The Emergency Medicine Risk Initiative (EMRI) is the answer to patient safety and medical error reduction in the practice of emergency medicine. EMRI is the result of years of research by The Sullivan Group into the causes of medical errors and adverse outcomes in the practice of emergency medicine. The traditional approach to risk management, the lecture series, has not changed the litigation landscape. The emergency department team needs a system solution to patient safety and medical error and risk reduction.

There are three fundamental components to the EMRI ‘cycle of safety and risk.'

• Standardized Web-based Safety and Risk Education for Physicians, Nurses and Allied Health Practitioners.
• Real-Time Risk Management Tools.
• The EMRI Audit and Feedback.

The EMRI Audit: The EMRI audit is clinically oriented and provides an unprecedented look at the performance of the individual practitioner, emergency practitioners as a group, and emergency department systems. TSG now conducts the EMRI audit in over 450 emergency departments and has the largest EM safety and risk database that we are aware of.

This is a web-based tool. Data entry and reporting are all available through the Internet. The results, which are password protected, are available online and in real-time. Reports can be viewed online or downloaded in .PDF format for department presentation.

The audit currently addresses ten chief complaints representing approximately 20 high-risk diagnoses. This group of medical entities is comprises approximately 70-80% of the frequency and severity of medical malpractice litigation.

The EMRI audit tool is an extremely powerful patient safety and quality tool for emergency physicians. Physicians from the 450 hospitals that currently utilize the EMRI audit are nearly unanimous in their praise of the tool. It is extremely useful for physician peer review, department systems review, and team building.

The EMRI audit is completely confidential and HIPAA compliant. It is an essential component of the Emergency Medicine Risk Initiative. The use of this tool will result in sustained improvement in clinical practice and documentation patterns in your emergency department.