Top Insights from Health Policy Journals

ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pediatric Emergency

Bordering on Unsafe—Boarding Times and Adverse Outcomes
May 19, 2026May 18, 2026

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Among adult ED boarders, longer boarding duration plus each extra hour a patient waits for an inpatient bed portends higher risk and early clinical deterioration, with patients who deteriorate having substantially higher 28-day mortality.

Source
Early Clinical Deterioration Among Emergency Department Boarders: A Retrospective Analysis. Ann Emerg Med. 2026 Mar 19:S0196-0644(26)00071-5. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2026.01.023. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41860510.

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Critical Care Emergency Medicine Health Policy Neurosurgery Pediatric Emergency Trauma

New Penetrating TBI Guidelines—Brain Trauma Foundation
April 27, 2026May 9, 2026

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The Brain Trauma Foundation guidelines on penetrating traumatic brain injury (pTBI) offer helpful tips to improve survival.

Source
Executive summary of the Brain Trauma Foundation Guidelines for the Management of Penetrating Traumatic Brain Injury, Second Edition. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2026 Mar 1;100(3):371-379. doi: 10.1097/TA.0000000000004868. Epub 2026 Jan 9. PMID: 41700745.

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Critical Care ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Infectious Disease

Timely Fluid and Antibiotics = More Patients Home?
April 16, 2026April 20, 2026

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This multihospital cohort study showed that timely antibiotics and fluid resuscitation were associated with increased discharge to home after community-onset sepsis.

Source
Timely antibiotics and fluid resuscitation are associated with increased discharge to home after sepsis. Chest. 2026 Mar 13:S0012-3692(26)00300-4. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2026.03.002. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 41833809.

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Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pain/Sedation/Procedure Pharmacy/Pharmacology

Emergency Opiate Use and Rx Way Down—2016 to 2022
January 29, 2026January 31, 2026

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From 2016 to 2022, the rates of opioid administration in the ED and opiates prescribed after ED visits declined.

Source
Decreasing Rates of Opioid Administration in the Emergency Department: Trends in National Opioid Prescribing Patterns From 2016 to 2022. J Emerg Med. 2025 Dec;79:577-590. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2025.10.011. Epub 2025 Oct 10. PMID: 41242068.

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Critical Care Education Emergency Medicine EMS Health Policy Pediatric Emergency Resuscitation

Utstein to Uptake: Decoding 2025 AHA Guidelines
December 16, 2025December 22, 2025

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The 2025 executive summary shows new developments in the AHA guidelines, integrating science, systems, and education with a unified Chain of Survival across the entire cardiac arrest continuum so that communities can prioritize which changes matter most for their patients, from lay rescuer response through prehospital care to the ED and beyond.

Source
Part 1: Executive Summary: 2025 American Heart Association Guidelines for Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation and Emergency Cardiovascular Care. Circulation. 2025 Oct 21;152(16_suppl_2):S284-S312. doi: 10.1161/CIR.0000000000001372. Epub 2025 Oct 22. PMID: 41122893.

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Critical Care ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pediatric Emergency

Private Equity Ownership Increases Mortality
December 1, 2025December 6, 2025

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In this study examining outcomes before and after private equity hospital acquisitions, both emergency department and intensive care unit mortality increased following acquisition, while healthcare worker staffing declined.

Source
Hospital Staffing and Patient Outcomes After Private Equity Acquisition. Ann Intern Med. 2025 Nov;178(11):1529-1538. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-24-03471. Epub 2025 Sep 23. PMID: 40982974.

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ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pediatric Emergency Psychiatry | Substance Use

Can We Spot Potentially Violent Patients at the Door?
November 27, 2025December 4, 2025

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The DASA tool to identify patients at high-risk of violence was successfully implemented at triage with high adoption rates, identifying younger, male, and police- or ambulance-arrived patients as higher risk for aggression.

Source
The Implementation of Dynamic Appraisal of Situational Aggression Score at Emergency Department Triage. Ann Emerg Med. 2025 Oct;86(4):374-383. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2025.02.023. Epub 2025 Apr 2. PMID: 40172506.

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Critical Care ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pediatric Emergency Psychiatry | Substance Use Wellness

Healthcare Violence is Too High—3 Ways to Break the Cycle
November 10, 2025November 20, 2025

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This paper discusses three systems-level, proactive strategies to decrease workplace violence (WPV) against healthcare workers.

Source
Breaking the cycle: Preventing workplace violence against healthcare workers. J Hosp Med. 2025 Sep 21. Doi: 10.1002/jhm.70167. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 40975826.

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Critical Care ED-Hospital-Clinic Operations Emergency Medicine Health Policy Pediatric Emergency Psychiatry | Substance Use Social Drivers of Health

What Precedes and Leads to Workplace Violence?
November 3, 2025November 8, 2025

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Most assaults were committed by socially and psychiatrically vulnerable patients, often during prolonged psychiatric boarding. Overcrowding, limited psychiatric services, and inadequate agitation management contribute to staff assaults and inequitable patient care.

Source
Workplace Violence in an Urban Community Emergency Department: A Deeper Dive into the Antecedents and Circumstances of Violent Behaviors. J Emerg Med. 2025 Oct;77:1-13. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2025.07.012. Epub 2025 Jul 4. PMID: 40840095.

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Emergency Medicine Environmental Health Policy

So Hot Right Now – Occupational Heat Illness
August 27, 2025September 6, 2025

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Although extreme heat events have become more frequent due to climate change, occupational heat-related illness remains preventable. Emergency physicians play a critical role in identifying at-risk patients, documenting exposures, and promoting prevention through education and advocacy.

Source
Occupational Heat-Related Illness. JAMA. 2025 Jul 15;334(3):267-268. doi: 10.1001/jama.2025.7629. PMID: 40531478

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