Healthcare Risk Management – November 1, 2003
November 1, 2003
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Don’t be the fall guy: Investigate every accident and find ways to prevent them
Youre busy with a dozen other issues when you get a phone call notifying you that a visitor has fallen in the lobby and broken her arm. Do you chalk it up to just another fall and get back to work, or do you spring into action? -
Floor surface, cleaning agents make a difference
Russell Kendzior, executive director of the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), offers this advice on how proper floor maintenance can reduce falls in health care facilities: -
Floor cleaners can increase slip-and-fall risks
Many cleaning products leave floors more slippery than they were before cleaning, the National Floor Safety Institute (NFSI), reports. -
Disclosure still could be an issue despite new options
New reporting options from the Joint Com-mission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) are a good step forward in the effort to prevent the disclosure of sensitive information through the accreditation process, says an attorney who is responding to the concerns of risk managers. -
Spa services can bring hidden risks if not assessed
A claimant alleged that she had developed a severely infected finger that required surgical drainage and intravenous antibiotics following a manicure with dirty implements at a beauty salon located on the hospital campus. -
Virtual anticoagulation clinic improves safety
A virtual anticoagulation clinic is being credited with dramatic improvements in patient safety at Abington (PA) Memorial Hospital, which recently won the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety Award from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). -
After tragedy, Duke works to improve patient safety
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has accepted a corrective action plan from Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC, to ensure safety in the hospitals intensive care nursery (ICN). -
Guidelines show when an issue becomes ‘grievance’
The Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy, part of the American Health Association, has developed a document outlining when a patient issue should be categorized as a grievance under Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regulations. -
JCAHO revises performance areas for some surveys
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) recently announced that it will revise the fixed and variable performance areas evaluated during random unannounced surveys, starting in 2004. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Dosage mix-up leads to an overdose and $2.25 million in damages
News: A man was admitted to a hospital after presenting to the emergency department (ED) with chest pain. After an initial cardiac catheterization revealed serious coronary disease, open-heart surgery was performed. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Temp worker’s mistake costs a life and $800,000
News: Unable to care for herself, a Parkinsons disease patient contracted for services provided in her home, including meal preparation. One day, the home health company was short-staffed and subcontracted with a temporary personnel agency to care for the patient. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Privacy regulations complicate communication with patients
The privacy regulations enacted as part of the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have caused some unforeseen complications for hospitals trying to ensure patient safety and improve communication between providers and patients, say health care professionals and legal experts. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: What to do if you’re just getting started
At the Seventh HIPAA Summit held in Baltimore in mid-September, Doctor HIPAA former Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) executive William Braithwaite said that while Transactions and Code Sets (T&CS) testing should have started in April at the latest, vendors should have provided software to all their clients and completed testing, clearinghouses should have finished testing for all customers, and health plans should have finished testing all transactions with providers and clearinghouses, the reality was that much of the testing still was being done and some entities hadnt yet started. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: CMS implements contingency plan
With surveys indicating that the required Oct. 16 compliance with transaction and code sets (T&CS) HIPAA requirements would be spotty at best, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has drawn industry support for deciding to implement its contingency plan and accept legacy claims for an undetermined period of time while efforts toward full compliance continue. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Survey shines light on HIPAA compliance efforts
The summer 2003 Industry HIPAA survey conducted by HIMSS (Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society) and Phoenix Health Systems found that not enough time was seen as the major roadblock to meeting the Oct. 16 implementation deadline for transactions and code sets (T&CS). -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Labs seek HHS transaction guidance and relief
In testimony before the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging, the president of the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA) said that although labs are committed to compliance with the transaction standards, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) needs to provide more specific guidance to assist providers struggling with implementation and also must streamline the mechanisms for development and maintenance of the transaction standards. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Privacy implementation going well, says HHS
Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights director Richard Campanelli says that many covered entities have done a good job of coming into compliance with the HIPAA privacy requirements that took effect in April, although there remain some misunderstandings about the requirements that need to be cleared up.