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What used to be a fairly routine occurrence for many health care providers supplying copies of patient medical records on request is becoming a major issue under HIPAA because of questions about how much can be charged for a copy of the record and the service under the HIPAA privacy rule and various state laws.
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A survey of providers, health plans, patient representatives, and others conducted by Congress General Accounting Office found providers and health plans believe that implementation of the HIPAA privacy rule went more smoothly than expected in its first year,
but that two provisions of the rule are unnecessarily burdensome.
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A patient successfully underwent aortic value replacement surgery; however, it had the adverse side effects of causing her to lose her sight and sustain a hand injury. Two years later, the surgery was unsuccessfully repeated and the patient died. The family brought suit against the hospital and doctors alleging malpractice and
the failure to obtain informed consent.
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A back door or any door not within sight of your staff and intended for the public to use always poses a risk, says the president of the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety in Glendale Heights, IL.
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Patient-controlled analgesia is a well-accepted method of delivering pain relief, but JCAHO is warning that well-intended family members and caregivers may be putting patients at risk by becoming involved in administering patient-controlled analgesia.
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Some hospitals targeted by the spate of lawsuits against charity health care providers are fighting back, and one hospital executive tells Healthcare Risk Management that he expects the legal brouhaha to die out soon without any major payouts.
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Jay Wolfson, DrPH, JD, professor of health care law, finance, and policy at the Colleges of Public Health and Medicine at the University of South Florida in Tampa, offers this advice on how to counter not-for-profit lawsuits and avoid becoming a target for similar allegations.
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Elderly patients pose special challenges when it comes to falls, so your prevention strategy must take into account the factors unique to this population. This summary is offered by a professor of physical therapy at Temple University in Philadelphia.
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A patient received quinine sulfate when she should have gotten quinidine sulfate. The medication error resulted in her experiencing a multitude of medical aliments. She brought action against the provider who dispersed the wrong medication and was awarded $120,000 through a mandatory arbitration process.
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An elderly gentleman with a history of fainting presented to a hospital emergency department was admitted for observation and testing then discharged without a conclusive diagnosis or treatment plan.