Several perennial worries of risk managers are under consideration by the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations as new National Patient Safety Goals for 2005, and experts in two of the hottest topics harm from patient falls and the risk of surgical fires say you should assess your efforts in these areas now.
Expectations are key to having a good working relationship with legal counsel, says Pamela L. Popp, MA, JD, FASHRM, CPHRM, vice president for health care practice with McQueary Henry in Dallas, which provides insurance products and risk management services.
Continuing the effort to eliminate what it calls an entirely preventable class of error, the Joint Commission has updated its frequently asked questions on how to avoid performing a procedure on the wrong body part, wrong person, or the wrong procedure on the right patient.
The parents of a newborn baby retained a home health agency to provide in-home child care. The agency failed to follow its screening procedures when selecting the nurses aide and overlooked her history of drug abuse and theft. This case presents a classic illustration of why it is absolutely imperative that an organization follow the rules, especially when it was the organization itself that wrote the rules, states Ellen Barton, JD, CPCU, a risk management consultant in Phoenix, MD.
