Healthcare Risk Management
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Avoid the Top Mistakes in Handling Medical Malpractice Claims
A medical malpractice claim is never a walk in the park, but there are ways to make the experience worse and ways to make it better. Becoming aware of some of the most common missteps can help risk managers make the best of a difficult situation.
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Part-Time Documentation Eased Among Many Favorable Rule Changes
Proposed rule changes regarding anti-kickback restrictions offer compliance relief to physicians and hospitals. The revisions propose three levels of protected value-based arrangements.
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Stark Anti-Kickback Law Refined for Clarity
The Department of Health and Human Services recently revised federal anti-kickback laws, changes that are seen as primarily good news for risk managers. The revisions clarify issues that were unclear and easing some restrictions that created compliance risks.
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Hospital Creates Harm Collaborative to Improve Communication With Executives
Some patient safety issues are so important that risk managers and other safety leaders need direct access to the C-suite so that concerns can be addressed quickly. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital in Grand Rapids, MI, devised a harm collaborative that makes that possible. The collaborative meets weekly so that risk managers and other safety or quality professionals can address the executive team about individual patient cases or trends that are concerning.
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Appellate Court Finds Expert’s Affidavit Sufficient Evidence of Triable Issue of Fact
A motion for summary judgment was inappropriate here because of the expert’s substantive affidavit. This expert provided more than a simple declaration stating that the expert was retained and would eventually opine; this expert, who was appropriately qualified, offered a specific opinion on issues of the standard of care, delays in diagnosing and treatment, and deviations of the standard of care.
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Court of Appeals: Plaintiffs Failed to Present Issue of Fact by Not Using Expert Testimony
This case reveals lessons in substance and legal procedure, as the defendant hospital and physicians successfully defeated the medical malpractice claim in multiple forums and prior to the need for a jury.
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Cyber Risks Will Continue to Grow in 2020
With cybersecurity, one of the biggest patient safety threats is ransomware. Ransomware attacks have become easier to launch, and attackers increasingly are targeting smaller healthcare organizations where cyberdefenses may be less sophisticated and employees less savvy about how to spot threats.
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New Approach Needed to Address Workplace Violence
Workplace violence occurs at rates more than four times higher than in other industries. Patients and family are under stress, and often take it out on the physicians, nurses, and other employees. Any solution must begin with collecting data on how violent incidents occur, including near misses.
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2020 to Bring More Focus on Patient Safety, Technology Solutions
Patient safety will be the primary concern for risk managers in 2020 as government regulators and accrediting bodies continue to raise their expectations in this area for healthcare organizations, several experts predict.
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‘No Comment’ Is Never the Right Response
When something has gone wrong and your hospital or health system is under scrutiny, it may seem the simplest response is to say nothing. But that can be a huge mistake, because “no comment” never looks good.