Hospital Management
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Monthly Calls Dramatically Cut ED Visits by Super-Utilizers
Researchers at a Virginia hospital conducted a quality improvement project to get frequent ED visitors the care they needed and keep them out of the ED. The researchers identified the 50 top super-utilizing patients at Sentara Norfolk (VA) General Hospital’s ED in 2020 and contacted them about enrolling in a chronic care management program.
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Triage: When Relying on Historical Data, Do Not Apply Bias from Past Decisions
There is no denying that in a system that relies heavily on clinician judgment regarding acuity designations, bias can influence triage decisions. Indeed, among the disparities identified in the study into Emergency Severity Index triage accuracy was that Black patients had a 4.6% greater relative risk of overtriage and an 18.5% greater relative risk of undertriage when compared with white patients.
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Ongoing Education, Outcomes-Focused Reviews Remain Key to Lasting Gains in Triage Accuracy
A recent investigation into the accuracy of ED triage decisions when using the most common triage system — the Emergency Severity Index — revealed that mistriage occurs in roughly one-third of patient encounters.
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When a Privacy Breach Is Not a Breach
Language is important when talking about noncompliance with HIPAA. Not every instance of noncompliance is a breach.
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Ransom Demands Decrease and More Companies Refuse to Pay
The number of ransomware victims opting to pay the ransom has fallen to a record low. At the beginning of 2019, 85% of ransomware victims paid a ransom. However, that figure fell to 46% in the middle of 2021 and 29% in the last quarter of 2023.
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HHS Issues HIPAA Best Practices for Telehealth
The Department of Health and Human Services published a resource guide to assist telehealth providers in explaining the privacy and security risks to patients, but the guidance makes clear HIPAA does not require this education. However, the goal is for the resource guide to help providers who would like to discuss potential risks with the patient.
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First HIPAA Settlement for Ransomware, Fine for Phishing
The Office for Civil Rights achieved two firsts recently: a settlement agreement related to a ransomware attack on a business associate and the first fine issued for a phishing attack. Both cases hold lessons for other covered entities.
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Defense Decision Reinstated for Patient’s Failure to Provide Expert Testimony
An important lesson from this case focuses on a critical aspect of medical malpractice cases: causation. Generally, the legal standard is that the care provider’s conduct must have been a substantial factor in causing harm such that a reasonable person would consider the conduct to have contributed to the harm.
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Mixed Defense Rulings Related to Patient’s Death Yield Lessons Regarding Experts
Factually, there was no dispute about the patient’s cause of death — it resulted from an infection. Legally, the defendant physician’s initial challenge to the plaintiff’s case was not to directly attack that factual premise itself, but to instead challenge the plaintiff’s experts.
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Uptick in Surgical Fires Prompts Concern, Requires Action
A recent report on operating room fire safety warns that the risk of flash fires is a growing concern as hospitals see more use of high-tech and high-temperature devices in oxygen-rich settings.