Healthcare Risk Management – July 1, 2012
July 1, 2012
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$78.5 million verdict blamed on poor maintenance, documentation
A jury in Philadelphia has awarded a family $78.5 million on behalf of a child who suffered severe brain damage as a result of a delayed cesarean section, and legal experts are warning that the case illustrates a risk that can go overlooked in hospitals. -
Case never should have gone to trial, lawyer says
The $78.5 million verdict against Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Philadelphia could have been avoided. Letting the case go to a jury was a mistake for the hospital, says Herbert S. Subin, JD, partner with the law firm of Subin Associates in New York City. -
Hospital's image with public will suffer
The reputation of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Philadelphia will take a big hit from the recent $78.5 million malpractice verdict against it, says Scott Sobel, president of Media & Communications Strategies in Washington, DC. -
Some providers not taking cost of data breach seriously
Hospitals are adopting cyber liability policies in growing numbers, but other healthcare organizations are lagging behind, says Jay Sheehan, JD, senior vice president of Preferred Advantage in Hartford, CT, a division of national insurance provider Preferred Concepts. -
Courts demand fairness with arbitration provisions
With so much to cover in employee orientation, it is tempting to include a lot of dry legalese in the employee handbook and be satisfied that you have fulfilled your obligation to notify. -
Court decisions say policies must be fair to both parties
Two recent legal decisions signal a change in the way courts will view arbitration provisions, says Elliot Zemel, JD, an associate at the law firm of Fenton Nelson in Los Angeles. -
4 steps to making arbitration policy valid
Recent healthcare decisions should compel healthcare risk managers to reconsider their hiring process and company policies. -
Telemedicine brings exposures along with innovations
Telemedicine is becoming more common all the time, but risk managers might not be keeping up with all the new challenges that come along with the new technology. The use of telemedicine across state lines, in particular, raises some tricky risk management issues. -
Licensing, financing seen as barriers to telemedicine
Regulatory issues such as state-by-state licensing continue to be a serious hurdle in the expansion of telemedicine, according to a survey of clinicians using the technology. -
State of California reduces medmal premiums by $23 million
The California Department of Insurance has saved doctors and other medical providers $23 million in just two months by reducing unjustified medical malpractice insurance premiums using the state's prior approval rate regulation authority. -
$31 billion was paid for medmal premiums in '11
Physicians, hospitals, dentists, therapists, and a host of other healthcare providers paid about $31 billion in medical malpractice premiums in 2011, which is a new record, according to a study released recently by Patients for Fair Compensation, a group based in Alpharetta, GA, that seeks to educate the public about the costs of defensive medicine. -
Tenet to pay $42.75 million for overbilling Medicare
Tenet Healthcare Corp. has agreed to pay the United States $42.75 million to settle allegations that it violated the False Claims Act by overbilling the federal Medicare program, the Justice Department has announced. -
Hospital shared medical files with reporters, state says
State regulators have determined that a California hospital owned by Prime Healthcare Services violated patient confidentiality by sharing a woman's medical files with journalists and sending an email about her treatment to 785 hospital workers. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Failure to timely administer Acyclovir in patient with viral encephalitis yields $23 million verdict
News: A 36-year-old woman was transported to the emergency department (ED) at 12:55 p.m. after exhibiting symptoms consistent with a viral infection. A lumbar puncture was performed, the results of which revealed herpes viral encephalitis. Acyclovir was ordered stat; however, the nurse on duty did not administer the medication until three hours later, by which time the patient had become comatose. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Antiquated equipment, failure to provide trained technician resulted in infant's cerebral palsy and $78.5 million verdict
News: A 34-year-old woman, then 36 weeks pregnant, presented to Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Philadelphia in August 2008 with signs of placental abruption. Fetal monitoring was inconclusive. A nurse and the obstetrician performed a bedside ultrasound examination and were unable to detect a fetal heartbeat. The obstetrician sought an ultrasound technician's confirmation of his diagnosis of fetal death; however, it took 75 minutes for the ultrasound technician to arrive. -
South Shore Hospital to pay $750,000 for data breach
South Shore Hospital in Boston has agreed to pay $750,000 to resolve allegations that it failed to protect the personal and confidential health information of more than 800,000 consumers, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley announced recently. -
Study says most doctors win litigation, but few go to trial