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Hospital Successfully Addresses Medication List Errors in ED
Many patients’ medication lists contain errors when they are admitted through the ED. South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, MA, addressed the problem by changing its electronic health record software and more directly involving pharmacy staff. The hospital improved patient safety by recognizing more errors on the lists. -
Medical Simulators Can Prevent Med Mal Claims
Using medical simulators for obstetrics training can lower the incidence of medical malpractice claims, according to recent research from CRICO/Risk Management Foundation of the Harvard Medical Institutions, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and the Center for Medical Simulation. OB/GYNs who participated in medical simulation training experienced fewer claims in the retrospective analysis. The researchers compared malpractice claim rates for 292 OB/GYNs who were insured by the same company and attended at least one simulation training session over 17 years. -
Spoliation Instruction Is Major Risk to Avoid
When dealing with video that might be used in a malpractice or premises liability case, the risk of spoliation arises when the owner of the evidence knows it could be relevant to the case and destroys it anyway. When that happens, the court may order the jury to assume that whatever was on the video was damaging to the party that destroyed it. -
Surveillance Video Can Make or Break Med Mal Defense
Video surveillance data can be either helpful or harmful in defending a malpractice claim. Healthcare organizations should strictly adhere to their policies on the preservation of video. -
Post-COVID Could Bring Surge in Med Mal Cases
The COVID-19 pandemic still has many hospitals and healthcare facilities straining to maintain anything like normal operations. But that pressure will eventually ease, and more patients will return for routine care and elective surgeries. Some risk managers and healthcare leaders worry this will prompt an increase in medical malpractice cases. -
Is There a Role for Intermediate-Dose Anticoagulation for Critically Ill COVID-19 Patients?
In a multicenter, randomized clinical trial of critically ill COVID-19 patients, intermediate-dose compared to standard-dose prophylactic anticoagulation did not result in significant differences in the rates of venous or arterial thrombosis, treatment with extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, or mortality within 30 days.
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Dexmedetomidine for Sedation in Patients Undergoing Mechanical Ventilation in the ICU
This special feature will focus on dexmedetomidine as a sedative for invasive mechanical ventilation in the ICU.
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Contemplating the Next Pandemic
We have heard much about the inevitable “next pandemic” as viruses move and mutate through animals until they become infectious in humans. An example of this was published recently, revealing how an avian flu virus caused fatal infections in swans, seals, and a fox, a “terrestrial mammal” not usually vulnerable to such a virus.
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The Return of Flu: Signs Point to Possible Severe Season
A possible severe influenza season is on the horizon, in part because COVID-19 shutdowns and precautions led to a historically low flu season in 2019-2020, said Rochelle Walensky, MD, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
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Booster Option for HCWs Approved as CDC Overrules Advisory Panel
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, is defending her decision to overrule her own vaccine advisory committee after they voted against giving COVID-19 booster shots to healthcare workers, teachers, and other essential workers at occupational risk of infections.