Healthcare Risk Management – December 1, 2005
December 1, 2005
View Issues
-
Want to detect dangerous staff? Use background checks, monitoring
The story hits the news every once in a while, but it always seems like such an extreme case: A hospital staffer confesses to killing multiple patients over time, usually with fatal injections and often under the pretense of a "mercy killing." -
Stop killers -- work closely with human resources
Creating a better defense against health care workers who would harm your patients means working closely with your human resources department, but prepare yourself for a challenge. -
Referral of ex-employee can raise legal risks
When a past employee left your organization under questionable circumstances, or with a history of suspicious behavior, it is important to be honest with the next employer who asks for a referral. -
Risk managers, doctors disagree on 'full disclosure'
When it comes to the specifics of exactly what to tell the patient, risk mangers and physicians often disagree and -- surprisingly — the physicians are often more in favor of telling the patient the whole story than the risk managers are. -
Disclosure gap is apparent with docs
When asked about attitudes toward when and how to disclose, the gap between risk managers and physicians becomes more apparent... -
Survey: Doctors respond differently after error
A survey conducted by Thomas H. Gallagher, MD, included scenarios that presented medical errors to the physician and risk manager respondents and then asked them how they would disclose the error to patients. -
Be voice of reason when sending help
Many hospitals outside the area directly affected by Hurricane Katrina had difficulty sending in teams of clinicians because of concerns about liability, ... -
Lack of medical data, HIPAA no hindrance
With so many patients evacuated and arriving at other facilities for care after Hurricane Katrina, one of the first questions posed to health care providers was how to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). -
HHS issues alert saying HIPAA not a problem
In the midst of Hurricane Katrina, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a special alert advising health care workers that were allowed to share protected patient information to provide necessary medical care. -
Frequency of med claims falls, while severity rises
While the severity of malpractice claims continues to rise -- growing at a rate of 7.5% annually -- the frequency of malpractice claims has decreased by 1% over the past year. -
Legal Review and Commentary: Wrong-site surgery results in $455,000 verdict in New York
A man was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in his left kidney. After determining that the diseased kidney needed to be removed, an embolization procedure was scheduled to minimize bleeding during the surgery. -
Legal Review and Commentary: Misplaced dead body, $17,550 Nevada verdict
A patient died of natural causes at the defendant hospital. However, when the funeral home came to collect the body, it took the hospital 2 1/2 days to find the corpse.