Healthcare Risk Management – September 1, 2006
September 1, 2006
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Special Report: Katrina Deaths: Katrina murder allegations put spotlight on dire situations
Murder allegations against a physician and two nurses at a New Orleans hospital have stirred up the health care industry, especially the hospitals and other providers that suffered through the dire conditions after Hurricane Katrina hit in August 2005. -
Special Report: Katrina Deaths: Doctor's lawyer says she was hero, not murderer
The attorney representing Anna Pou, MD, accused of murdering patients in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, says the doctor should be lauded for her work in the flooded hospital, not charged with any crime. -
Special Report: Katrina Deaths: Policy can't cover all situations, can backfire
The president of the American Society for Health-care Risk Management (ASHRM), Peggy B. Martin, notes how the Tenet Healthcare Corp., the parent company of Memorial Medical Center, seems to be distancing itself from the accused clinicians. -
Special Report: Katrina Deaths: Tenet distances itself from hospital, accused clinicians
The murder accusations against clinicians at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans are another blow to the troubled Tenet Healthcare Corp., based in Dallas. -
Special Report: Katrina Deaths: Ethicist sees difficult situation in Katrina charges
The evidence released so far concerning the suspicious deaths at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans has John Banja, PhD, assistant director for health sciences and clinical ethics at Emory University in Atlanta, thinking ... -
SBAR checklist can cut risk at patient handoff
Patient handoff now is known to be a high-risk time, with the transfer of responsibilities opening up the potential for misunderstandings, incomplete information, and other failures of communication that can threaten patient safety. -
SBAR checklist outlines what to say at handoff
This is the basic framework of the SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation) checklist developed by Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, CA, to improve patient safety when handing off a patient from clinician to another. -
Seems simple, but culture change can be difficult
While SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment, and Recommendation) technique is a fairly straightforward concept, implementing the methodology can be more difficult than you might expect. -
Rapport with in-house counsel comes in handy
A good relationship with in-house counsel will help you both to your jobs better, especially if you are employed by a large, complex health care organization. -
Settlement means feds looking at charge levels
A recent settlement by a New Jersey hospital chain should alert risk managers that federal investigators are taking a harder look at charge increases and possible violations of Medicare rules, says an attorney who has been following the case. -
Tools to stop wandering may not be effective
Wandering occurs in 15%-60% of people with dementia. -
Legal Review and Commentary: Improper transfer of heart attack victim leads to $800,000 verdict against transferring hospital
A man arrived at the emergency department (ED) with chest pain. While doctors attempted to find the cause of the pain, an inadvertent dislodging of the man's intravenous line (IV) caused swelling in his arm muscle...