Articles Tagged With:
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Pediatric Boarding Increases Safety Concerns in EDs
Boarding is a common occurrence in most EDs. However, it has been studied more often in adult EDs than pediatric EDs.
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Is Diagnosis Uncertain in the ED? Clear Communication Is Needed
Patients likely expect to leave the emergency department with a definite understanding of what is wrong. Yet many patients are discharged or admitted with an uncertain diagnosis.
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Reduce Patient Safety Risks for ED Super-Utilizers
Extreme ED super-utilizers pose significant risks and challenges for ED providers. Providers are at risk for missing signs of a serious condition because they have seen the patient in the ED so many times for the same complaint — whether back pain, headache, or abdominal pain.
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Monthly Calls Dramatically Cut ED Visits by Super-Utilizers
Researchers at a Virginia hospital conducted a quality improvement project to get frequent ED visitors the care they needed and keep them out of the ED. The researchers identified the 50 top super-utilizing patients at Sentara Norfolk (VA) General Hospital’s ED in 2020 and contacted them about enrolling in a chronic care management program.
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Triage: When Relying on Historical Data, Do Not Apply Bias from Past Decisions
There is no denying that in a system that relies heavily on clinician judgment regarding acuity designations, bias can influence triage decisions. Indeed, among the disparities identified in the study into Emergency Severity Index triage accuracy was that Black patients had a 4.6% greater relative risk of overtriage and an 18.5% greater relative risk of undertriage when compared with white patients.
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Ongoing Education, Outcomes-Focused Reviews Remain Key to Lasting Gains in Triage Accuracy
A recent investigation into the accuracy of ED triage decisions when using the most common triage system — the Emergency Severity Index — revealed that mistriage occurs in roughly one-third of patient encounters.
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When a Privacy Breach Is Not a Breach
Language is important when talking about noncompliance with HIPAA. Not every instance of noncompliance is a breach.
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Ransom Demands Decrease and More Companies Refuse to Pay
The number of ransomware victims opting to pay the ransom has fallen to a record low. At the beginning of 2019, 85% of ransomware victims paid a ransom. However, that figure fell to 46% in the middle of 2021 and 29% in the last quarter of 2023.
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HHS Issues HIPAA Best Practices for Telehealth
The Department of Health and Human Services published a resource guide to assist telehealth providers in explaining the privacy and security risks to patients, but the guidance makes clear HIPAA does not require this education. However, the goal is for the resource guide to help providers who would like to discuss potential risks with the patient.
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First HIPAA Settlement for Ransomware, Fine for Phishing
The Office for Civil Rights achieved two firsts recently: a settlement agreement related to a ransomware attack on a business associate and the first fine issued for a phishing attack. Both cases hold lessons for other covered entities.