The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) co-sponsored a national conference on "Crossing Barriers in Emergency Care of Alcohol-Impaired Patients." This one-day conference was held June 5, 2003, at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C. The goal of the conference was to develop action plans to overcome the barriers to implementation of the best practices recommended in an earlier conference. Specifically, the conference addressed the following question: What steps need to occur for emergency medical personnel to integrate alcohol screening and brief interventions into the care provided for alcohol-impaired patients? The conference also included two panel discussions: One panel addressed research, insurance and reimbursement policies, and behavioral and privacy policy while a second panel discussed health practitioner behavior, culture and care, and emergency medical services care of alcohol-impaired patients. Each panel discussion concluded with an open discussion among the conference participants. The outcome of the conference was a compilation of significant barriers to the implementation of alcohol screening and intervention and related steps for overcoming those barriers. These barriers and steps were organized into four categories: research, funding, regulation, and training. (Author/publisher)
Abstract