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Managing Risk in the ED

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Practical Assessment and Treatment of the Patient with Headaches in the Emergency Department and Urgent Care Clinic

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Key Chapter Points

ED physicians ranked 5th in frequency of malpractice claims. ED headache is not a diagnosis commonly associated with litigation. The “difficult patient” encounter usually occurs because of a combination of patient, healthcare provider, and situational factors. Be the BOSS when dealing with patients making unreasonable demands bysetting Boundaries, utilizing multiple treatment Options, Scripting responses to common patient concerns, and treating patients with Sincere concern and respect. Most errors in diagnosis in the ED stem from errors in thought processes during decision making rather than lack of knowledge. Physicians must understand the laws of their state and make sure that their diagnostic approach and approach to informed consent complies with state laws.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anesthesiology, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Dawn A. Marcus MD (Professor)

  2. Dean Health Systems, Madison, WI, USA

    Philip A. Bain MD

Authors
  1. Dawn A. Marcus MD
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  2. Philip A. Bain MD
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Correspondence to Dawn A. Marcus MD .

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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Marcus, D.A., Bain, P.A. (2012). Managing Risk in the ED. In: Practical Assessment and Treatment of the Patient with Headaches in the Emergency Department and Urgent Care Clinic. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0002-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-0002-8_8

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-0001-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-0002-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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