Patients Say No Thank You and Leave in the Midst of Lengthy ED Waits

Patients Say No Thank You and Leave in the Midst of Lengthy ED Waits

It’s a strange phenomenon, but there are data to back it up: The emergency room at St. Charles Bend in Bend, OR is getting more traffic—it’s just not necessarily treating more patients. Nearly 5% of the people who check in to the ED leave without being seen (LWBS) because the wait is simply too long. That’s nearly three times the national average. The Bulletin newspaper in Bend noted that LWBS was the most common diagnosis …

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Would Your Staff Turn Away a Patient in Need 10 Minutes Before Opening?

Would Your Staff Turn Away a Patient in Need 10 Minutes Before Opening?

Here’s the scenario: Your clinic opens at 8. A nonclinical staff member arrives at 7:50, only to find a woman in distress waiting at the locked front door, complaining of chest pains and shortness of breath and heading toward a full-blown panic. You hope your staffer would: Let the patient in immediately, then call the first clinician scheduled to work to see how close they are to arriving Let the patient in immediately and call …

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Wanted: One Doctor to Answer the Call of the Rockies

Wanted: One Doctor to Answer the Call of the Rockies

If you have a dollar in your pocket right now and would relish the opportunity to practice in your own clinic in the Rocky Mountains, Park County, CO is waiting to fulfill your dreams. There’s a five-room clinic there that has been vacant for over 2 years, leaving some 16,000 residents without a local facility that can set their broken bones, prescribe antibiotics for their children’s earaches, or even provide follow-up for chronic conditions. Park …

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Pediatric Emergency Care Finds Most Urgent Care Sites Well Prepared

Pediatric Emergency Care Finds Most Urgent Care Sites Well Prepared

A new article published in the journal Pediatric Emergency Care adds valuable data that should further distinguish urgent care centers from retail health outlets commonly seen in community drugstores. Lead author Robert Wilkinson, DO and colleagues set out to quantify how prepared urgent care centers are for emergencies involving younger patients per guidelines issued by the American Academy of Pediatrics. They found it is typical for urgent care centers to have what it deems “essential …

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