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Patients are more likely to have better health outcomes if they are treated at hospitals using information technology (IT) systems, according to a new study from Florida State University in Tallahassee.
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The Massachusetts Hospital Association recently announced that all Massachusetts hospitals are adopting a uniform policy to not charge patients or insurers for certain serious adverse events as defined by the National Quality Forum (NQF), including wrong-site surgeries and serious medication errors. In doing so, Massachusetts becomes only the second state in the nation to take this voluntary action.
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This is an excerpt from the "Important Medi-cation Safety Alert" that was issued on Feb. 6, 2007, by Baxter Healthcare Corp. and the Food and Drug Administration involving Heparin Sodium Injection 10,000 units/mL and HEP-LOCK U/P 10 units/mL:
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An Ohio federal court has ruled that HIPAA's confidentiality requirements don't excuse the state's Medicaid agency from disclosing patient information sought in a class-action suit to enforce Medicaid's Early Periodic Screening, Diagnosis, and Treatment (EPSDT) requirements.
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With studies indicating researchers and the general public have concerns about HIPAA privacy provisions (although not necessarily the same concerns), the Institute of Medicine has convened a committee to look into the issue. That group is expected to make recommendations for possible changes in the law and for greater guidance from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to institutional review boards (IRB) or other groups by this summer.
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If hospitals added one more full-time registered nurse (RN) on staff to care for patients, the number of hospital-related deaths in the United States could decrease significantly, according to a new review that also acknowledges adding one more RN isn't as easy as it sounds.
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The latest example of how the omnipresent cell phone camera can threaten patient privacy and invite lawsuits comes from Phoenix, where a surgeon is accused of using his cell phone to photograph a patient's tattooed genitals and then distributing the picture to friends.
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The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture: 2007 Comparative Database Report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, MD, cites "nonpunitive response to error" as one of the areas with potential for improvement for most hospitals.
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The health care community has been urging staff and patients to "speak up" when necessary to protect patient safety, but how do you know if your staff truly will make a stand in a difficult situation? After all, it's easy to say you will do the right thing, but in the heat of the moment, a staff member can be intimidated by superiors and fearful of rocking the boat.
