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Hospitals and EDs that institute policies similar to the recent approach instituted at the University of Chicago Medical Center would do well to consider that they may be in violation of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), warns Michael Frank, MD, JD, FACEP, FCLM, general counsel and director of risk management for Emergency Medicine Physicians (EMP) Management Group in Canton, OH.
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Several EDs across the country have initiated policies to encourage patients who don't face "true" emergencies to seek care elsewhere in the community and to find "medical homes," but none have been met with the outrage that descended upon the University of Chicago Medical Center recently.
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A few years ago, Christus Santa Rosa Hospital in San Antonio was $80 million in the red and was compliant with medical necessity and appropriateness of care criteria only 62% of the time, according to audits by the hospital's quality improvement organization (QIO).
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A pre-admission screening and educational program for patients having elective surgery has helped slash readmissions among patients treated at Geisinger Health System from nearly 20% a year ago to about 10% today.
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Case management outcomes can be a powerful tool for identifying the need for operational changes or process improvements throughout your hospital, as well as demonstrating the value of case management.
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The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Projection Programs (AAHRPP) of Washington, DC, has found in an ongoing study that federal investigators find fewer problems in studies conducted at AAHRPP-accredited organizations.
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The University of Louisville in Louisville, KY, has developed a program that serves as a dual-purpose human subjects research educational program, helping both doctoral students and experienced research professors and others.
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When they set out to create a research network to conduct clinical trials in the psychiatric care of children and adolescents, researchers at Duke University's Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) knew IRB issues would play a major role.
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A significant minority of IRBs at some of the nation's biggest medical institutions lack sufficient procedures to determine when IRB members have industry relationships that could pose a conflict in their work.
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In trying to streamline the IRB process, institutions should look to other industries as an example, says David Dilts, PhD, director of the Center for Management Research in Healthcare at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, TN.