Healthcare Risk Management
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Failure to Timely Diagnose Complication Leads to $1.57 Million Verdict for Hospital
In 2011, a woman underwent laparoscopic surgery to increase her likelihood of becoming pregnant. During the procedure, and unbeknownst to the woman and her obstetrician, the woman’s small bowel was perforated.
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More nurses, hospitalists being sued for malpractice, studies say
Separate reports indicate that nurses and hospitalists are being sued for malpractice more than in the past.
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Minimize overrides of technology to improve patient safety
Patient safety could be improved by developing criteria for alerts that focus on opportunities for patient harm, while preventing alert fatigue and minimizing the need for overrides, according to recent research from the Pennsylvania Safety Authority in Harrisburg.
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State boards don’t discipline many physicians for sexual misconduct, consumer rights group says
State medical boards are failing to protect the public from many doctors already known to have committed sexual misconduct, according to a recent report from Public Citizen, a non-profit, consumer rights advocacy group and think tank based in Washington, DC.
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Hospitals sued — claims of sexual abuse, harassment
Two hospitals are facing lawsuits, as are several physicians and staff, in two cases in which healthcare professionals are accused of sexual abuse and sexual harassment.
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Sexual Abuse and Harassment are Challenging Liability Areas to Address
In light of recent high profile cases of sexual assault and harassment in healthcare facilities, risk managers should assess whether their policies and procedures are strong enough to produce an adequate response when staff members or patients report these incidents, one experienced risk manager suggests.
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Risk Management Falls Under Criticism After a Patient is Forcibly Removed
Risk management at a Florida hospital was cited as insufficient in the state investigation following a high publicized incident in which a patient was forcibly removed, and the state rejected the hospital’s corrective action plan.
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Improve On-Call ED Coverage by Making it Easier on Specialists
You come to work Monday morning and hear this tale from your emergency department: A patient presented in the ED over the weekend with compartment syndrome and needed a fasciotomy, but no specialist was available. None of the available physicians had done one since medical school, so the physician who drew the short straw studied the procedure on YouTube before proceeding.
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Failure to administer diagnostic tests or refer to specialist leads to death, $8.25 million liability
In 2009, a 68-year-old man suffering from arthritis in his knee checked into a hospital for a total knee replacement. Following the surgery, the man complained of confusion and disorientation and became hypoxic and anemic.
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Failure to adequately supervise a first-year resident leads to $1.57 million jury award against hospital
In 2011, a man fell 16 feet from a scaffold and landed on a concrete slab. The man was airlifted to a local hospital with a broken left leg, left foot, and left elbow. The man’s wife met him at the hospital, and the two stayed at the hospital while the man was treated. According to court documents, the next day the man began complaining to his wife of increasing pain in his left arm.