-
In 2006, a patient was admitted to a local hospital after she attempted to commit suicide. Shortly after her admission, the patient and her roommate began to socialize with a male patient who was also admitted to their unit. The male patient entered the woman's room in the middle of the night and raped her. The woman sued the hospital for negligence, and a jury found the hospital negligent through its nurse staff and mental health workers. The jury awarded the female patient $150,000 in damages.
-
Claims frequency has been rising slightly, which contrasts to the past few years in which claims frequency had declined or stabilized, according to the sixth annual benchmarking report on professional liability claims trends in the hospital industry from Zurich, a property and casualty insurance provider based in Schaumberg, IL.
-
One hospital's experience with a temporary employee who posted a patient's information on online making fun of her condition and showing no remorse when challenged is raising questions about how hospitals can ensure temporary staffing agencies provide adequate compliance training.
-
While planning its in-house education video on fall prevention, project members at Long Beach (CA) Memorial Medical Center, developed a list of topics to include and criteria for effective training.
-
Data breaches in healthcare organizations are on the rise, according to the Second Annual Benchmark Study on Patient Privacy & Data Security released recently by The Ponemon Institute in Traverse City, MI.
-
The California Department of Health has fined Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center $50,000 for failing to follow "policies and procedures for the safe and effective administration of medication," in relation to improper refrigeration. Thousands of patients received the potentially dangerous medications over almost three years.
-
A hospital privacy and security compliance officer knows exactly what policies and programs within the organization are designed to protect patient information (PHI), but what should be expected of a business associate (BA)?
-
Three scenarios that no hospital security or privacy officer wants to experience:
-
To study the risk of falls in patients undergoing orthopedic procedures, researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) turned to the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
-
Investigators have identified factors that are associated with an increased risk of in-hospital falls after total hip or knee replacement surgery, and the findings can be useful to risk managers and fall prevention committees.
