Annals of emergency medicine
-
We evaluate how the transition from a homegrown electronic health record to a commercial one affects emergency physician work activities from initial introduction to long-term use. ⋯ The increase in the number of tasks physicians engaged in per minute post-implementation indicates that physicians switched tasks more frequently. Frequent task switching behavior raises patient safety concerns.
-
Observation unit admissions have been increasing, a trend that will likely continue because of recent changes in reimbursement policies. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of the availability of observation units on hospitalizations and discharges to home for emergency department (ED) patients. ⋯ In this study, we estimated that half of ED visits for chest pain that resulted in an observation unit admission were made by patients who may have been discharged home had the observation unit not been available. Increased availability of observation units may result in both decreased hospitalizations and decreased discharges to home.