The American journal of emergency medicine
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The utilization of smartphone-based technology and applications to streamline patient care provides an exciting opportunity for quality improvement research. As traditional communication methods such as paging have repeatedly been shown to be susceptible to errors and inefficiency that can delay patient care, smartphones continue to be investigated as means of improving inter-hospital communication and patient outcomes. ⋯ The use of smartphones can positively impact patient care; however, these benefits must be balanced with the responsibility to protect patient privacy and confidentiality. In order to continue to support HCGM's expansion and integration into daily practice, further data-driven studies into HCGM-specific interventions must be pursued.
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Acute heart failure (AHF) accounts for a significant number of emergency department (ED) visits, and the disease may present along a spectrum with a variety of syndromes. ⋯ A variety of misconceptions surround the evaluation and management of heart failure including clinical assessment, natriuretic peptide use, chest radiograph and US use, nitroglycerin and diuretics, vasopressor choice, and disposition. This review evaluates these misconceptions while providing physicians with updates in evaluation and management of AHF.
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The risk of thromboembolism is higher in those with carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning than in the general population. Pulmonary embolisms (PE) usually develop during admission for acute CO poisoning. We report the first case of a life-threatening PE that occurred immediately after acute CO poisoning and was treated with a thrombolytic agent. ⋯ She recovered after the treatment. We should consider that PE is also an important differential cause in patients with hypotension. In these patients, bedside ultrasound performed by emergency physicians can act as the only diagnostic examination.
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Emergency Department (ED) leaders are increasingly confronted with large amounts of data with the potential to inform and guide operational decisions. Routine use of advanced analytic methods may provide additional insights. ⋯ In this study regarding the use of advanced analytics in daily ED operations, time series analysis provided multiple useful insights into boarding and its impact on performance metrics.