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A hospital in Missouri is under fire for having a homeless woman ejected from the emergency department (ED) when she refused to leave; the woman died soon after in police custody from a blood clot. Critics allege the hospital is liable, but others say this might be a case in which the hospital met the standard of care and is not responsible.
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Healthcare providers using criminal background checks should take notice of enforcement guidance on employer use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions. Previous arrests and convictions might not be relevant to the current job application, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) says in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, issued in April 2012 by the EEOC.
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Healthcare providers are addressing data security better than in past years, but the challenge also is growing as electronic health records (EHRs) and mobile devices become more common, according to the "2012 HIMSS Analytics Report: Security of Patient Data."
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News: A 50-year-old diabetic man was transported to the emergency department (ED) twice in 48 hours after being found unresponsive by family. Each time, he was diagnosed with hypoglycemia, stabilized in the ED, and discharged home. He developed severe hypoglycemia 10 hours after his second hospital discharge, and he suffered brain damage as a result.
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Seven hospitals in Massachusetts have begun a major initiative to improve the medical liability system in the state. The new alliance has launched its effort with the release of a Roadmap to Reform, an alternative approach to medical liability intended to improve patient safety, increase transparency, reduce litigation, and cut costs to the health care system.
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About 73% of employers conduct criminal background checks on all job candidates, according to a 2010 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management, and another 19% of employers do so only for selected job candidates. They can be particularly important in healthcare when a job applicant must be trusted with vulnerable patients and data, but experts caution that background checks have limitations.
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Reducing hazards is the key to a safe workplace. It means fewer injuries, workers' compensation claims, and absenteeism and a culture of safety. But with OSHA's emphasis on health care, it is also important to ask: How would OSHA view the health and safety program? Are you ready for an OSHA inspection?
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A 70-year-old man waves a gun in the emergency department. A gunman shoots his estranged wife and her mother in an intensive care unit. An environmental services worker at a hospital shoots his ex-wife, also an employee, in the hospital garage.
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Amid all the advances in electronic medical records software, there's been a setback in occupational health. Respond, which was purchased by Becton, Dickinson and Company in 2009 and renamed BD Protect, is being discontinued.
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If information is power, then employee health professionals are about to get a lot more powerful.
