Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Despite recent strides in the development of global emergency medicine (EM), the field continues to lag in applying a scientific approach to identifying critical knowledge gaps and advancing evidence-based solutions to clinical and public health problems seen in emergency departments (EDs) worldwide. Here, progress on the global EM research agenda created at the 2013 Academic Emergency Medicine Global Health and Emergency Care Consensus Conference is evaluated and critical areas for future development in emergency care research internationally are identified. ⋯ Despite recent strides in global EM research and a proliferation of scholarly output in the field, further work is required to advocate for and inform research priorities in global EM. The priorities outlined in this paper aim to guide future research in the field, with the goal of advancing the development of EM worldwide.
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In 2013, the American College of Emergency Physicians joined the Choosing Wisely campaign; however, its impact on emergency physician behavior is unknown. We assessed knowledge, attitudes, and self-reported behaviors regarding the Choosing Wisely recommendations. ⋯ Despite familiarity with Choosing Wisely, many emergency physicians report performing low-value services. Primary reasons for low-value services differ: antibiotic prescribing was driven by patient/family expectations, while concern for serious diagnosis influenced advanced diagnostic imaging. Greater efforts are needed to promote effective dissemination and implementation; such efforts may be targeted based on differing reasons for low-value services.
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Several accelerated diagnostic protocols (ADPs) have been developed to allow emergency department (ED) physicians to identify appropriate patients for safe early discharge after presentation with symptom of chest pain. Most ADPs require chest pain to be described and modify the algorithm based on the subjective chest pain characteristics. We investigated the performance of three established major ADPs simplified by eliminating the need for chest pain as a descriptor. ⋯ The diagnostic protocols performed well without their chest pain characteristics component. Further studies are suggested to explore the performance of ADPs when these simplified ADPs are combined with high-sensitive troponin assays.
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While diagnostic testing is common in the emergency department, the value of some testing is questionable. The purpose of this study was to assess how varying levels of benefit, risk, and costs influenced an individual's desire to have diagnostic testing. ⋯ The desire for testing was strongly sensitive to the benefits, risks, and costs. Many participants wanted a test when there was no added cost, regardless of benefit or risk levels, but far fewer elected to receive the test as cost increased incrementally. This suggests that out-of-pocket costs may deter patients from undergoing diagnostic testing with low potential benefit.
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We used an emergency department (ED)-based method to provide targeted, individualized consultation; community notification; and public disclosure and collect data regarding willingness to participate in prospective resuscitation research requiring waiver of consent. ⋯ Emergency department-based community notification and public disclosure is a viable way to provide information to a target population and collect data about the success of the notification. Feedback data collection is critical to an ethical understanding of the success of community notification for the institutional review board and investigators. Collection of feedback data should be required as a subject protection for exception from informed consent in emergency settings.