Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Comparative Study
Behavioral risk factor and preventive health care practice survey of immigrants in the emergency department.
To compare the demographic profiles, behavioral risk factors, and preventive health care practices of adult immigrant and non-immigrant patients while considering the effects of various socioeconomic variables. ⋯ Differences exist between the socioeconomic profiles, behavioral risk profiles, and preventive health care practices of immigrant and non-immigrant patients presenting to a large inner-city municipal emergency department. Different populations within a heterogeneous group of immigrants have distinct health risks and public health needs.
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To examine the impact primary care referral has on subsequent emergency department (ED) utilization. ⋯ For uninsured patients with no regular health care provider, improving access to primary care services is not enough to reduce their visits to the ED.
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An equitable and effective compensation system is essential to the smooth and productive operation of any academic department. While academic departments of emergency medicine must meet clinical, teaching, research, and administrative missions, they are disproportionately reliant on funds derived from clinical activities. The Department of Emergency Medicine at UCSD is a freestanding academic hospital department with responsibility and accountability for its own finances. ⋯ Faculty have the option of adjusting clinical workload with resultant formulaic modification of departmental salary support. Salary adjustment fosters the core value of clinical service and provides incentive for senior faculty to remain clinically active. The system has been in place for more than six years and has been associated with an excellent record of patient care, teaching, academic productivity, administrative service, faculty stability, and fiscal integrity.
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To determine who reads plain film radiographs, how quickly radiologists' interpretations are available, how many initial readings require correction, and how satisfied emergency physicians (EPs) are with radiology in emergency departments (EDs) with emergency medicine (EM) residency programs. ⋯ This study summarizes the perceptions of EPs regarding radiology services; the findings must be interpreted with caution, given the lack of external validation. Nevertheless, EPs report that many EM residency programs depend on EPs' interpretations of radiographs. Emergency physicians report that attending radiologists rarely read images on nights and weekends and that images are misread more frequently at these times. Although EPs were satisfied with many aspects of radiology, EPs expressed the most dissatisfaction with turnaround times and misreads.
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To determine the prevalence of performing procedures on the recently deceased for training purposes in emergency departments (EDs) with emergency medicine (EM) training programs. ⋯ The performance of procedures on the recently deceased is a common and important practice in EM training programs. Consent is infrequently obtained and policies concerning this practice are rare and restrictive when present.