emergency care

Despite the fact that some Hurricane Katrina-affected regions lost half of their population after the disaster, all types of healthcare providers are in short supply for those who remain. This has led to long wait times, particularly for emergency care. A survey conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) reports that many Gulf Coast physicians think that their patients have been harmed by the long wait to receive treatment. Among their primary concerns: staffing …

Centinela Freeman HealthSystem in Los Angeles County may close the emergency department at its Memorial location in Inglewood, which treated 38,000 emergency cases last year. Centinela Freeman plans to divert patients to Centinela, which is owned by the same health system and is located only one and a half miles away. But critics are concerned that the closure will put too much pressure on Centinela and endanger those in need of emergency care. In the past several years, nine emergency …

Memorial Hospital Jacksonville is one of 15 Florida-based HCA hospitals that's kicked off a program to re-direct non-emergency patients to nearby clinics instead of treating them in the ER. The new policy will help cut down on ER wait times and also save everyone involved the cost of expensive emergency care. In the first week of the program, 110 were initially thought to be non-emergency patients (Under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act [EMTALA], all hospitals must screen ER …

According to a congressional field hearing on immigration's effects, Tennessee's TennCare has spent $15 million on emergency care for illegal immigrants this year. The cost of illegal immigration spills over into the private sector. Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) reports that the hospital loses $3.8 million a year treating illegal immigrants. By law, hospitals must provide emergency medical service to illegal immigrants regardless of their ability to pay. This means hospitals …

The emergency care system is at risk from a severe labor shortage, says a new report from SUNY Albany. Both RNs and emergency medicine docs are in short supply, and while there seem to be enough EMTs, turnover is extremely high. Executive summary and full report (.pdfs)

San Francisco may soon become the first city to provide healthcare coverage to all its residents. A plan to cover its uninsured residents through the public health system was unanimously approved in preliminary vote. The proposed Health Access Plan, scheduled for a final vote next week, would offer preventive, primary and emergency care by hospitals and clinics in the city. Anyone seeking care would have the option of enrolling in the program and would pay a monthly fee on a sliding scale …

Adding additional hospital beds to the ICU improves emergency care, reduces patient risks and increases hospital revenue. This is according to a study published in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, in which researchers spent two years monitoring the Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. The study reports that every hour of ambulance diversion time cost the hospital a hefty $1,100 dollars. But when more beds were added, the hospital earned an additional $175,000 monthly …

The Institute of Medicine released a closely-watched report warning that U.S. emergency rooms are dangerously overworked. According to researchers, demand for emergency department services has increased 26 percent over the past decade. That's put a strain on the ability of hospitals to handle the most important cases. Researchers found that 500,000 ambulances a year are diverted because emergency departments are too crowded to accept them. The authors also warn that most emergency rooms …

The American College of Emergency Physicians released a report card rating emergency care across the nation on a state-by-state basis. The average grade was a C-minus. ACEP, which is releasing the report in Washington today, concludes that the quality gap is a result of a number of problems including severe overcrowding, the staffing shortage, ambulance diversions, and other factors, including the growing number of uninsured Americans. No state in the nation received an "A." California, …

Under a new program announced yesterday, the government will pay hospitals $1 billion to help foot the costs of providing emergency care for illegal immigrants. While researchers have disagreed on the impact of uninsured immigrant patients on the healthcare system as a whole, many hospitals have said the issue is a serious problem impacting their financial well-being. Importantly, under the proposed guidelines for the program hospitals will not be required to ask patients about their …