Same Physician, Different Location, Different Patient Satisfaction Scores.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We assess whether patient satisfaction scores differ for individual emergency physicians according to the clinical setting in which patients are treated. METHODS: We obtained Press Ganey satisfaction survey results from June 2013 to August 2014 for patients treated in either an urban hospital emergency department (ED) or 2 affiliated suburban urgent care centers. The same physicians work in all 3 facilities. Physicians with available survey results from at least 10 patients in both settings were included. Survey scores range from 1 (very poor) to 5 (very good). Survey questions directly assessed physicians' courtesy, ability to keep patients informed about their treatment, concern for patient comfort, listening ability, and the overall care at the facility. We calculated differences in mean urgent care and ED scores for individual physicians, along with the mean of these differences. Our primary outcome was the mean difference between urgent care and ED score with respect to physician courtesy. RESULTS: Seventeen physicians met inclusion criteria. For all 17 physicians, the point estimate for the mean urgent care courtesy score was higher than the point estimate for the mean ED courtesy score. The mean difference in courtesy scores between urgent care and the ED was 0.35 (95% confidence interval 0.22 to 0.49). ED scores were also consistently lower than urgent care scores for keeping patients informed about their treatment, concern for patient comfort, listening ability, and overall care rating. CONCLUSION: Although these results are limited by small sample size, we found that physicians consistently received lower satisfaction ratings from ED patients than from urgent care patients. This challenges the validity of using satisfaction scores to compare providers in different practice settings.

Ambulatory dysfunction due to unrecognized pernicious anemia.

Pernicious anemia can result in significant hematologic and neurologic impairments due to a reduction in cobalamin absorption. Typically thought to be a disease of elderly whites, a growing body of literature has documented the disease in blacks and in younger age groups. We describe a case of a young black woman with gradually progressive lower extremity paresthesias, weakness, and ataxia as the primary presenting symptoms of pernicious anemia. This case is presented to make emergency physicians aware of pernicious anemia as a cause of ambulatory dysfunction in younger patients. We review the current body of literature on the diagnosis and management as well as evidence that the demographic profile of the disease is changing. Furthermore, in women of reproductive age, there is the potential for significant fetal and infant morbidity.

Advanced medical simulation applications for emergency medicine microsystems evaluation and training.

Participants in the 2008 Academic Emergency Medicine Consensus Conference "The Science of Simulation in Healthcare: Defining and Developing Clinical Expertise" morning workshop session on developing systems expertise were tasked with evaluating best applications of simulation techniques and technologies to small-scale systems in emergency medicine (EM). We collaborated to achieve several objectives: 1) describe relevant theories and terminology for discussion of health care systems and medical simulation, 2) review prior and ongoing efforts employing systems thinking and simulation programs in general medical sectors and acute care medicine, 3) develop a framework for discussion of systems thinking for EM, and 4) explore the rational application of advanced medical simulation methods to a defined framework of EM microsystems (EMMs) to promote a "quality-by-design" approach. This article details the materials compiled and questions raised during the consensus process, and the resulting simulation application framework, with proposed solutions as well as their limitations for EM systems education and improvement.