Annals of emergency medicine
-
Some have suggested that emergency department (ED) boarding is prevalent because it maximizes revenue as hospitals prioritize non-ED admissions, which reimburse higher than ED admissions. We explore the revenue implications to the overall hospital of reducing boarding in the ED. ⋯ Dynamic inpatient bed management in inner-city teaching hospitals in which non-ED admissions are occasionally reduced to ensure that EDs have reduced boarding times is a financially attractive strategy.
-
Multicenter Study
Do children with blunt head trauma and normal cranial computed tomography scan results require hospitalization for neurologic observation?
Children evaluated in the emergency department (ED) with minor blunt head trauma, defined by initial Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) scores of 14 or 15, are frequently hospitalized despite normal cranial computed tomography (CT) scan results. We seek to identify the frequency of neurologic complications in children with minor blunt head trauma and normal ED CT scan results. ⋯ Children with blunt head trauma and initial ED GCS scores of 14 or 15 and normal cranial CT scan results are at very low risk for subsequent traumatic findings on neuroimaging and extremely low risk of needing neurosurgical intervention. Hospitalization of children with minor head trauma after normal CT scan results for neurologic observation is generally unnecessary.