Managing and Measuring Emergency Department Care: Results of the Fourth Emergency Department Benchmarking Definitions Summit.

Background: A shared language and vocabulary are essential for managing emergency department (ED) operations. This Fourth Emergency Department Benchmarking Alliance (EDBA) Summit brought together experts in the field to review, update, and add to key definitions and metrics of ED operations.

Objective: Summit objectives were to review and revise existing definitions, define and characterize new practices related to ED operations, and introduce financial and regulatory definitions affecting ED reimbursement.

Providing telephone advice from the emergency department.

Emergency departments frequently receive telephone calls from the general public. Callers sometimes request detailed instruction or medical advice. The growth of managed care produced expanded use of telephone-based medical information as a part of managed care ED demand management.