| Emergency Room Errors
Emergency medical care affects a huge number of people. There
are about 100 million visits to the emergency room each year
across America. Studies have found that medical errors in the
emergency department are common, and that the proportion of
preventable adverse events occurring in the emergency rooms is
among the highest for all areas of medical care. Considering
that 80 per cent of the patients who are seen in the emergency
department are not admitted to the hospital, and these patients
are not even included in current studies, this is an astounding
fact.
Patients presenting to a hospital emergency department are
first evaluated by triage personnel, usually a Registered Nurse.
This initial evaluation will usually determine where and when
the patient will be seen. Patients evaluated as having a minor
injury or condition, will likely be referred to the fast track
or other similar area of the emergency department. If the triage
nurse wrongly assesses the patient, there may be a significant
delay in diagnosis and treatment. In the fast track section of
the emergency department, patients are typically seen on a
“first come, first served” basis. Larger emergency departments
may staff the fast track area with a physician assistant or
nurse practitioner, rather than a physician, although physicians
also work in the fast track area.
Patients with obviously severe or serious conditions are
referred to another area of the emergency department, where they
are more likely to be seen initially by a physician, although a
physician assistant may also see patients in this area.
Today, most hospitals contract with companies to provide
physician staffing in the emergency department. These companies
are independent contractors and the doctors, physician
assistants and nurse practitioners they provide are employees of
the company, not of the hospital. Nursing staff are employees of
the hospital. This is different in many larger, teaching or
medical school affiliated hospitals where all emergency
department staff may be employees of the hospital and the
medical school.
Negligence, or malpractice, may occur at any stage of the
patient’s emergency room visit. It may result from an incorrect
initial assessment, leading to a delay in diagnosis or
treatment; a failure to recognize the condition bringing the
patient to the emergency room (misdiagnosis); a failure to
obtain appropriate diagnostic tests; a failure to obtain a
consultation from an appropriate specialist or a failure to
refer the patient to an appropriate specialist; or prescribing
an incorrect medication.
Emergency room errors frequently occur in the following
areas:
This is not an exhaustive list of conditions that may be
misdiagnosed or incorrectly treated in the emergency room. Many
of these conditions are life threatening if the physician or
other health care provider fails to consider them in making a
diagnosis.
If you would like to discuss your possible emergency room
negligence claim, please contact us for more information. The
web site contains links to numerous medical resource sites.
There is no charge for the initial consultation, and contingent
fee agreements are available (no fee unless there is a
recovery).
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