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Hospital ethics committees sometimes find they are drawn into local cases that reflect national debates over health care costs and policies. These debates might surface when there are conflicts between family and hospital providers over continuing life-sustaining treatment, including nutritional support and ventilator care. But adding health care costs to the mix can make the situation more complicated.
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Dogs are a natural addition to a kid's camp, especially a grief camp offered by a hospice.
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Balancing your case-mix to avoid hospice cap deficits doesn't mean discharging patients or admitting patients who don't meet hospice criteria, warns Kyle Terry, MBA, consultant and principal at Hospice CAP Consultants in Owasso, OK. "Although a balance of short- and long-term patients is the best strategy to minimize your risk of receiving a repayment demand letter from CMS based upon the hospice cap, it is important to follow admission criteria guidelines issued by CMS," he says.
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The much anticipated proposed rule on accountable care organizations (ACOs) has healthcare providers studying their markets and trying to determine whether this brave new world of managed care will benefit them or just pose more risks than they are willing to take. For risk managers in particular, there are serious concerns about how ACO participation might set up the provider for charges of fraud and abuse.
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A woman gave birth to a baby at 24 weeks gestation. Physicians at the hospital ordered that the baby receive parenteral nutrition (PN). The amount to be administered to the child was documented in the child's birth as being calculated according to "standard protocol." For 11 days, the hospital administered the PN solution intravenously without incident.
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The fatal overdose of an infant last year at Seattle Children's hospital has resulted in another death: The nurse at fault committed suicide.
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More employers are restricting the use of social media and disciplining workers for violations, according to the results of a recent survey.
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Patient safety professionals are moving toward more prominence and stature in the health care community with the recent launch of the first professional organization devoted to their work.
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The potential for more corporate lawsuits such as the one involving Tenet Healthcare Corp. and Community Health Systems should highlight the value of the risk manager (RM) in any healthcare organization, says Sheryl R. Skolnick, PhD, senior vice president of CRT Capital Group in Stamford, CT, who has studied Tenet for Wall Street.