Healthcare Risk Management – February 1, 2013
February 1, 2013
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Leapfrog safety scores spur debate: How reliable are they?
Low patient safety scores from The Leapfrog Group have some hospitals crying foul and claiming that the groups data is old and the scoring methodology flawed. If you didnt get the score you were hoping for, should that be cause for alarm, or can you dismiss it? -
Safety scores based on 26 measures
The Leapfrog Group updated its Hospital Safety Scores in November 2012, five months after the first scores were released. More than half of the hospitals received the same score as in June 2012, and 23% earned a higher grade. -
Leapfrog responds strongly to AHA accusations
When the American Hospital Association (AHA) criticized The Leapfrog Group for its patient safety scoring methodology, Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, struck back. -
Culture change and ‘red zone’ improve patient safety
A hospital in Casper, WY, has reduced medical errors by changing the staff culture about patient safety and by instituting a system that notifies others when a staff member is involved in a high-risk task and should not be interrupted. -
‘Red zones’ help deter distractions, improve safety
When Risk Manager Shawna Willcox, CPHRM, MBA, was investigating the death of a child who mistakenly was administered another patients medications at Wyoming Medical Center in Casper, she found that the nurse had been distracted while preparing the morning meds. -
Workers’ comp claim frequency expected to drop
You can expect fewer workers compensation claims this year, but the ones you do see are likely to be more severe, according to the first Health Care Workers Compensation Barometer report from Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management business of healthcare consultant Aon, based in Chicago. -
Patient handling is top workers’ comp concern
These are additional findings from to first Health Care Workers Compensation Barometer report from Aon Risk Solutions, the global risk management business of Aon, based in Chicago: -
Avoiding bad hires requires healthcare insight, auditing
Screening of potential hires is particularly important in the healthcare industry because many employees have access to vulnerable patients or protected health and financial information. -
Employers want criminal background checks
A group representing employers across the country has asked the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights to closely examine new guidelines on the use of criminal background checks to screen job applicants. -
Health workers still reluctant to report unsafe acts
In spite of significant efforts over the past two decades to improve healthcare quality and safety, it is widely recognized that there is more work needed to eliminate preventable harm in the U.S. healthcare system. -
Nurses speak up when they feel safe, study says
When nurses feel safe admitting to their supervisors that theyve made a mistake regarding a patient, they are more likely to report the error, according to an international team of researchers. -
Staffers often dismissed when they voice safety concerns
Disruptive behaviors, intimidation in the workplace, and a culture of disrespect among healthcare professionals have repeatedly surfaced as significant barriers to patient safety. -
TJC publishes patient and worker safety monograph
The Joint Commission (TJC) has released a free monograph, Improving Patient and Worker Safety: Opportunities for Synergy, Collaboration and Innovation, to draw attention to the need to create a culture that focuses on the safety of patients and the healthcare workers who care for them. -
E-health records prompt safety focus
Texas researchers are calling for a national strategy to address patient safety in electronic health records (EHRs). -
Groups to help patients with safety
The Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM) and the Cautious Patient Foundation have announced a collaboration to help patients avoid diagnostic errors in their own care. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Colonoscopy with unclean equipment causes hepatitis C, results in 1.25M award
News: This case involves a 69-year-old male who underwent a colonoscopy with lesion removal at the hospital. -
Legal Review & Commentary: $5 million awarded to family of suicidal man hit by a car before discharge from hospital
News: This case involves a 24-year-old single father who was involuntarily committed to the hospital for severe depression, including suicidal and homicidal ideations.