Healthcare Risk Management – January 1, 2008
January 1, 2008
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Rapid response teams prove value for safety of your patients
The evidence proving the value of rapid response teams (RRTs) continues to accumulate, with the latest research suggesting that this strategy can improve patient safety in a variety of clinical settings. Proponents of RRTs say risk managers may be missing an opportunity to improve outcomes if you are not using RRTs or formulating a plan to institute them in your own facilities. -
There are many examples of RRTs improving safety
These are some examples of hospitals that have seen improvements in patient safety and outcomes from the use of rapid response teams (RRTs): -
Shoulder dystocia drills can improve response
Shoulder dystocia drills should become a routine part of risk reduction in any hospital delivering babies, according to experts who say the drills can greatly improve how clinicians respond to this emergency. -
Guest Column: Feds focus on health care employers' ADA compliance
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-sion (EEOC) has issued interpretive guidelines to help health care employers understand their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the main message is that hospitals and other health care providers must proceed carefully when dealing with disabled employees. -
Health network launches effort to improve safety
Many health care providers are considering adopting the idea of a hotline that patients and family members can call when they think their concerns are being taken lightly by their immediate caregivers, but some risk managers might wonder if the phone will be ringing off the hook with trivial complaints and misunderstandings. -
Brochure describes how Call First works
All patients treated in the Community Health Network's hospitals in Indiana are given a brochure that describes the Call FIRST (Family Initiated Rapid Screening Team) that serves as a safety net when patients or family members think their concerns are not being addressed. These are some excerpts from the brochure: -
Hospital fined $50K for third wrong site
The Rhode Island Department of Health has issued a reprimand and a fine of $50,000 to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence for its third wrong-site brain surgery in a year. The health department also issued a second compliance order due to this pattern. -
Little med-mal risk, psych drug maker says
With its best-selling antipsychotic drug Zyprexa the target of thousands of legal claims, Eli Lilly and Co., based in Indianapolis, is trying to reassure psychiatrists they face little malpractice risk for prescribing such drugs. -
AHRQ releases new patient safety toolkits
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD, recently released 17 new toolkits to help health care providers and patients prevent medical errors. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Unsupervised nursing home resident with dementia and dysphagia chokes to death — $926,000 settlement
News: A nursing home resident with a history of difficulty in swallowing choked to death while eating a piece of brisket. Although staff attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver and CPR on her, the woman died. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Failure to administer medication leads to death
News: An elderly man was transferred to a nursing home following a brief stay at another facility. Although the man was currently taking more than 20 medications, the second page of the two-page prescription order sheet somehow was misplaced during the transfer. The second nursing home did not realize the mistake and accordingly failed to give the patient all of his necessary medications. The man subsequently experienced acute renal failure and died.