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Vicarious Liability Becoming More of a Threat
With all the legal risks that hospitals face, it used to be that risk managers could be confident, at least, that vicarious liability was a pretty weak threat. In most cases, hospitals were not held liable if the physician was independent and no hospital employees were involved.
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HIPAA Can Be Challenging with Dementia Patients
Patients with dementia may require special attention with regard to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, as they aren’t always able to communicate effectively or give permission for clinicians to talk to others about their healthcare.
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Case Shows How EMTALA Can Apply to Inpatients
The case of Moses v. Providence Healthcare System is a good illustration of how a court can interpret the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act in a surprising way, says Ann Lambrecht, RN, BSN, JD, FASHRM, senior risk specialist with Coverys, a Boston-based company that provides insurance, risk management, and claims service for caregivers who are located in the Northeast.
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$1.45 Million EMTALA Award Despite Rendering Aid
The Kentucky Supreme Court recently affirmed an award of punitive damages against a hospital for violating the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act that was 386 times the hospital’s share of compensatory damages. The jury originally awarded $1.5 million in punitive damages against the hospital, which was later reduced to $1.45 million.
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EMTALA Still a Risk, But Some Are Letting Down Their Guard
The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed an award of punitive damages that was 386 times the hospital’s share of compensatory damages for a violation.
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Predicting the Success of Prone Positioning with Lung Ultrasound
Lung ultrasound may be useful in predicting which patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome would favorably respond to prone positioning.
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Can Procalcitonin Predict Need for ICU Admission in Community-acquired Pneumonia Patients?
In a prospective cohort study of adults hospitalized with community-acquired pneumonia, higher serum procalcitonin levels on admission were associated with an increased risk of invasive respiratory and/or vasopressor support within 72 hours and improved the performance of pneumonia severity scores in identifying high-risk patients.
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A Perspective on Tidal Volume Reduction in Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Less than 20% of acute respiratory distress syndrome patients were treated at any point during mechanical ventilation with a tidal volume at or below the target used during the NIH ARDSNet trials.
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Novel Oral Anticoagulants in the Critical Care Setting
While the risk of major bleeding complications seems less with novel oral anticoagulants, they present unique challenges in the ICU.
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Effect of Antibiotic Resistance on Prevention of Surgical Site Infections
This interesting article from Teillant and colleagues (who is now doing some interesting work at the Center for Disease Dynamics, Economics, and Policy in Washington, DC) highlights the threat of antibacterial resistance not only to our ability to fight active infection, but to prevent surgical site infection using perioperative antibacterials.