Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The objective was to estimate the emergency medicine (EM) board-certified emergency physician (EP) workforce supply and demand by U.S. state. ⋯ The supply and demand of EM board-certified EPs varies by state. Only one state had an adequate supply of EM board-certified EPs to fully staff its EDs.
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The 2008 election brought sweeping political change to Washington, DC. For a variety of reasons, there is also substantial political momentum for reform of our health care system. At the 2008 Association of American Medical Colleges meeting in San Antonio, Texas, the Association of Academic Chairs of Emergency Medicine, meeting in conjunction with the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, chose to examine the topic of "advocacy and political influence." This article summarizes comments made at the meeting and develops the argument that expertise in health policy and political advocacy are valuable skills that should be considered legitimate components of scholarly activity in academic emergency medicine. Strategies for effective advocacy of issues relevant to emergency medicine and emergency patient care are also discussed.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Antibiotic prescriptions are associated with increased patient satisfaction with emergency department visits for acute respiratory tract infections.
Health care providers cite patient satisfaction as a common reason for prescribing antibiotics for viral acute upper respiratory infections (URIs), even though quality performance measures emphasize nonantibiotic treatment for these conditions. In a secondary analysis of a cluster-randomized trial to test a combined patient and physician educational intervention to reduce antibiotic prescribing for URIs, the authors examined whether satisfaction is greater among patients diagnosed with URIs who are prescribed antibiotics in emergency department (ED) settings. ⋯ Antibiotic prescriptions are associated with increased overall patient satisfaction in non-VA, but not VA, ED visits for URIs. Continued efforts to reduce unnecessary prescriptions in these settings must address ways to maintain patient satisfaction and still reduce antibiotic prescriptions.
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This prospective observational study was performed to investigate if the hand position used for external chest compressions is in an optimal position for compressing the ventricles during standard cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). ⋯ The outflow of the left ventricle is affected during standard CPR, resulting in varying degrees of narrowing in the LVOT and/or the aortic root.