Healthcare Risk Management – January 1, 2015
January 1, 2015
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Workplace violence a growing threat
The video is chilling to anyone, but especially to nurses who can imagine being in exactly the same vulnerable position. A man’s brutal attack on unit nurses at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, MN, is putting the spotlight on violence in healthcare facilities and the potential harm facing the victims and the hospital.
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Video shows brutal attack on nurses
The violent attack on nurses at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood, MN, was caught on surveillance video that soon was released to the public. The images are disturbing, particularly because the staff members are so defenseless against their attacker. -
Security guard knifed, nurses injured in attack
A recent attack on staff at a hospital in Oklahoma City left a security guard with a knife wound and two nurses injured by a patient.
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Violence insurance helps with HCAHPS score
Providing insurance to employees for damages stemming from workplace violence can increase your facility’s MediCare Value-Based Purchasing Program Scores, says Rich Kosinski, president of Specialty Insurance Advisors (SIA) in North Andover, MA, which provides such coverage. Even a bonus is possible. -
System settles false claim charges for $37 million
The healthcare system involved in a false claims investigation prompted by a former employee blowing the whistle has settled the case. Dignity Health hospital system, based in San Francisco, has agreed to pay $37 million to settle the charges. -
Raging physicians, coworkers also pose a threat
Patients attacking employees is not the only type of workplace violence that should trouble risk managers. -
Malpractice caused Joan Rivers' death, critics say
What at first seemed the tragic but otherwise unremarkable death of an elderly woman, comedian Joan Rivers, has turned out to be entirely preventable and the result of serious malpractice, according to a federal report and malpractice attorneys. -
$7.9 million verdict for man paralyzed during pain management procedure
The patient, a 63-year-old man, suffered from severe neck pain and opted to undergo a high risk pain management procedure in November 2010. -
Hospital reduces alarms by 80% with changes
A pediatric hospital reduced unnecessary alarms by 80% by implementing changes at the bedside. Alarm fatigue has been cited as a significant threat to patient safety. -
7 steps led to reduction in alarms
The risk of alarm fatigue prompted clinicians at Cincinnati (OH) Children’s Hospital Medical Center (CCHMC) to institute processes that reduced cardiac monitoring alarms by 80%. These are the processes implemented at the hospital: -
Understanding large deductible policies and captives
Risk financing is critical to enterprise risk management, but many healthcare administrators, including risk managers, can get lost in the financial details and decisions to be made. -
Healthcare system liable for $1.6M for overdose
A jury in Utah returned a verdict for $1.6 million in a wrongful death and medical malpractice action against Intermountain Healthcare, based in Salt Lake City, for fatally overdosing a patient with a cocktail of medications. -
Hospital gave wrong med to patient, admits error
An Oregon hospital acknowledges that a patient died because she was administered the wrong medication. -
Patient awarded $3.35 million after bowel perforation and barium misuse
The patient, a 22-year-old college soccer star, was diagnosed with athletic pubalgia by a general surgeon and underwent surgery in 2009.