Annals of emergency medicine
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To describe the incidence and demographic data of prehospital patients who contact paramedics by way of the 911 system, refuse transport against medical advice (AMA), then call 911 and are subsequently reevaluated by paramedics in the following 48 hours. ⋯ On the basis of our findings, patients over the age of 65 years have a propensity to recontact paramedics and should be aggressively encouraged to seek emergency medical treatment. Future prospective studies should be mounted to examine at patient outcome and to assess why patients sign out AMA after making contact with paramedics.
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[Hughes MG: Wings. Ann Emerg Med February 1998;31:283-284.].
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The emergency department of the future will require the effective integration of information technologies into clinical care. This article proposes strategies for improving information management in emergency medicine to facilitate patient care, public health surveillance, clinical research, medical education, and health care management. Cordell WH, Overhage JM, Waeckerle JF, for the Information Management Work Group: Strategies for improving information management in emergency medicine to meet clinical, research, and administrative needs.
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This article provides information supporting the need for new outcome measures in emergency care. It also addresses the use of outcome measures in emergency care, the impact of emergency care, identification of at-risk groups, new approaches to measuring patient satisfaction, quality of life and cost-effectiveness, and the unique related implications for emergency medicine.
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Comparative Study
Emergency department hypertension and regression to the mean.
To evaluate the importance of regression to the mean in the assessment of asymptomatic hypertension in the emergency department. ⋯ Patients who present with asymptomatic hypertension in the ED on average experience a spontaneous decline in blood pressure after they arrive. Most of this effect can be explained by regression to the mean. A small amount of this drop may represent attenuation of an initial alerting reaction.