WELCOME TO WILLIAM F. HORSLEY, P.A.
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.
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Emergency
room errors frequently occur in the following areas:
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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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