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Many states offer protection to whistleblowers, and a federal statute protect whistleblowers reporting false claims, explains Amy S. Leopard, JD, partner with the law firm of Walter & Haverfield in Cleveland, OH. If the court finds that the employer terminated the employee because of the whistleblowing, the employer will be required to reinstate the employee and provide double back pay for the period in question.
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Even though electronic medical records (EMRs) are here to stay, there always will be a percentage of physicians who are resistant to using a system and don't want to change, says Stephen Martinez, PhD, CEO of MTS Healthcare, a company in Pasadena, CA, that implements EMRs for hospitals, medical groups, and other healthcare organizations.
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Poorly designed, hard-to-use electronic medical records (EMRs) are a threat to patient safety, according to a new federal study that also calls for an independent agency to investigate injuries and deaths linked to health information technology.
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Violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are a growing focus for whistleblowers, says Tammy Marzigliano, JD, partner with the law firm of Outten & Golden in New York City.
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A 45-year-old woman underwent surgery at a local university hospital to remove a cyst on her ovary. During the operation, surgeons found dense adhesions, and the patient experienced increased pain and pressure in her abdomen following surgery. By the time the medical staff diagnosed her with a perforated bowel, the patient was in critical medical condition due to sepsis.
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The continuing adoption of electronic medical records (EMRs) might result in increased malpractice liability risk and higher insurance premiums, according to a new report from a health IT research firm.
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A physician complained to the chief of staff and hospital management that surgical equipment is not being sterilized properly and a patient died as a result. In another case, two doctors reported overcrowding in the emergency department that compromised patient care. In another, the physician reported an unlicensed therapy program.
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An 85-year-old woman underwent surgery for an aortofemoral bypass at a local medical center in 2004. In the four years following the surgery, the patient suffered from periodic severe abdominal and back pain, a foul odor coming from her body, weakness, lightheadedness, dizziness, loss of appetite, and nausea.
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Memorial Health System in Springfield, IL, provides this statement regarding the physician who claims he was placed on leave for failing to adequately adapt to the system's new electronic medical record (EMR):
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Administrators from all hospitals with reported events indicated that they rely on incident reporting systems to capture a large portion of the information about events that they use to conduct patient safety improvement activities, but they are not capturing most errors, according to a new report by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
