Risk management and quality assurance in the emergency room.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Emergency Medicine
• Health Informatics

Background:

• The emergency room (ER) setting presents unique challenges for timely quality of care documentation.
• A need for rapid, clinically focused quality assessment in ERs was identified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a computer-assisted system for rapid documentation and review of emergency room care quality.
• To improve quality assurance and risk management processes within an Army hospital ER.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a computer-assisted review process for ER care.
• Utilization of specialists as primary reviewers for clinical cases.
• Establishment of a feedback loop for healthcare providers.

Main Results:

• Providers received timely and specific feedback on their performance.
• Command leadership received timely quality assurance and risk management data.
• A decrease in patient complaints was observed following implementation.

Conclusions:

• Computer-assisted, timely reviews enhance ER quality of care documentation.
• Rapid feedback and data provision improve quality assurance and reduce patient complaints.