ER physicians can help meet the triple aim

Health Policy
April 2, 2015

It is amazing to me how far emergency medicine has come as a specialty. Until the 1970s, emergency rooms were staffed by low-level resident interns who moonlighted for extra money or physicians who couldn’t find work elsewhere. After finally getting recognized as a specialty, the specialty still spent a few decades finding its way: developing training programs, improving quality, and generally trying to raise the bar on emergency care in …

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ER physicians can help meet the triple aim

Emergency departments should embrace clinically integrated networks

Health Policy
March 20, 2014

In my near-decade of practicing emergency medicine I have yet to receive a letter from a hospital congratulating me on how few CT scans I’ve ordered. Nor have I ever received a special award for diverting a potential admission to an outpatient referral instead. Rather, the push has always been the opposite. Fee-for-service models encourage the opposite behavior, and trying to do the most evidenced-based or cost-effective thing is not …

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Emergency departments should embrace clinically integrated networks

The conversations can be more difficult than the procedures

Physician
December 12, 2013

When I graduated residency and started my first job, I walked around the ED confidently, chest slightly pumped up at all times. I knew I was well-trained. If there was a sick patient, I was going to resuscitate them. If there was an impossible central line that was needed – I was going to get it. Difficult intubation? No problem. There was no procedure that was too difficult for me.

Many …

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The conversations can be more difficult than the procedures