Social Media Guidelines and Best Practices: Recommendations from the Council of Residency Directors Social Media Task Force

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Malford T. Pillow, MD, MEd et al.

Social media has become a staple of everyday life among over one billion people worldwide. A social networking presence has become a hallmark of vibrant and transparent communications. It has quickly become the preferred method of communication and information sharing. It offers the ability for various entities, especially residency programs, to create an attractive internet presence and “brand” the program. Social media, while having significant potential for communication and knowledge transfer, carries with it legal, ethical, personal, and professional risks. Implementation of a social networking presence must be deliberate, transparent, and optimize potential benefits while minimizing risks. This is especially true with residency programs. The power of social media as a communication, education, and recruiting tool is undeniable. Yet the pitfalls of misuse can be disastrous, including violations in patient confidentiality, violations of privacy, and recruiting misconduct. These guidelines were developed to provide emergency medicine residency programs leadership with guidance and best practices in the appropriate use and regulation of social media, but are applicable to all residency programs that wish to establish a social media presence.

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Betrayed Mood in Public View: Taking a MySpace History

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Vinodinee L. Dissanayake, MD et al.

Social networking sites (SNS), the modern mainstay of adolescent expression, may provide vital information to physicians. The emergency department (ED) is a setting where SNS may be helpful. A reticent 19-year-old in the ED prompted a search for pertinent information on the Internet, where a profile on www.myspace.com relayed a troubled post. The patient was admitted for psychiatric evaluation due to intentional overdose. These SNS may provide a venue for physicians to learn about risky behaviors and life stressors that would help identify underlying medical issues in young adults. We provide a guideline on how to utilize SNS with privacy rights in mind.

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Impact of Learners on Emergency Medicine Attending Physician Productivity

Volume XV, February 2014
Rahul Bhat, MD et al.

Several prior studies have examined the impact of learners (medical students or residents) on overall emergency department (ED) flow as well as the impact of resident training level on the number of patients seen by residents per hour. No study to date has specifically examined the impact of learners on emergency medicine (EM) attending physician productivity, with regards to patients per hour (PPH). We sought to evaluate whether learners increase, decrease, or have no effect on the productivity of EM attending physicians in a teaching program with one student or resident per attending.

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Treatment Protocol Assessment

Predictors of Unattempted Central Venous Catheterization in Septic Patients Eligible for Early Goal-directed Therapy

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
David R. Vinson, MD et al.

We sought to determine the association of relative normotension (sustained systolic blood pressure >90 mmHg independent of or in response to an initial crystalloid resuscitation of 20 mL/kg), obesity (body mass index [BMI] ≥30), moderate thrombocytopenia (platelet count <50,000 per μL), and coagulopathy (international normalized ratio ≥2.0) with unattempted CVC in EGDT-eligible patients.

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Emergency Department Operations

Importance of Hospital Entry: Walk-in STEMI and Primary Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Eric Bansal, MD et al.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate baseline demographic and clinical differences between walk-in and EMS-transported STEMI patients and identify factors associated with prolonged door to balloon (D2B) time in walk-in STEMI patients.

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Emergency Department Operations

The July Effect: Is Emergency Department Length of Stay Greater at the Beginning of the Hospital Academic Year?

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Christine Riguzzi, MD et al.

The objective of this study is to determine if the average ED LOS at the beginning of the hospital academic year differs for teaching hospitals with residents in the ED, when compared to other months of the year, and as compared to non-teaching hospitals without residents.

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Electronic Medical Record Utopia May Be Right Before Our Eyes

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Clark Rosenberry, MD et al.

The quantitative and qualitative demand for medical care burdened to every provider seems only to increase. I encourage you to push us to this bright, more efficient, and more capable future. Advise your electronic medical record carrier to mold their interface into new applications for hardware such as the Google Glass and inevitable subsequent comparable models, integrate highly useful software adjuncts, and foster the adoption of these progressing technologies.

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Sensitivity of Emergency Bedside Ultrasound to Detect Hydronephrosis in Patients with Computed Tomography-proven Stones

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Jeff RIddell, MD et al.

