Healthcare Risk Management – February 1, 2005
February 1, 2005
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‘Safe passage nurse’ improves patients’ safety as they move through the system
How would you like to increase occurrence reporting by 134% while improving patient safety and communication among your staff? If that sounds good, the Safe Passage Program, developed by Clarian Health Partners in Indianapolis, might be for you. -
Charity lawsuits may open the door for more scrutiny
Not-for-profit hospitals are a natural target for allegations that they are failing to serve the indigent community, and the latest lawsuits targeting them are not likely to be the last, according to an expert in health care law. -
Prepare for charges and have a response ready
Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, professor of health care law, finance, and policy at the Colleges of Public Health and Medicine at the University of South Florida in Tampa, offers this advice on how to counter not-for-profit lawsuits and avoid becoming a target for similar allegations. -
Hospital files counterclaim, predicts lawsuits will fizzle
Some hospitals targeted by the spate of lawsuits against charity health care providers are fighting back, and one hospital executive tells Healthcare Risk Management that he expects the legal brouhaha to die out soon without any major payouts. -
JCAHO: Patient-controlled analgesia overuse warning
Patient-controlled analgesia is a well-accepted method of delivering pain relief, but JCAHO is warning that well-intended family members and caregivers may be putting patients at risk by becoming involved in administering patient-controlled analgesia. -
On its web site, a hospital apologizes for a fatal error
Taking the idea of full disclosure to another level, a Seattle hospital has posted a public apology to the victim of a medical error with apparently no regard to how that may affect the inevitable lawsuit from the family. -
JCAHO alters its patient safety goal requirements
After hosting the recent National Summit on Medical Abbreviations with several other organizations, JCAHO modified the 2005 requirements for meeting National Patient Safety Goal 2b Standardize the abbreviations, acronyms and symbols used throughout the organization, including a list of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols not to use. -
Reader Question: It’s risky to allow patients to leave by the back door
A back door or any door not within sight of your staff and intended for the public to use always poses a risk, says the president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety in Glendale Heights, IL. -
Prepare for a flu season that has not hit its peak
Thomson American Health Consultants has developed an influenza sourcebook to ensure you and your hospital are prepared for what could happen this flu season or the next. -
Legal Review & Commentary - Improper prescribing leads to toxicity and death: $2.2 million settlement in Missouri
An elderly man diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis was prescribed methotrexate by his doctor. Although he immediately began to experience symptoms of methotrexate toxicity, the doctor failed to take the patients complaints seriously and refilled the prescription for another month. The man continued to experience the same symptoms and, two weeks later, he was rushed to an emergency department for treatment. The ED physicians were unable to prevent the mans death, which they attributed to methotrexate toxicity. -
Legal Review & Commentary - Failure to obtain informed consent: $400,000 verdict
A patient successfully underwent aortic value replacement surgery; however, it had the adverse side effects of causing her to lose her sight and sustain a hand injury. Two years later, the surgery was unsuccessfully repeated and the patient died. The family brought suit against the hospital and doctors alleging malpractice and the failure to obtain informed consent. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Two HIPAA privacy provisions ‘unnecessarily burdensome’
A survey of providers, health plans, patient representatives, and others conducted by Congress General Accounting Office found providers and health plans believe that implementation of the HIPAA privacy rule went more smoothly than expected in its first year, but that two provisions of the rule are unnecessarily burdensome. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Requirements on copying cost charges confusing
What used to be a fairly routine occurrence for many health care providers supplying copies of patient medical records on request is becoming a major issue under HIPAA because of questions about how much can be charged for a copy of the record and the service under the HIPAA privacy rule and various state laws. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: CMS issues first of seven security guidance papers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued the first in a projected series of seven papers to provide guidance for covered entities.