Annals of emergency medicine
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Patient satisfaction with emergency department care is enhanced by information distributed to patients on ED arrival. ⋯ ED information has a significant effect on patients' perceptions of the quality of care and overall satisfaction.
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To identify factors associated with outpatient follow-up of emergency department visits. ⋯ Compliance with follow-up is multifactorial. Consultant contact at the time of initial patient evaluation and provision of a return visit appointment at the time of ED release should improve compliance in a university hospital setting.
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To determine the relative importance of variables correlated with patient satisfaction with emergency department care and service. ⋯ The total time patients spend in the ED and patients' perceptions of their wait time for an ED bed are not as important to patient satisfaction as is receiving prompt and caring service. The above service variables are key areas that may be targeted to improve ED services.
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To describe the characteristics of malpractice claims against emergency physicians and to identify causes and potential preventability of such claims. ⋯ Emergency physicians must have a particular awareness of their great risk exposure for missed myocardial infarction. Addition of dictation or voice-activated record generation systems, departmental protocols for radiograph follow-ups, and holding and re-evaluation of the intoxicated patient will help provide systems supports for reducing the liability of individual emergency physicians.
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A healthy 4-year-old boy presented to the pediatric emergency department after inserting a black-eyed pea into his right external ear canal. Initial attempts at removal of this foreign body were unsuccessful, resulting in patient agitation. ⋯ Spontaneous respirations resumed after 40 seconds, and the child recovered with no apparent ill effects. This case illustrates the need for adequate monitoring and preparation for emergency airway management when using ketamine for sedation in the ED.