Non-contrast computed tomography (CT) is widely regarded as the gold standard for diagnosis of urolithiasis in emergency department (ED) patients. However, it is costly, time-consuming and exposes patients to significant doses of ionizing radiation. Hydronephrosis on bedside ultrasound is a sign of a ureteral stone, and has a reported sensitivity of 72–83% for identification of unilateral hydronephrosis when compared to CT. The purpose of this study was to evaluate trends in sensitivity related to stone size and number.

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Should Osteopathic Students Applying to Allopathic Emergency Medicine Programs Take the USMLE Exam?

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Moshe Weizberg, MD et al.

The objective of the study is to compare the likelihood to match of DO applicants who reported USMLE to those who did not, and to clarify how important program directors consider it is whether or not an osteopathic applicant reported a USMLE score.

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Asymptomatic Chronic Dislocation of a Cemented Total Hip Prosthesis

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Andrea Emilio Salvi, MD

This report describes a peculiar chronic dislocation of both components of a total hip prosthesis.

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Usefulness of Computed Tomography Perfusion in Treatment of an Acute Stroke Patient with Unknown Time of Symptom Onset

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Francis M. Fesmire, MD et al.

Examination on arrival to the emergency department revealed altered mental status, right hemiplegia, forced leftward gaze, and complete aphasia. Patient was ineligible for tissue plasminogen (TPA) therapy due to unknown time of symptom onset. Computed University of Tennessee College of Medicine Chattanooga, Chattanooga, Tennessee Figure 1. Transverse (left) and coronal (right) computed tomography angiogram demonstrating abrupt cutoff of the left middle cerebral artery at the site of the thrombus (marked by arrows). Tomography angiogram (CTA) revealed occlusion of the left middle cerebral artery (MCA) with acute thrombus (Figure 1).

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Diagnosis of Necrotizing Faciitis with Bedside Ultrasound: the STAFF Exam

Volume XV, Issue 1, February 2014
Erik Castleberg, MD et al.

We propose the STAFF ultrasound exam may be beneficial in the rapid evaluation of unstable patients with consideration of necrotizing fasciitis, in a similar fashion to the current use of a focused assessment with sonography for trauma exam in the setting of trauma.

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Recurrent Priapism from Therapeutic Quetiapine

Volume 15, Issue 1, February 2014
Omeed Saghafi, MD, et al.

Priapism is rarely related to use of non-erectile related medications. The objective was to educate about the multiple possible causes of priapism and to provide treatment recommendations for the different types of priapism. We present the case of a 43-year-old African American male with a history of schizoaffective disorder who presented to our emergency department multiple times over a three year period with priapism, each episode related to the ingestion of quetiapine. Following penile aspiration and intercavernosal injection of phenylephrine, this patient had resolution of his priapism. This case demonstrates an unusual case of recurrent priapism.

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Injury Outcomes

Does Young Age Merit Increased Emergency Department Trauma Team Response?

Volume 14, Issue 6, 2014
James F. Holmes, MD, MPH, et al.

To determine if increased trauma team response results in alterations in resource use in a population of children <6 years, especially in those least injured.

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Injury Outcomes

Emergency Department Visits by Older Adults for Motor Vehicle Collisions

Volume 14, Issue 6, November 2013
Jody A. Vogel, MD, et al.

To describe the epidemiology and characteristics of emergency department (ED) visits by older adults for motor vehicle collisions (MVC) in the United States (U.S.).

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Injury Outcomes Injury Prevention

Emergency Departments and Older Adult Motor Vehicle Collisions

In 2009 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that there were 33 million licensed drivers 65 years and older in the U.S. This represents a 23 percent increase from 1999, a number that is predicted to double by 2030. Although motor vehicle collisions related to emergency department visits for older adults are lower per capita than for younger adults, the older-adults MVCs require more resources, such as additional diagnostic imaging and increased odds of admission.

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Emergency Department Operations

The Impact of Working with Medical Students on Resident Productivity in the Emergency Department

Volume 14, Issue 6, November 2013
Travis Cobb, MD, et al.

Academic emergency departments (ED) strive to balance educational needs of residents and medical students with service requirements that optimize patient care. No study to date has evaluated whether resident precepting of medical students affects residents’ clinical productivity. Understanding the interplay of these variables may allow for ED staffing that maximizes productivity. We sought to determine whether the precepting of medical students impacts resident productivity.

