Healthcare Risk Management – January 1, 2025
January 1, 2025
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Lawsuit Claims Hospital Kept Patient Alive to Boost Metrics
A New Jersey hospital and a medical team are facing a medical malpractice lawsuit from the family of a man who says they kept the brain-damaged patient alive for a year to boost the hospital’s metric on survival after heart transplant.
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Profits Before Patients, Betrayal of Trust
The facts of the medical care that supposedly led to a New Jersey patient named Darryl Young’s brain damage and death are still to be determined, but the hospital’s behavior after the transplant was “outrageous.”
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Hospital Reduces Patient Falls by 80%
AdventHealth in Tampa Bay, FL, successfully reduced patient falls by 80% through predictive modeling, enhanced education, and a strong culture of continuous improvement and zero harm. The risk manager says other hospitals can learn from the experience and implement strategies to seek the same results.
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TJC Issues Sentinel Event Alert on Responding to Severe Weather Incidents
On the heels of recent hurricanes and other severe weather, The Joint Commission has issued a Sentinel Event Alert, “Environmental disasters: Preparing to safely evacuate or shelter in place.” The alert outlines steps for healthcare organizations to consider as they prepare for weather and climate-related disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, floods, and extreme heat.
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HHS Drops Appeal on Website Tracking, but Some of Rule Still Applies
Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced that it will not appeal its unfavorable court decision in American Hospital Association v. Becerra, in which the American Hospital Association and other groups sued HHS to bar enforcement of a new rule adopted in guidance by the Office for Civil Rights titled “Use of Online Tracking Technologies by HIPAA-Covered Entities and Business Associates.”
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Leapfrog’s Latest Hospital Report Shows Improvement
The most recent Hospital Safety Grades from The Leapfrog Group, an independent nonprofit focused on patient safety, show improvement in key areas. The fall 2024 report evaluated nearly 3,000 hospitals on their ability to prevent medical errors, accidents and infections.
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California Affirms No Duty of Care Without Physician-Patient Relationship
The Court of Appeal for California’s Third District recently upheld a summary judgment in favor of a cardiologist in a medical malpractice case. The lawsuit was brought by the adult children of a patient who died after experiencing a cardiac emergency at a Sacramento County hospital. The plaintiffs alleged that the defendant, the on-call interventional cardiologist, negligently refused to provide care, ultimately contributing to their father’s death.
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California Court Rules Nurse Lacks Qualifications as Expert Witness in TBI Case
The California Court of Appeal addressed the importance of expert witness qualifications in a medical malpractice case stemming from a wrongful death claim. The lawsuit was brought by the father of a young man in his 20s who experienced a severe traumatic brain injury after a motor vehicle accident. The father alleged that the hospital’s negligent treatment and failure to follow appropriate protocols during the patient’s care contributed to his son’s death.