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OSHA’s COVID-19 Focused Inspection Initiative in Healthcare is underway, with inspectors visiting hospitals and other healthcare facilities to determine compliance with requirements related to the pandemic.
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Discovery requests from plaintiffs’ attorneys can be overly broad in an attempt to obtain records the defendant does not have to provide. However, the bar is high when making that claim to the court. The defense can object to what it considers an overly broad discovery request, but the objection often is unsuccessful because the scope of discovery is quite broad.
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Discovery is one of the first steps in malpractice litigation. It is crucial for risk managers to understand what information can be demanded by opposing attorneys. A proper understanding of the process can guide both how healthcare organizations conduct investigations and the outcome of litigation.
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This case illustrates a hospital’s standard of care and the standards for subsequent expert witness reports that address this standard of care.
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The main issue in this appeal is whether the plaintiff presented sufficient evidence to support a medical malpractice claim. To prevail in a malpractice action, the plaintiff must prove the standard of care, a deviation from that standard of care, and a causal connection between the deviation and the claimed injury.
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Valuable patient feedback often is ignored or disregarded in hectic EDs to the detriment of safety.
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A team of nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital developed a way to improve communication between nurses and patient care associates that helped reduce falls and infections. The effort decreased falls by 25%, catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 50%, and hospital-acquired pressure injuries by 33%.
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Employers often focus on avoiding discrimination charges from employees. But healthcare organizations must remember patients also can allege discriminatory conduct. The consequences can be significant.
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The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced it recovered more than $5.6 billion under the False Claims Act in fiscal year 2021, more than double the $2.3 billion recovered in fiscal year 2020. Healthcare-related recoveries accounted for almost 90% of the 2021 settlements and judgments.
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Healthcare organizations encourage and sometimes require staff to file safety incident reports after any kind of mishap. But many of those reports include improper accusations of wrongdoing and blaming individuals. This undermines the value of the incident reports.