Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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The authors reviewed the evidence on performance improvement methods for increasing emergency department (ED) patient satisfaction to provide evidence-based suggestions for clinical practice. ⋯ There is modest evidence supporting a range of performance improvement interventions for improving ED patient satisfaction. Further work is needed before specific, evidence-based recommendations can be made regarding which process changes are most effective. Recommendations are made for improving the quality of performance improvement efforts in the ED setting.
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To apply the mathematical techniques of optimal control theory (OCT) to a validated model of the human circulation during cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), so as to discover improved waveforms for chest compression and decompression that maximize the coronary perfusion pressure (CPP). ⋯ Optimal control theory suggests that both compression and decompression of the chest are needed for best hemodynamics during CPR.
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To describe a new chief-complaint categorization schema, the development of a computer text-parsing algorithm to automatically classify free-text chief complaints into this schema, and use of these coded chief complaints to describe the case mix of a community emergency department (ED). ⋯ The CCC-EDS is a new comprehensive, granular, and useful classification schema for categorizing chief complaints in an ED. A CCC-EDS text-parsing algorithm successfully classified the majority of free-text chief complaints from an ED computer log. These coded chief complaints were used to describe the case mix of a community teaching-hospital ED.
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Patients without a history of diabetes mellitus may be incidentally found to be hyperglycemic in the emergency department (ED). If the hyperglycemia is due to undiagnosed diabetes, then an opportunity for detection exists. Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) provides a weighted average of blood glucose levels over the past several months; high HbA1c levels could indicate diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine whether hyperglycemia in ED patients without a history of diabetes was associated with higher HbA1c levels. ⋯ Elevated HbA1c levels are found in ED patients with elevated random plasma glucose values. ED patients with hyperglycemia may warrant referral for diabetes testing.