Employee Management
RSSArticles
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Many Patients Worried Health Plan Will Not Cover ED Visit
Patients, not staff, should initiate discussions regarding payment for services. Train staff to carefully document discussions with patients regarding billing or payment questions. Ensure staff members understand patients are never implicitly discouraged from seeking emergency care in the ED.
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Dangerously Understaffed EDs Can Legally Expose Hospital
If litigation occurs, providers are better served by testifying honestly about staffing levels and the ED’s capacity while avoiding opinions on how these factors affected their ability to provide adequate care.
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Sick Healthcare Workers Worsen Shortage, May Spike Healthcare-Associated Infections
The COVID-19 omicron variant, known to cause breakthrough infections in those fully vaccinated and boosted, is infecting and furloughing healthcare workers even as hospitals face a towering wave of incoming patients.
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Stay Vigilant About Malpractice Risks with Telemedicine
The dramatic increase in the use of telemedicine is raising concerns about the potential for malpractice issues related to this form of caregiving, with some experts cautioning a wave of lawsuits could be on the way. Adherence to key principles of patient safety and risk management can reduce the risk. -
Protect Peer Review Privileges, or Risk Serious Consequences
A hospital’s peer review protection often prevents attorneys from potentially using damaging information in court, but that protection can be forfeited. To protect patient safety investigations, the most important thing is to follow the applicable federal or state peer review statute as strictly as possible. -
TJC, OSHA Expect Hospitals to Address Violence
The Joint Commission recently updated its standards for preventing and addressing violence in the healthcare workplace. OSHA's General Duty Clause requires employers to provide their employees with a place of employment that is “free from recognized hazards that are causing or are likely to cause death or serious physical harm.” -
Workplace Violence on the Rise; COVID-19 Partly to Blame
Always a challenging problem, workplace violence in healthcare settings has worsened recently as the many stresses of the pandemic push staff, managers, patients, and family members to the breaking point. Risk managers should review their workplace violence policies to ensure they clearly define workplace violence to include bullying, intimidation, and harassment. -
Reporting Misdeeds: How and When to Use Disclosure Protocol
Once a risk manager realizes the organization may have violated laws or regulations, the best course of action might be to report the violation instead of hoping no one will discover it. Self-disclosure can offer many advantages that result in lesser penalties and other consequences. But it is important to know when to report and how to do it advantageously. -
Missed Nursing Care and Declining Patient Safety
While the immediate effect of the COVID-19 omicron variant on the healthcare workforce is the pressing issue, there were serious concerns about staff shortages and the effect of “missed nursing care” on patients well before the pandemic. Missed nursing care is defined as delaying, omitting, or rationing care by nursing staff. -
Worker Safety Is Critical to Patient Safety
As the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbates the national nursing shortage, healthcare workers are finally seen as a valuable commodity that should not be routinely lost to injuries trying to manually lift and mobilize patients. Ultimately, understanding worker safety equals patient safety improves the well-being of an organization.