Search Tag: emergency department
2016 30 Jan
A study published in Emergency Medicine Journal shows that patients admitted in medical emergencies during the weekend are usually older and more dependent as compared to patients admitted on other days of the week. This could explain the high death toll of patients admitted in emergency on weekends. Staffing levels may also play a role in the...Read more
2015 23 Nov
Emergency departments (ED) are usually designed in a linear flow, attaching nurses or physicians to particular patients and specific tasks. However, this type of system is vulnerable to uneven staff low, high patient levels, and a backflow of ED discharge. If an ED was designed to be more versatile and facilitate more effective teamwork, it would...Read more
2015 28 Sep
Use of Lean management methodology to improve care efficiencies is new for healthcare. A new report in The Journal of Nursing Administration describes how a Lean-based in the emergency department of a large hospital significantly reduced patients’ wait times and length of stay, while improving patient throughput and satisfaction level. The approach...Read more
2015 05 Sep
The UCLA Center for Prehospital Care and collaborators from the Los Angeles County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) agency and the Glendale and Santa Monica fire departments have launched two pilot programmes that are designed to reduce hospital readmissions and address overcrowding in emergency rooms. The Community Paramedic Pilot Programs will expand...Read more
2015 10 Aug
An article published in Annals of Emergency Medicine offers guidance on maximising the value of health information exchange (HIE) in emergency departments. The report lists five primary and seven secondary recommendations made by an emergency physician-led workgroup to improve HIE in the emergency room. "HIE helps emergency physicians — who usually...Read more
2015 19 Jul
In order to provide better health care, it is important for hospitals to reduce their wait times, particularly in the emergency department (ED). It is a fact that patients who are treated quickly have better health outcomes as compared to those who have to wait for a long time. This is especially true for health conditions such as heart attacks and...Read more
2015 22 Jun
Clinical outsourcing can be an important strategy for health providers, in particular those seeking to add specific clinical expertise or make improvements in certain areas to serve patients better. So how does a hospital find a suitable clinical partner? An article, "Creating Outsourcing Relationships That Work", appearing in HealthLeaders Magazine...Read more
2015 21 Apr
Economists and other academic researchers have increasingly been using randomised controlled trials (RCTs) to study all sorts of things, including how to best fight poverty. In the area of healthcare delivery, however, the use of RCTs is still not common — which is surprising given that the link between healthcare and poverty is strong, according to...Read more
2014 01 Sep
A number of hospitals have long used therapy dogs to help their patients. Now, even emergency room doctors and nurses themselves have turned to pets to help relieve the stress from their daily work. At the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, ER physicians and nurses forego their sandwiches during their lunch hour in order to have "puppy" time...Read more