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 Jan/Feb 2007 Volume 5, Issue 1
 Consultant's Corner
Feature Article
Quote of the Month
New Articles / Abstracts
In the News
Upcoming Meetings
Upcoming Conference: Dr. Petrack will be speaking at the Emergency Nurses Association Leadership Conference, to be held February 22-25, 2007 in Boston, MA (see the Upcoming Meetings section for details). His topic will be "Through the Eyes of Children and Families: How to Enhance Your Department's Emergency Care." Dr. Petrack will also be speaking at the Urgent Care Association of America annual conference, to be held May 9-12 in Daytona Beach, FL (see the Upcoming Meetings section for details). His topics will be "Common Presenting Complaints and Clinical Pearls in Pediatric Urgent Care" and "Approach to the Pediatric Rash."
For free articles, abstracts, Emergency Care Briefs, and more, visit our Resource Center at PetrackConsulting.com...
CalmerKids: the first ever CE training module that changes how your facility serves children and their families... Show me... |
Consultant's Corner Emory Petrack, MD, FAAP, FACEP Happy New Year! The Emergency Nurses Association Leadership Conference starts next month, on February 21. It's a great opportunity for ED leaders to network and learn. While there will be courses galore for beginning and seasoned managers, I want to point out a "not-to-miss" opportunity to hear keynote speaker Quint Studer on Friday, February 23. As you are likely aware, Quint has worked with many healthcare organizations to improve services and care. At the conference, he'll be speaking on "hardwiring" key behaviors and techniques for enhancing care in emergency departments. I highly recommend that you catch Quint's talk if you can! For more information on Quint Studer, visit here.
Feature Article What's that... another complaint?
Another complaint? Complaints related to care in the emergency department seem to come in waves. Weeks can go by with no complaints, and then I'll hear three in just a few days.
The first sensation when a complaint comes in is frequently, "Not again…." It may be a problem related to a specific nurse or physician, a general customer service complaint, or even "simply" a billing problem. But the reality is that complaints take time and energy away from other priorities, so we tend to experience emotions ranging from mild annoyance to real despair.
You're probably familiar with the "teaching" that says complaints represent an opportunity to improve care and services. Although it can be easy to dismiss this approach towards complaints when one's plate is piling up with other concerns, I've been discovering more and more that there is truth in the teaching after all. Our attitudes when complaints come in can make all the difference.
Complaints really do offer you a chance to gain a different perspective on your department. We're so often immersed in the details of running the show that simple, yet obvious, realities become invisible. Recently, I had the chance to review complaints related to poor communication, poorly designed physical spaces and miscoded diagnoses. Usually, people are simply looking for someone to listen and validate their concerns. And that's why it's important to call back the patient or family when you have time to listen and engage in a dialogue. Most of the time, even if the complaint is less than entirely legitimate, there's at least one kernel of truth to be found, which, if addressed, would improve your department in one way or another.
The moral? When you feel your eyebrows raise or your heart begin to race the next time a complaint comes in, take a deep breath….breathe….and realize that this, too, shall pass-especially once you change how you think about complaints. When you begin to think of them as learning opportunities (even if you have to force yourself to do so at first!), you'll find your work more enjoyable and less stressful all around.
In the News
Quote of the Month
New Articles/Abstracts
Brief summary of recent new articles and abstracts from http://www.PetrackConsulting.com/articles.html
This is a joint Policy Statement from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Emergency Physicians. It emphasizes the important role the family plays in optimizing medical care for children. It also highlights some of the challenges related to providing family- centered care in emergency settings.
Patients who have left without being send (LWBS) remain a concern for many reasons. This article from the Johns Hopkins emergency department used a pair-matched, case-control design to explore the influence of patient attributes on the likelihood of leaving prior to completion of the visit. An impressive 1,476 pairs were evaluated during a 6 month period in 2004. Younger age, being uninsured or covered by Medicaid, and a previous uncompleted visit, were significantly associated with risk of LWBS. The authors conclude that EDs should make every effort to minimize LWBS patients, as this group of patients is less likely to receive care elsewhere.
It is widely known that unmet expectations are associated with lower satisfaction in the emergency department. These authors asked parents to complete an "expectation survey," on arrival, which was then either placed back in the enrollment envelope (control), or given to the physician who would be caring for the child (intervention). 614 of the 930 enrolled parents completed the survey. Only 42% of the intervention group surveys had documented physician review. In their analysis, there was a significant improvement in parental satisfaction for the physicians who had reviewed the surveys. This was a difficult study to carry out, but the results suggest that physician knowledge of specific parental expectations may enhance satisfaction.
The authors collected data on US emergency departments from 2 independent sources, and contacted those hospitals that did not provide data to further improve the database. The article provides some great data on the state of US emergency departments, with some excellent graphics in the article. As one example, one-third of EDs have a volume of less than 8,760 patients. The national median for ED visits is 15,711.
Upcoming Meetings
Feb 23-26, 2007, Emergency Nurses Association, Leadership Conference, Boston, MA
May 9-12, 2007, Urgent Care Association of America, National Conference, Daytona Beach, FL
May 16-19, 2007, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Annual Meeting, Chicago, IL
Sept 26-29, 2007, Emergency Nurses Association, Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT
About Our Organization
Created in 2003, Petrack Consulting is dedicated to helping physician and hospital
leadership bring excellence to emergency services. We work collaboratively to
fully understand our client's needs, and then address programmatic initiatives
with measurable outcomes. Our unique background in emergency medicine, administrative
medicine, and organization development allows us to create uniquely effective solutions
for enhancing emergency services.
Website: http://www.PetrackConsulting.com |
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