Writing of patient admission orders

The interest of each individual patient is best served by having the attending physician who is responsible for ongoing care assess the patient and write the admission orders. This ensures that transfer of care and responsibility has occurred. The emergency physician should not write admission orders unless he/she is assuming ongoing care and responsibility for the patient.

Explanatory note: The practice of emergency physicians writing admission orders has been one of convenience, not one developed out of issues of patient care. The Standards Committee and the Board feel that the above position reflects what is truly in the best interest of the patient, and reduces the risk to emergency physicians. It should be noted that the emergency physician has significant medicolegal responsibility until the patient is actually seen and assessed by the consulted physician and additional orders are written.

Related:

• Who should write admission orders? (Michael Shuster, 1999)

• Admission orders (Steve Socransky, 1999)

• Admission orders (Michael Hebb, 1999)

• Emergency physicians should not write orders for hospital admissions (Paul Pageau, Robin Clouston, Jo-Ann Talbot, Paul Atkinson, 2019)