Academic emergency medicine : official journal of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine
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Cutaneous wound healing in adults invariably results in scarring; however, there are few scales to quantify the degree of such scarring. The authors developed a histomorphologic scale for quantifying scarring after cutaneous burn injury. ⋯ A new reliable histomorphologic method for quantifying and scoring cutaneous scars is described together with a reliable scar VAS. However, these two scales are not highly correlated.
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To assess how emergency medicine (EM) residents perform medical record documentation, and how well they comply with Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) Medicare charting guidelines. In addition, the study investigated their abilities and confidence with billing and coding of patient care visits and procedures performed in the emergency department (ED). Finally, the study assessed their exposure to both online faculty instruction and formal didactic experience with this component of their curriculum. ⋯ The handwritten chart is the most widely used method of patient care documentation, either entirely or as a component of a templated chart. Most EM residents do not document their faculty's participation in the care of patients. This could lead to overestimation of faculty noncompliance with HCFA billing guidelines. Emergency medicine residents are not confident in their knowledge of medical record documentation and coding procedures, nor of charges for services rendered in the ED.
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To determine a minimum percentage of patients transported by ALS for difficulty breathing who could potentially benefit from a pre-hospital trial of CPAP. ⋯ Using very strict criteria, a small but not significant percentage of patients are optimal candidates for a prehospital trial of CPAP. Transport times would appear to justify this type of intervention. A prospective study is currently under way to test the feasibility of administering CPAP to such patients in the prehospital setting.
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To assess perceptions of emergency medicine (EM) program directors (PDs) of the resident selection process. ⋯ Applicants who interview in >1 specialty are viewed negatively by PDs. Post-interview communications by applicants are viewed with skepticism. Gamesmanship is practiced commonly during the resident selection process.