Spinal Epidural Abscess: 5 Things You Should Know
December 10, 2019
[3 MIN READ] The incidence of spinal epidural abscess (SEA) has doubled in the past 2 decades due to the epidemic of MRSA infections, the spread of IV drug use, and the increased number of spinal and vascular access procedures. Delayed or missed diagnosis of SEA leads to profound disability or death; lawsuits in this…Read More
Framework for a Physician Integration Program
September 17, 2019
If your organization is navigating the onboarding and integration process for newly employed physicians, you’re not alone. The Physicians Advocacy Institute recently reported that U.S. hospitals bought 5,000 independent physician practices between July 2015 and July 2016. The percentage of hospital-employed physicians increased by more than 63% from mid-2012 to mid-2016. TSG’s RSQ® Education –…Read More
Informed Consent Process Forms & Documentation
September 10, 2019
[7 MIN READ] Obtaining the informed consent of the patient is required in all states before an invasive procedure that carries a material risk of harm is performed. This is a non-delegable duty of the practitioner who is going to perform the procedure; this means that the practitioner is ultimately responsible for the validity of…Read More
Surgical Errors
September 4, 2019
[7 MIN READ] The care of the surgical patient is dependent upon doctors, nurses, technicians and both office and hospital staff. Like all humans, despite their best efforts, they make mistakes. Encouraging them to “try harder” simply will not work. To reduce surgical errors we need to identify root causes and institute system-based processes to…Read More
Headache Differential Diagnosis & Documentation
August 27, 2019
[3 MIN READ] Headache is a common reason for a visit to practitioners in primary care, urgent care, and emergency medicine. Patients with the chief complaint of non-traumatic headache comprise 3% of all emergency department visits. The vast majority of these headaches will have a benign etiology such as tension or migraine. Unpredictably interspersed among…Read More
Framework for a Nursing Clinical Excellence Program
August 19, 2019
[2 MIN READ] Your organization might find itself hiring more new, inexperienced nurses for your emergency department due to the national nursing shortage. While these new hires arrive with a nursing degree, you need to be sure that each has a baseline set of knowledge to effectively treat patients in your ED. Our RSQ® Solutions…Read More
Behavioral Health Patients in the Emergency Department
August 5, 2019
The number of patients presenting to the emergency department with a psychiatric and/or substance abuse problem has increased in recent years from 6% to 15%. With this significant increase, it’s imperative our EDs have the tools and resources necessary to assess and treat these patients. Mental Illness: Undiagnosed & Untreated While those numbers are helpful…Read More
Improving Nursing Retention & Job Satisfaction
July 29, 2019
[2 MIN READ] What does your organization’s Employee Satisfaction Survey really tell you about how staff feel about their roles/jobs? The survey result graphs demonstrate areas that need improvement and more, but do they capture the authenticity and essence of how staff feel when they step onto the unit each shift? Although these surveys are…Read More
Chest Pain Differential Diagnosis & Documentation
July 16, 2019
Patients with chest pain are a common and constant challenge to clinicians, whether in the office, clinic, urgent care or emergency department. The clinical presentations may be confusing, the differential diagnoses are myriad, and not all patients with chest pain will have a serious underlying etiology. Lawsuits involving the care of patients with chest pain…Read More
Chest Pain Malpractice Claims & "Bedside Maneuvers"
July 15, 2019
[3 MIN READ] Malpractice claims related to the chief complaint of chest pain continue to plague clinicians. Foremost among these claims is the allegation of “missed MI,” which has now been expanded to include missed unstable angina as well as missed actual myocardial infarction. Although the evaluation of the adult with chest pain is fraught…Read More
