ACEP News - June 2008 - (Page 20)

ACEP NEWS • J U N E 2 0 0 8 NEWS FROM THE COLLEGE nline registration is now open for Scientific Assembly 2008. Just go to www.acep.org/sa and check out the courses, exciting events, and the remarkable host city. It’s the fastest, easiest, and most convenient way to register for the world’s most comprehensive emergency medicine educational event. ACEP is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. There will be special events and recognition throughout this year’s Scientific Assembly conference. Be sure to join us and celebrate the milestones and accomplishments ACEP and its members have reached in the past 4 decades. Scientific Assembly will be held in Chicago Oct. 27-30. This year’s event includes: More than 300 world-class educational sessions. Summaries and commentary of the articles chosen by ABEM for its current LLSA tests. A variety of exciting, hands-on skills labs and new, interactive workshops. Emphasis on the latest advances in treatment, literature reviews, and in-depth assessment of the latest clinical controversies. Outstanding exhibit program BlueWare Offers Wellness Online Registration, Hotel Booking Open for Connection to ACEP Members Scientific Assembly 2008 B O with more than 300 industryleading companies. New Speakers Forum to showcase undiscovered teaching talent. ACEP’s Research Forum—tomorrow’s news today—included in 4-day registration fee. Many social events to enjoy with your friends and colleagues. Online registration is available for all of the educational courses, and you can also book your hotel room through ACEP’s official housing company for all accommodations. By purchasing a room through the company, those attending the conference can receive perks offered only at official hotels, including registration check-in and free shuttle buses, as well as daily delivery of Scientific Assembly News, doctor’s bags and other communication tools. The Web site also provides contact information for Campbell Travel, the only agency authorized to offer ACEP national discounts on leading airlines. Go to www.acep.org/sa today and make sure you register for the courses you want. If you have questions or need additional information, call ACEP’s Meeting Registrar at 800-798-1822, ext. 6. ■ AMA Supports ACEP-Led Movement to Improve Access to Psychiatric Beds he American Medical Association last month released a report about the limited availability of psychiatric beds and its impact on emergency care—a study prompted by a resolution brought forth by ACEP last year. The report, in part, indicates that the AMA will support pending legislation that will eliminate financial and treatment limitation currently applied to patients with mental and substance abuse disorders. It also recommends supporting efforts to facilitate access to psychiatric services, ameliorate the psychiatric workforce shortage, and provide adequate reimbursement for the care of patients with mental illness. The report can be found online at www.ama-assn.org, by searching for “Access to Psychiatric Beds and Impact on Emergency Medicine.” The report was the result of a 2007 AMA resolution introduced by ACEP. Four other specialty societies and three state medical associations cosponsored the resolution, which directed the AMA to study the issue of psychiatric bed availability and its impact on emergency department crowding, recommend solutions to the problem and develop the report. ACEP authored the AMA Resolution after the ACEP Council approved a 2006 resolution on the issue. The Minnesota ACEP Chapter found support within the Council for finding solutions to the nationwide problem of hospital availability of psychiatric beds and its relevance to emergency medical care. ■ T the patient’s allergy information, deterring lueWare is an international software any unnecessary complications during treatdeveloper and provider of informament. The clinician is also able to view the tion systems for the health care inpatient’s entire medical history and notice dustry. BlueWare was founded in 1993 by former that he or she is diabetic. Now the patient can be treated appropriIBM health care executives, and has spent ately and quickly will be on the road to the past 15 years providing solutions to the recovery. health care sector. Wellness Connection is able to capture all As a Premier IBM Business Partner, Bluetypes of patient information, including conWare utilizes the iSeries platform and IBM tact data, demographics, care history, allermiddleware for its solutions. gies, x-rays, lab results, etc., by either scanIn 1996, BlueWare unveiled Wellness ning the information or by integrating with Connection, an electronic health record various information systems within the hossystem that gives secure, immediate pital. access to patient information—anytime, Wellness Connecanywhere—and tion marries all the provides decision support for the WELLNESS CONNECTION IS ABLE information together in one place. The entire community of TO CAPTURE ALL TYPES OF system can capture caregivers. non-computer-generIn a fast-paced enviPATIENT INFORMATION BY ated reports, as well ronment such as emergency medicine, SCANNING THE INFORMATION OR as patient reports from existing comit is critical for cliniINTEGRATING WITH VARIOUS puter systems. cians to have the INFORMATION SYSTEMS. After all of that inmost up-to-date inforformation is captured, mation about a pait is stored securely ustient. With the paing an intelligent folder tab system. tient history on demand, clinicians can The system has an extensive HIPAA-commake better-informed decisions and focus pliant security system and an audit trail detheir energies on doing what they are sign to protect patient privacy. The system trained to do: provide care. also allows the administration easy access Imagine an unconscious patient taken to to review security logs. the emergency department with only a driFor a limited time, BlueWare is providing ver’s license as identification. ACEP members with a special offer to give With a paper-based system, the nurse them all of these benefits. needs to find the patient’s chart and calls If your facility purchases Wellness down to medical records to see where it is. Connection by Dec. 31, 2008, BlueWare Approximately 50% of a nurse’s day is will provide a complimentary week spent tracking down charts for physicians. of OnDemand training, which is a In a situation where seconds count, time is $7,000 value. lost not treating the patient—or the clini■ cian is forced to treat without the proper information. With Wellness Connection, a user can access the system and retrieve the patient’s information with only their name, Social SeIBM is an official ACEP sponsor and curity number, medical record number, or offers members-only discounts on select date of birth. products and services. Right away, the clinician is provided with Official ACEP Sponsor Strategies for Boarding Report from page 1 “What is really exciting about these highimpact solutions is that they involve little or no cost to our health care system,” Mr. Wilkerson said. In late April, ACEP officials—including President Linda Lawrence, M.D., President-elect Nick Jouriles, M.D., and Immediate Past President Brian Keaton, M.D.— met with top leaders from the American Hospital Association (AHA), including their CEO, chairman, and senior staff members. The AHA officials agreed to share the Boarding Solutions Task Force report with its member hospitals and continue to work with ACEP on hospital-wide solutions to crowding and boarding. In addition, ACEP has received encouraging feedback from many of its members nationwide. They have praise for the comprehensive report and have begun to work with their administrators to affect change in their protocols. This helpful resource is available online at www.ACEP.org, under the Practice Resources tab. Click on “Issues by Category,” and then on “Crowding.” ■ http://www.acep.org/sa http://www.acep.org/sa http://www.ama-assn.org http://www.acep.org

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ACEP News - June 2008 Contents News - Time to Move Tricks of the Trade - Revealing Tips Focus On - Dengue Fever Practice Trends - EMTALA Results

ACEP News - June 2008

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