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Heparin continues to pose a significant risk of dosage errors, and the recent tragedy involving actor Dennis Quaid's two young children has brought concern that hospitals have not taken the necessary steps to avoid this mistake even health care providers were warned about the risk a year ago. Risk managers must act now to avoid the same type of error, say medication safety experts.
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-sion (EEOC) has issued interpretive guidelines to help health care employers understand their obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the main message is that hospitals and other health care providers must proceed carefully when dealing with disabled employees.
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News: An elderly man was transferred to a nursing home following a brief stay at another facility. Although the man was currently taking more than 20 medications, the second page of the two-page prescription order sheet somehow was misplaced during the transfer. The second nursing home did not realize the mistake and accordingly failed to give the patient all of his necessary medications. The man subsequently experienced acute renal failure and died.
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The Rhode Island Department of Health has issued a reprimand and a fine of $50,000 to Rhode Island Hospital in Providence for its third wrong-site brain surgery in a year. The health department also issued a second compliance order due to this pattern.
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Shoulder dystocia drills should become a routine part of risk reduction in any hospital delivering babies, according to experts who say the drills can greatly improve how clinicians respond to this emergency.
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These are some examples of hospitals that have seen improvements in patient safety and outcomes from the use of rapid response teams (RRTs):
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The evidence proving the value of rapid response teams (RRTs) continues to accumulate, with the latest research suggesting that this strategy can improve patient safety in a variety of clinical settings. Proponents of RRTs say risk managers may be missing an opportunity to improve outcomes if you are not using RRTs or formulating a plan to institute them in your own facilities.
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News: A nursing home resident with a history of difficulty in swallowing choked to death while eating a piece of brisket. Although staff attempted to perform the Heimlich maneuver and CPR on her, the woman died.
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in Rockville, MD, recently released 17 new toolkits to help health care providers and patients prevent medical errors.
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With its best-selling antipsychotic drug Zyprexa the target of thousands of legal claims, Eli Lilly and Co., based in Indianapolis, is trying to reassure psychiatrists they face little malpractice risk for prescribing such drugs.