-
A government billing records audit will make most hospital leaders nervous because of the potential financial — and even criminal — consequences, but understanding the process and best practices can alleviate the stress.
-
Impaired healthcare workers (HCWs) can pose a serious threat to patient safety, but they must be handled carefully and with respect to their own health conditions. Risk managers must ensure their organizations are prepared to protect patient safety while also working to help impaired HCWs receive treatment and return to work.
-
For decades, risk managers have tried to improve safety by encouraging patients and family members to speak up when they are concerned about care or suspect something might be wrong. Some progress has been made, but recent data suggest one group remains reluctant to speak up: the parents of pediatric patients.
-
This case demonstrates both procedural and substantive defenses for physicians and care providers. For the procedural side, the reversal by the appellate court reveals defendants in malpractice cases need not always wait for a jury to determine the care provider did not act negligently.
-
In this case, the physician’s liability was a case of failure to diagnose, a particularly concerning result given the physician’s treatment of the patient over the course of more than four years. A failure to diagnose, or a delayed diagnosis, can cause significant injuries or dramatically worsen the patient’s condition.
-
Virginia Mason Franciscan Health — which operates 11 hospitals and more than 300 care sites in the Puget Sound region of Washington — is reporting success with addressing hospital quality and safety measures, the result of bringing together two organizations with a strong history of patient care.
-
Critical care often is overlooked in disaster planning. Risk managers should ensure this component is fully included. Critical care must ramp up quickly in a disaster, the same as the emergency department.
-
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission guidance includes two important exceptions. Employers remain limited by the provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Title VII requires employers to provide exemptions from any vaccine requirement to employees with sincerely held religious beliefs preventing them from taking the vaccine. Further, the ADA requires employers to provide exemptions from any vaccine requirement to employees with a disability that prevents them from taking the vaccine.
-
Guidance from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission indicates healthcare employers can require employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. These mandates come with some obligations and risks.
-
The new COVID-19 requirements from OSHA for healthcare employers create substantial obligations, but many hospitals already are carrying out much of what is required. The challenge may come in formalizing a written plan and ensuring it addresses all of OSHA’s expectations.
