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Diagnostic Imaging Trends Among Pregnant Women
This retrospective cohort study estimated that the use of CT scans has increased 3.7-fold in the United States and 2-fold in Ontario, Canada, from 1996 to 2016. Overall, 5.3% of pregnant women in the United States and 3.6% in Ontario underwent imaging with ionizing radiation.
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Patient Watches Solve Safety Issue With Better Use of Resources
Hospitals often struggle with the need to provide close watch over a potentially dangerous patient without relying on skilled nurses or security officers who are needed elsewhere. Some hospitals are finding that a “patient watch” program is the right solution.
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Clinicians Need the Right Tools to Care for Older Patients With Cognitive Deficits
As the U.S. population ages, hospital providers are confronting the complicated challenge of meeting the needs of more patients with dementia, delirium, and other cognitive deficits. To get ahead of this demographic trend, some health systems have developed initiatives aimed at equipping their workforce with the knowledge and tools to recognize and manage this population better while also offering a more compassionate and welcoming face to patients and families.
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Workers’ Comp Case Managers Juggle Many Skills for Clients
For nurse case managers who enjoy a challenge, workers’ compensation offers the opportunity to use every organizational and creative skill to make things happen for people whose lives are in crisis. Workers’ compensation case managers must be highly skilled in communicating with a variety of stakeholders, including providers, insurance companies, patients, and others. They must ensure everyone understands that the patient should receive the right treatment at the right time to return to work as soon, efficiently, and timely as possible.
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Bundled Payments, Population Health Fuel Move to New Healthcare Models
A health network with more than a dozen acute care hospitals has developed teams with advanced care providers to work with Medicare at-risk patients to improve care and reduce costs. The case management-style teams also work with some privately insured patients. The team approach has resulted in a 9.5% reduction in 30-day readmissions, according to a healthcare organization’s internal data.
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Healthcare Organizations Use Different Approaches to Reducing Readmissions
Two different techniques highlight success in reducing healthcare costs and readmissions. What they have in common is a focus on teams. Developing the right skills and putting the right team in place are key to success.
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Many ED Charts Lack Explanation of EP’s Thought Process
Many ED malpractice claims would be defensible except for one problem: There is nothing in the chart to explain what the EP was thinking at the time of the ED visit.
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Liability for Hospitals if Security Removes Disruptive Person from Waiting Room
The safest approach is to presume that anyone in the ED waiting area is presenting for evaluation and medical care, unless they indicate otherwise.
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Texts Can Hurt Defendant EP, Even if Messages Were Sent Off Shift
If a bad outcome happens during a shift, a plaintiff attorney can obtain phone records. This attorney may accuse a healthcare worker of talking on the phone to his or her lawyer instead of seeing patients.
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ED’s Claim of Unusually Large Patient Volume Could Backfire on Defense
Defense claims that unusually high volumes led to delayed care can result in expanded discovery, including census reports. If admissible, the plaintiff can use staffing data to demonstrate a pervasive pattern of understaffing, among other possibly damaging accusations.