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Emergency Department Operations

Predictive Value of Capnography for Suspected Diabetic Ketoacidosis in the Emergency Department

Volume 14, Issue 6, November 2013
Hassan Soleimanpour, MD, et al.

Metabolic acidosis confirmed by arterial blood gas (ABG) analysis is one of the diagnostic criteria for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Given the direct relationship between end-tidal carbon dioxide (ETCO2), arterial carbon dioxide (PaCO2), and metabolic acidosis, measuring ETCO2 may serve as a surrogate for ABG in the assessment of possible DKA. The current study focuses on the predictive value of capnography in diagnosing DKA in patients referring to the emergency department (ED) with increased blood sugar levels and probable diagnosis of DKA.

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Emergency Department Operations

Does High Body Mass Index Obviate the Need for Oral Contrast in Emergency Department Patients?

Volume 14, Issue 6, November 2013
Matthew L. Harrison, DO, et al.

Do higher BMI values sufficiently enhance the ability of a radiologist to read a computed tomography (CT) of the abdomen and pelvis, so that the need for oral contrast to be given is precluded?

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Provider Workforce

Mid-level Providers Working in a Low-acuity Area are More Productive than in a High-acuity Area

Mid-level providers (MLP) are extensively used in staffing emergency departments (ED). We sought to compare the productivity of MLPs staffing a low-acuity and high-acuity area of a community ED.

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Emergency Department Access

National Study of Non-urgent Emergency Department Visits and Associated Resource Utilization

Reducing non-urgent emergency department (ED) visits has been targeted as a method to produce cost savings. To better describe these visits, we sought to compare resource utilization of ED visits characterized as non-urgent at triage to immediate, emergent, or urgent (IEU) visits.

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Emergency Department Access

Time to Focus on Improving Emergency Department Value Rather Than Discouraging Emergency Department Visits

Recently policymakers, payers, and the media have focused attention on avoiding ‘inappropriate’ or ‘unnecessary’ emergency department visits.1 Some states and payers have tried to institute co-pays or deny coverage for visits deemed to be non urgent with the goal of decreasing unnecessary emergency department (ED) visits.2,3 The discussion is predicated upon the ‘common knowledge’ that by diverting unnecessary ED visits, substantial healthcare spending will be avoided. This ‘common knowledge’ is wrong.

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Provider Workforce

Implementation of a Successful Incentive-Based Ultrasound Credentialing Program for Emergency Physicians

With the rapid expansion of emergency ultrasound, resident education in ultrasound has become more clearly developed and broadly integrated. However, there still exists a lack of guidance in the training of physicians already in practice to become competent in this valuable skill. We sought to employ a step-wise, goal-directed, incentive-based credentialing program to educate emergency physicians in the use of emergency ultrasound. Successful completion of this program was the primary outcome.

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Emergency Department Access Healthcare Utilization

New Drugs and Devices from 2011 – 2012 That Might Change Your Practice

To be honest, I thought this would be a lost cause. Even after skipping a New Drugs and Devices essay in 2012, I figured that I would have to search long and hard to find 10 new things that emergency practitioners needed to know about. Although there were no true blockbuster medications for emergency physicians, I nonetheless found 10 medicines that we probably should know, along with a new device that may change the way we work up patients with palpitations, and a clever new delivery system for subcutaneous epinephrine.

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Healthcare Utilization

Effectiveness of a Drill-assisted Intraosseous Catheter versus Manual Intraosseous Catheter by Resident Physicians in a Swine Model

Our objective was to compare the effectiveness, speed, and complication rate of the traditional manually placed intraosseous (IO) catheter to a mechanical drill-assisted IO catheter by emergency medicine (EM) resident physicians in a training environment.

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Ethical and Legal Issues

Integrated Model of Palliative Care in the Emergency Department

An integrated model of palliative care in the emergency department (ED) of an inner city academic teaching center utilized existing hospital resources to reduce hospital length of stay (LOS) and reduce overall cost. Benefits related to resuscitation rates, intensity of care, and patient satisfaction are attributed to the ED-based palliative team’s ability to provide real time consults, and utilize InterQual criteria to admit to a less costly level of care or transfer directly to home or hospice.

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