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Think About Record Retention Now, Not at End
Physician practices and even hospitals sometimes make the mistake of putting off decisions on record retention until they think it is time to clear out a storage facility or reduce their data storage expenses. A better approach is to determine how long certain records should be kept and then establish a destruction date.
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More Attention Now to Workplace Violence; Employers More Receptive
Workplace violence is receiving more attention from hospital and health system leaders. Now may be the time to push for worker safety initiatives that previously could not gain traction.
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Do Not Forgo HIPAA Requirements in Pandemic Response
The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights will disregard some HIPAA violations during the pandemic response. Risk managers should understand which parts of the privacy rule are affected.
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EMTALA 1135 Waivers Allow Flexibility
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued waivers for some Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA) requirements, acknowledging certain expectations are not reasonable to achieve during a pandemic. However, EMTALA still applies.
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Telehealth Rules Eased, but Oversight Still Needed
The federal government acted quickly to make telehealth services more accessible in the COVID-19 pandemic, but risk managers must fully understand the changes to avoid creating liability risks. Some telehealth changes are aimed at making the service reimbursable, and therefore available to more patients. But there also are compliance issues.
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CMS Issues Stark Waivers, Makes Other Allowances for Pandemic
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued waivers and allowances that will affect risk management programs, including 18 blanket waivers of sanctions under the Stark Law.
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COVID-19 Creates Multiple Risk Exposures as Hospitals Respond
Risk managers should recognize several types of potential liabilities and exposures related to the COVID-19 pandemic response. Some compliance and regulatory burdens have been eased, but risks remain.
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Antibiotic Therapy to Reduce the Incidence of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia After Cardiac Arrest
In this prospective, randomized trial, intravenous amoxicillin-clavulanate (dosed three times daily and given for two days) administered to patients admitted with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to a shockable rhythm reduced the incidence of early ventilator-associated pneumonia.
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Maximal Lung Recruitment Strategy Does Not Reduce Ventilator-Free Days in the Setting of Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
In this randomized trial, daily maximal recruitment trials failed to reduce ventilator-free days in the setting of acute respiratory distress syndrome, but increased the risk of cardiovascular adverse effects.
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Impact of Intensive Care Unit Personnel Decisions and Staffing on Patient Outcomes
Nurses with relatively high autonomy, alongside a dedicated intensive care unit (ICU) clinical pharmacist and 24/7 intensivist coverage, were associated with the lowest hospital mortality, shortest ICU lengths of stay, and shortest mechanical ventilator durations compared to other staffing models.