The metaphor of the ED as a safety net works on many levels. It’s visual. It has heroic dimensions. Many physicians and nurses were drawn, and find great purpose, in this ideal. But does it stoke expectations that can’t be met?
James Mills Jr., MD, a founder of emergency medicine, believed he could have greater impact on medical care for the poor in his city by giving up his practice and working in the emergency room full time.
Forced migration of Pacific Islanders raises ethical issues of health and health care disparities, which are examined in the case of Tuvaluan immigrants.
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(12):1211-1221. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.12.imhl1-1712.
“Difficult” patient encounters can be exacerbated by procedural and technological infrastructure that increases access to electronic health records (EHRs).
AMA J Ethics. 2017; 19(4):374-380. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2017.19.4.stas1-1704.
Frank W. J. Anderson, MD, MPH and Tanyaporn Wansom, MD, MPP
The new model of global health in medicine is a co-creative one in which health priority setting and problem solving are accomplished collaboratively among the visiting physician team, the communities of patients they serve, and local professional caregivers.
Understand the safety, health, and developmental concerns that must be evaluated in deciding whether a homeless mother should retain custody of her infant.
The federal requirement for providing emergency medical care to those who cannot pay has been unsuccessful in eliminating refusal of care and the practice of “patient dumping.”