Clinical differences between visits to adult freestanding and hospital-based emergency departments.

Objective: Compare clinical characteristics for adult visits to freestanding emergency departments (FEDs) and a hospital-based ED (HBED).

Methods: Electronic health records were collected on adult ED visits from 7/1/14 to 6/30/15 from three FEDs and one level 1 trauma tertiary care HBED.

Results: There were 55,909 HBED visits; 44,108 FED visits.

The impact of two freestanding emergency departments on a tertiary care center.

Background: Freestanding emergency departments (FEDs) have become increasingly popular as the need for emergency care continues to grow.

Objective: To analyze the impact of two FEDs on a local tertiary care center's patient volume and admission rates.

Methods: A retrospective analysis examined monthly volume and admission rates for the main ED and two FEDs located 9.

The future of emergency medicine.

Background: The specialty of emergency medicine (EM) continues to experience a significant workforce shortage in the face of increasing demand for emergency care.

Summary: In July 2009, representatives of the leading EM organizations met in Dallas for the Future of Emergency Medicine Summit. Attendees at the Future of Emergency Medicine Summit agreed on the following: 1) Emergency medical care is an essential community service that should be available to all; 2) An insufficient emergency physician workforce also represents a potential threat to patient safety; 3) Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education/American Osteopathic Association (AOA)-accredited EM residency training and American Board of Medical Specialties/AOA EM board certification is the recognized standard for physician providers currently entering a career in emergency care; 4) Physician supply shortages in all fields contribute to-and will continue to contribute to-a situation in which providers with other levels of training may be a necessary part of the workforce for the foreseeable future; 5) A maldistribution of EM residency-trained physicians persists, with few pursuing practice in small hospital or rural settings; 6) Assuring that the public receives high quality emergency care while continuing to produce highly skilled EM specialists through EM training programs is the challenge for EM's future; 7) It is important that all providers of emergency care receive continuing postgraduate education.

Integrating the core competencies: proceedings from the 2005 Academic Assembly consortium.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education mandated the integration of the core competencies into residency training in 2001. To this end, educators in emergency medicine (EM) have been proactive in their approach, using collaborative efforts to develop methods that teach and assess the competencies. The first steps toward a collaborative approach occurred during the proceedings of the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD-EM) academic assembly in 2002.

Direct observation for assessing emergency medicine core competencies: interpersonal skills.

The American Board of Medical Specialties described six core competencies considered essential elements of medical practice: patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, professionalism, and systems-based practice. In response, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandated that all residency programs assess trainees for the newly defined core competencies. Despite the mandate for including these six competencies in residency training, neither a specific curriculum nor a method to assess the outlined objectives has been developed by the ACGME.