Research Areas
Emergency departments (EDs) care for over 130 million patients each year in the United States. Our research program addresses two important areas of healthcare quality and safety: diagnostic accuracy and medication safety.
Diagnostic Accuracy
Current estimates suggest that 5% of all ED patients may experience a delayed or missed diagnosis during their visit. A delayed or missed diagnosis may cause patients to miss out on effective treatments for their underlying conditions. We aim to improve diagnosis for patients in emergency departments both locally and nationally. To accomplish this objective, our group is conducting serveral research projects:
- Developing definitions to determine whether patients experienced a delayed or missed diagnosis.
- Interviewing patients and caregivers to identify opportunities for improving diagnostic processes.
- Evaluating the quality of diagnostic care for emergency department patients admitted to the hospital.
- Assessing the quality of diagnostic care for emergency department patients treated and released.
Medication Safety
Caring for emergency department patients is becoming increasingly complex, partly due to an aging population and the rise in chronic conditions among older adults. One key challenge is accurately obtaining the names and doses of medications patients are already taking, as these medications may cause side effects that bring patients to the ED. Another challenge is assessing whether new medications prescribed in the ED could cause problems for patients after discharge. To address these challenges, our group is leading several research initiatives:
- Collaborating with pharmacy technicians to gather medication histories from patients and caregivers in the triage area.
- Designing and evaluating electronic health record alerts to improve prescribing practices.