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The Department of Homeland Security recently issued a special bulletin that warns of an increase in suspicious activity at hospitals. DHS warns that the impostors may be terrorists and that “U.S. hospitals offer easy public access and would be recognized by terrorist planners as easy, accessible targets. Known targeting of such facilities would instill great panic and fear in the general public.”
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Officials at two small hospitals in New Jersey say impostors tried to gain access to their facility in scenarios that match the accounts heard from other hospitals across the country.
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Risk managers often see the media as enemies trying to show you at your worst, but you're better off looking at reporters as potential allies. That may be hard when they're firing aggressive questions at you, but with the right approach you can use the media to get your message to the public, say the risk control director with CNA HealthPro in Chicago, and a risk control consultant with the company.
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though incorrect dosing occurs in about 5% of patients with heart attack who receive a certain blood clot-dissolving therapy, patient-related factors appear to be more responsible for adverse outcomes than the dosing errors, according to a recent study.
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Can we ever "reserve capacity" for special purposes and refuse transfers even though we technically have beds open? We'd like to save an intensive care unit bed for any in-house emergencies, but that might mean refusing to accept a transfer due to "no capacity," and that seems like we're telling a white lie.
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A professional truck driver was involved in a serious motor vehicle accident. EMS personnel placed him on a backboard, supported his neck with a cervical collar, and transported him to the nearest trauma center. While being triaged and evaluated in the ED, the patient's protective neck collar was removed and he was assisted in walking to a wheelchair. On the way to the wheelchair, he collapsed and has been unable to walk since. The patient and his family brought suit against the trauma center and emergency physicians; they were collectively awarded $31.1 million, which included almost $8 million in punitive damages against the hospital.
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To make full disclosure work, you first have to remember that it is not a program or an effort, or a policy, says a leader at one hospital that has undergone a major change in way adverse events are discussed with patients and families. Full disclosure is more of a philosophy and an overall way of working with people, says the chief operating officer and vice president of care delivery at Childrens Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota in Minneapolis.
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Any statement by staff that is construed as discouraging a patient from staying for treatment could be seen as an EMTALA violation.
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A woman presented to the ED of a hospital. When told there would be a two-hour wait to be seen, she tried to drive to another hospital but had to stop and call for emergency medical assistance. She was taken by ambulance back to the first hospital where, several hours she later, she was diagnosed with a perforated bowel. Rather than immediately undergo the required emergency surgery, she agreed to be transferred to another hospital. She died shortly after arriving at the receiving facility.
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The Confidentiality Coalition, a group of hospitals, health plans, drug companies, medical device manufacturers, biotech firms, health product distributors, pharmacies, employers, medical teaching colleges, and others, is asking Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt to use his authority to change the HIPAA privacy rules accounting of disclosures requirement.
