decline noted.
March 1, 2006... Statistics are seen as a reflection of lack in customer service In an unsavory distinction, the lead author of the Rockville, MD-based Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has singled out the nation's EDs as the worst...

Identity theft poses new threat for ED managers.
March 1, 2006... Private information of staff and patients is at risk At Southern Regional Medical Center in Riverdale, GA, the credit cards of one of the emergency nurses was stolen while she was at work, and the thieves used them all day. They knew nurses...

EDIS helps shrink door-to-doc times.
March 1, 2006... Being able to track patients speeds upfront process The ED at MetroHealth Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI, has achieved a door-to-doc time of 19 minutes with the help of an information system. In addition, average length of stay (LOS) for...

Hospital's primary care center relieves ED logjam.
March 1, 2006... New policy complies with EMTALA? Is it an extremely creative solution to one of emergency medicine's most nagging problems, or a violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)? We may never know the complete answer...

ED quadruples patient satisfaction rankings.
March 1, 2006... How can one keep numbers that high? In the third quarter of 2001, the ED at Methodist Medical Center of Illinois, Peoria, ranked in the 17th percentile in patient satisfaction surveys by Press Ganey Associates in South Bend, IN. By the end...

Can PAs provide on-call patient care?
March 1, 2006... [Editor's note: This column addresses readers' questions about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). If you have a question you'd like answered, contact Steve Lewis, Editor, ED Management, 215 Tawneywood Way, Alpharetta, GA...

ACEP proposes plan to increase ED capacity.(American College of Emergency Physicians)(Brief article)
March 1, 2006... David C. Seaberg, MD, a board member of the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), has proposed a 10-point plan to increase capacity, alleviate overcrowding, and improve surge capacity in the nation's emergency departments (ED). ...

CDC recommends free flu vaccines for staff.
March 1, 2006... The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released new guidance aimed at increasing flu vaccination among health care workers. Developed by two CDC advisory committees, the guidance recommends facilities offer flu vaccine...

Certification offered in disaster medicine.
March 1, 2006... The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) in Atlanta has established the American Board of Disaster Medicine, making available for the first time a board certification in disaster medicine. The board will be accepting applications from...

CE/CME objectives.
March 1, 2006... *Apply new information about various approaches to ED management. *Explain developments in the regulatory arena and how they apply to the ED setting. *Implement managerial procedures suggested by your peers in the publication.

CE/CME questions.
March 1, 2006... 31. According to Deb Richey, MPA, director of emergency services at Parkview Hospital, ED managers should review their department's leave without being seen (LWBS) statistics: *once a month. *quarterly. *twice a year. *once a...