Healthcare Risk Management – January 1, 2003
January 1, 2003
View Issues
-
Patient safety the VA way: One hospital can point the way for others to follow
The efforts by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to improve patient safety are paying huge dividends for the hundreds of hospitals participating in its system of adverse-event reporting and analysis, suggesting that other health care providers could benefit from adopting the same techniques. -
These tools show cause of close calls, adverse events
These are the categories of triage questions used by the Veterans Affairs National Center for Patient Safety (NCPS) to help health care providers determine what really led to an adverse event or close call. -
VA program for surgical quality called a success
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) patient safety system can be mined for strategies that could work well in your own organization, but another successful program from the VA could be directly available to all hospitals within a year. -
Crash carts must be locked; beware of delays involved
Question: I understand that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations requires that crash carts be locked when not in use during an emergency, but how must they be locked? -
Ten steps can improve a risk manager’s image
Health care risk managers have suffered from an image problem for too long, and 10 simple steps can greatly improve the way everyone else in your organization thinks of you, says Geri Amori, PhD, ARM, FASHRM, president of Communicating HealthCare, a risk management consulting firm in Shelby, VT, and past president of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM). -
ECRI issues alert on some thoracic catheters
An independent health care safety watchdog has issued a critical alert to hospitals regarding a potential threat to patient safety caused by some thoracic catheters in Pharmaseal Thoracentesis Trays distributed by McGaw Park, IL-based Allegiance Healthcare Corp. -
Bar codes help reduce some medication errors
A study at the University of Wisconsin (UW) Hospital and Clinics in Madison shows the hospital has reduced medication administration errors by 87% with the use of a hand-held wireless bar code scanner. -
Pennsylvania hospitals still fighting insurance crisis
Pennsylvanias hospitals continue to struggle with the medical professional liability insurance crisis, according to a new member survey conducted by The Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP). -
Tenet: When is a physician an independent contractor?
Tenet Healthcare Corporations claim that it considers Redding, CA, physicians as independent contractors, as opposed to hospital employees, will do nothing to lessen the companys exposure from a rapidly growing list of lawsuits filed by former cardiac surgery patients at Tenets two Redding-area hospitals, according to one of the nations leading mass torts attorneys. -
Most hospitals ill-prepared to deal with bioterrorism
In spite of heightened awareness of bioterrorism, and the recent terrorist threat to hospitals in key U.S. cities, 70% of hospital emergency depart- ment (ED) managers polled at a recent conference revealed that their hospitals are not prepared to deal with bioterrorist-related medical emergencies. -
Study: 10% of children get wrong dosages in the ED
Ten percent of children treated in the emergency department (ED) may get the wrong dose of medicine or be administered medication at the incorrect frequency, according to a new study. -
Nursing shortage affects patient postsurgery survival
The ongoing nursing shortage can have a direct effect on a patients survival after surgery, according to a new study. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Hot water for tea burns a patient, costing a hospital $100,000
News: An elderly man was admitted to a hospital for observation. The following morning, the patient spilled hot tea in his lap during breakfast, resulting in burns severe enough to require surgical repair. The patient brought suit against the provider, which was settled for $100,000 prior to trial. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Scalding hot water enema leads to $1.65M verdict
News: An elderly woman with end-stage Alzheimers disease was admitted to the hospital for pneumonia. On the third day of her stay, she was given an enema containing scalding hot water, which caused first- and second-degree burns. The burns were not discovered until nine hours after the incident, and 20 hours had passed before she was given any pain medication. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIPAA privacy guidance seeks to maximize voluntary enforcement
In December 2002, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) released an extensive guidance outlining various aspects of the privacy portion of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). That follows a recent decision by HHS to place OCR in charge of enforcing HIPAAs privacy mandates. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HHS outlines major changes in privacy
One of the problems facing providers under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) will be how to deal with minors, including newborns. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Survey finds major progress toward HIPAA compliance
According to a survey just released by the Minneapolis-based Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA), the health care industry is continuing to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance with sweeping changes required by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: How to draft documents for HIPAA implementation
The first task in drafting and negotiating Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) documents is to understand the requirements for consent, business associates, and covered entities. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Feds offer database for record disclosures
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has created a Privacy Accountability Database to aid in tracking, reporting, and accounting the disclosures made from all CMS systems of records permitted by the Privacy Act of 1974 and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert:Web site answers FAQs about HIPAA
A Frequently Asked Questions document about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy rule is posted on the Department of Health and Human Services web site. -
Patient Safety Alert Supplement