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Physicians often have to give bad and distressing news to patients. The screening tests have found cancer. An ultrasound shows that a pregnancy is not progressing normally. A planned treatment regimen is not having the desired result.
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In July 2002, the North Carolina Medical Board made history by becoming the first state board to revoke the license of a physician for giving what it considered to be false and misleading testimony in a medical malpractice case.
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The department of maternal and fetal medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) in Nashville, TN, sees many patients referred in from rural parts of the state to receive specialized care not available in their own communities.
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Confusion in research circles over privacy requirements under HIPAA is seen in a flap at the Johns Hopkins Medical School, which sent a letter to the Department of Health and Human Services asking whether it could request patients permission to use their medical records for research.
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Physician practices considering going back to paper claims as a way of coping with the Oct. 16 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services deadline for transactions and code sets should resist the temptation, according to John Thomas, CEO of Dallas-based MedSynergies.
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A survey by Dallas-based ZixCorp, a global provider of e-messaging management and protection services, indicates that many leading health care organizations are transmitting e-mail messages containing federally protected health information over public networks without using appropriate safeguards.
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As the Oct. 16 deadline for covered entities to comply with HIPAAs electronic code set and transaction provisions approaches, organizations should be intensifying their efforts toward achieving compliance, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
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A patient with stab wounds to the abdomen was taken to an emergency department. He was admitted, and a series of tests were ordered. Once on the floor, his condition deteriorated rapidly. His father came to visit and found his son in a wheelchair at the nurses station. After inquiring as to his condition, the son suffered cardiopulmonary arrest and died in front of the nurses station. The estate brought suit against the hospital and attending surgeon. Both settled prior to trial for a combined $850,000
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The new protocol for preventing wrong-site surgery is likely to be considered the standard of care immediately and plaintiffs attorneys will use it against you in court, says a prominent trial attorney. Risk managers should act quickly to implement the protocol now and not wait for the protocols deadline, the attorney adds.