Healthcare Risk Management – September 1, 2003
September 1, 2003
View Issues
-
Wrong-site protocol: A standard of care that can and will be used against you
The new protocol for preventing wrong-site surgery is likely to be considered the standard of care immediately and plaintiffs attorneys will use it against you in court, says a prominent trial attorney. Risk managers should act quickly to implement the protocol now and not wait for the protocols deadline, the attorney adds. -
Mark the site and take time out before surgery begins
These are the required steps in the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations Universal Protocol for eliminating wrong-site, wrong-procedure, wrong-person surgery. -
Seven ways to take the danger of fire from the OR
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations recently called on hospitals and ambulatory surgery centers to reduce the risk of serious and deadly fires in operating rooms with its set of 7 Absolutes to help you educate operating room staff. -
Changing flags, potholes to reporting errors, misses
An innovative program at The Baylor Medical Center in Grapevine, TX, has increased reporting of errors and near misses tenfold by encouraging staff to plant a flag when coming across a pothole in the road. The hospital uses the pothole analogy to encourage staff to do something when it sees a potential medical error. -
Crew resource management promises adverse events
The next time you see footage of an airline crew working in the cockpit of an airliner, listen to how they interact. They speak clearly to ensure information is conveyed well. Each crew member watches the others work to spot errors. If they can do that while flying from Newark to San Diego, why cant your staff do the same while caring for a post-op surgical patient? They can, according to advocates of a strategy called crew resource management. -
Newest patient safety goals focus on infection control
The new 2004 National Patient Safety Goals released recently by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations continue all of the 2003 goals and add one to reduce health care-acquired infections. -
Reader Question: Exercise and caution work well in fight against falls
As part of our falls prevention program, were considering more exercise programs for patients at risk for falls, to help them develop stability and balance. But weve heard some concerns that the at-risk patient is better off in bed instead of doing something that could result in a fall. What should we do? -
Legal Review & Commentary: Teen’s morphine toxicity leads to $400,000 settlement
A 17-year-old female was admitted to a hospital to undergo a breast reduction procedure. While recovering from surgery she received an overdose of morphine, which killed her. The case against the hospital was settled prior to trial for $400,000. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Death at nursing station leads to $850K settlement
A patient with stab wounds to the abdomen was taken to an emergency department. He was admitted, and a series of tests were ordered. Once on the floor, his condition deteriorated rapidly. His father came to visit and found his son in a wheelchair at the nurses station. After inquiring as to his condition, the son suffered cardiopulmonary arrest and died in front of the nurses station. The estate brought suit against the hospital and attending surgeon. Both settled prior to trial for a combined $850,000 -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Intensify efforts at transaction compliance, HHS says
As the Oct. 16 deadline for covered entities to comply with HIPAAs electronic code set and transaction provisions approaches, organizations should be intensifying their efforts toward achieving compliance, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Is your facility using unprotected e-mails?
A survey by Dallas-based ZixCorp, a global provider of e-messaging management and protection services, indicates that many leading health care organizations are transmitting e-mail messages containing federally protected health information over public networks without using appropriate safeguards. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Physicians cautioned about paper claims
Physician practices considering going back to paper claims as a way of coping with the Oct. 16 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services deadline for transactions and code sets should resist the temptation, according to John Thomas, CEO of Dallas-based MedSynergies. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: JCAHO, NCQA certifying privacy compliance
The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations and the National Committee for Quality Assurance have started a new Privacy Certification Program for Business Associates to assess whether organizations designated as business associates under HIPAA are meeting essential requirements for safeguarding personally identifiable health information. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIPAA does not block nursing home surveys
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says HIPAA privacy regulations dont negate requirements under the Social Security Act that the results of the most recent nursing home survey must be made available to the public. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Privacy requirements give researchers fits
Confusion in research circles over privacy requirements under HIPAA is seen in a flap at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, which sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services asking whether it could request patients permission to use their medical records for research. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Insurance policy to cover violations of HIPAA rules
A San Francisco insurer is offering health care providers what it says may be a first in underwriting a professional liability insurance policy specifically geared toward electronic-based and web-enabled transactions for health care operations.