Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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This review examines the prevalence of intra-abdominal injuries (IAI) and the negative predictive value (NPV) of an abdominal computed tomography (CT) in children who present with blunt abdominal trauma. ⋯ The rate of IAI after blunt abdominal trauma with negative CT in children is low. Abdominal CT has a high NPV. The review shows that it might be safe to discharge a stable child home after a negative abdominal CT.
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Comparative Study
Impact of scribes on performance indicators in the emergency department.
The objective was to quantify the effect of scribes on three measures of emergency physician (EP) productivity in an adult emergency department (ED). ⋯ In this retrospective study, EP use of a scribe was associated with improved overall productivity as measured by patients treated per hour (Pt/hr) and RVU generated per hour by EPs, but not as measured by TAT to discharge.
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Increases in emergency department (ED) visits may place a substantial burden on both the ED and hospital-based laboratories. Studies have identified laboratory turnaround time (TAT) as a barrier to patient process times and lengths of stay. Prolonged laboratory study results may also result in delayed recognition of critically ill patients and initiation of appropriate therapies. The objective of this study was to determine how ED patient volume itself is associated with laboratory TAT. ⋯ Increased ED patient volume is associated with longer hospital laboratory processing times. Prolonged laboratory TAT may delay recognition of conditions in the acutely ill, potentially affecting clinician decision-making and the initiation of timely treatment. Use of laboratory TAT as a patient throughput measure and the study of factors associated with its prolonging should be further investigated.
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The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 incentivizes adoption of health care information technology (HIT) based on support for specific standards, policies, and features. Limited data have been published on national emergency department information systems (EDIS) adoption, and to our knowledge, no prior studies have considered functionality measures. This study determined current national estimates of EDIS adoption using both single-response rates of EDIS adoption and a novel feature-based definition and also identified emergency department (ED) characteristics associated with EDIS use. ⋯ Despite more optimistic single-response estimates, fewer than 2% of our nation's EDs have a fully functional EDIS. EDs in urban areas and those specializing in the care of pediatric patients are more likely to support EDIS. Accurate and consistent EDIS adoption estimates are dependent on whether there are standardized EDIS definitions and classifications of features. To realize the potential value of EDIS for improved emergency care, we need to better understand the extent and correlates of the diffusion of this technology and increase emergency medicine engagement in national HIT policy-making.