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Requirements for credentialing and privileging, responsibility for patient care, anesthesia monitoring, and availability to resuscitate have undergone major changes in the Wilmette, IL-based Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Cares standards for 2003.
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Continual survey readiness, no last-minute crush of work to prepare for a site survey, and a penalty-free period to correct deficiencies that you identify are a few of the benefits cited by participants who underwent a self-assessment during the pilot project of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations new approach to accreditation.
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The nurse in Oklahoma City who admitted to reusing syringes and needles, which may have infected dozens of patients with hepatitis C, has had his nursing license revoked for five years and was given a $99,000 fine. The decision was the harshest allowable under Oklahoma state law.
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Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh has determined that the cause of an outbreak of pulmonary infections in 12 patients may be contaminated bronchoscopes that werent properly sanitized. Of the 12 patients, one patient died.
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There was a kinder time in the world. Nations were relatively at peace, and the future held nothing but blue skies and harmony. While our own industry is as stable as any, changes in reimbursement, shifting of physician loyalties, and profit compression have changed the way we operate our facilities. Or they should.
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If implemented, recent recommendations from the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) would result in millions of dollars in payment reductions for hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). OIGs report recommends that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) set uniform rates for outpatient services provided in ASCs and HOPDs.
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This issue of ED Legal Letter is the second of a four-part series related to pitfalls associated with evaluating patients with abdominal pain. The series will analyze high-risk and life-threatening disease processes that ED physicians will encounter in their daily practice. Part two explores gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding and the necessity of Hemoccult testing; the diagnosis and treatment of aortic aneurysms and abdominal trauma; and extra-abdominal causes of abdominal pain.
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What is your No. 1 obstacle to reducing delays and improving patient flow? For many ED managers, the culprit increasingly is inpatients being held in the ED for hours or even days.
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Now that the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations has announced its 2003 National Patient Safety Goals, what are you doing to comply? Technology could be a crucial part of your strategy.