Subjective vs. Objective
Subjective: feeling (what patient says)
Objective: fact (observations by medical team)
Chief Complaint
The main reason for the patient’s ED visit
Medical Decision Making
(MDM)
-the physician’s thought process
Pain vs. Tenderness
Pain=patient’s feeling (subjective)
Tenderness=physician’s assessment (objective)
Benign
Nothing of concern
Distress
The doctor’s judgement of discomfort
Febrile
The state of having a fever, concerning for infection
Temp greater than 100.4
Acute
New onset, likely concerning
-duration less than 3 months
Chronic
Long-standing, not of direct concern
-duration greater than 3 months
Baseline
An individual’s normal state of being
Auscultation
Listening with a stethoscope
Palpation
Act of pressing an area (by the doctor)
Inpatient
Admitted to the hospital overnight
Outpatient
Seen and sent home the same day
What is a scribe?
Unlicensed person performing documentation and other non-clinical tasks under direction of licensed independent practitioner
Scribes CAN…
Scribes CANNOT…
People in the ED
Emergency Department Flow: Overview
Check In and Chief Complaint—> Physician Assessment —> Objective Order and Results—> Medical Decision Making —> Disposition
Triage
Vital Signs
Nurse Assessment
Differential Diagnosis
Based on the H&P the physician generates a list of things that may be causing the patient’s subjective symptoms.
-Then the doctor places orders to “rule out” each differential
Final Dx
By using medical decision making the physician reviews specific results that can rule out differential diagnosis to reach the final diagnosis