Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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To determine if there are any differences in proportion of high-acuity care and low-acuity care provided to uninsured, Medicaid-insured, and privately insured emergency department (ED) patients. ⋯ Whereas there were some statistically discerned differences between insurance groupings for proportionate receipt of low-acuity care and high-acuity care among both the pediatric and adult populations, the magnitude of most differences noted was not large, and may not reflect important differences in health care need or ED use based on insurance.
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Regulatory bodies and institutional review boards are increasingly considering human subjects who are vulnerable to research not because of their intrinsic characteristics, but because of the particular situations or circumstances that they bring with them as potential research participants. Several subsets of emergency department patients may be considered vulnerable in the research setting. ⋯ These issues should be carefully considered when including such patients in research protocols. Special efforts should be made to ensure voluntary participation and understanding of the purposes and risks of participation.
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To describe the incidence of alcohol and drug testing in adolescents admitted for traumatic injury and to analyze these results with reference to race, ethnicity, and gender differences. ⋯ Whereas small disparities in alcohol and drug testing were noted in some minority race-based groupings, systematic racial bias is not evident in adolescent trauma patients.
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African Americans with acute coronary syndromes receive cardiac catheterization less frequently than whites. The objective was to determine if such disparities extend to acute evaluation and non interventional treatment. ⋯ Racial disparities in acute chest pain management extend beyond cardiac catheterization. Poor compliance with recommended treatments for ACS may be an explanation.
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To examine the influence of insurance, race, and gender on the likelihood of hospitalization among trauma patients. ⋯ These results suggest that the disposition of trauma patients from the ED may be influenced by insurance and demographic characteristics in addition to the patient's clinical condition.