National cost savings, operational and safety benefits from use of magnetocardiography in the assessment of emergency department chest pain patients.

Study Objectives: Patients frequently present to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain requiring further risk stratification. Traditional cardiac diagnostics such as stress testing may expose patients to ionizing radiation, may not be readily available, may take significant time for testing and interpretation, and adds cost to the workup. Magnetocardiography (MCG) is an alternative approach to assess candidates more quickly and efficiently than routine downstream testing.

Decreasing troponin turnaround time in the emergency department using the central laboratory: A process improvement study.

Objectives: To implement collaborative process improvement measures to reduce emergency department (ED) troponin turnaround time (TAT) to less than 60min using central laboratory.

Design And Methods: This was an observational, retrospective data study. A multidisciplinary team from the ED and laboratory identified opportunities and developed a new workflow model.

Effect on efficiency and cost-effectiveness when an observation unit is managed as a closed unit vs an open unit.

Objective: To compare efficiency and cost-effectiveness of an observation unit (OU) when managed as a closed unit vs an open unit.

Methods: This observational, retrospective study of a 30-bed OU compared three time periods: Nov 2007 to Aug 2008 (period 1), Nov 2008 to Aug 2009 (period 2) and Nov 2010 to Aug 2011 (period 3). The OU was managed and staffed by non-emergency department physicians as an open unit during period 1, and a closed unit by emergency department physicians during periods 2 and 3.

Ethical considerations for emergency care providers during pandemic influenza--ready or not..

When an infectious pandemic occurs in the United States, emergency care providers (ECPs) will be on the frontlines caring for infected, potentially infected, and non-infected patients. Logistically, the current emergency care system is not ready for a pandemic, but are the providers ethically ready? Some of the most difficult and challenging issues that will be raised during a pandemic will be ethical in nature. An ECP likely will be confronted with ethical values and value conflicts underlying restriction of liberty, duty to care, and resource allocation.