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According to Jill M. Steinberg, a health care attorney with Baker Donelson in Memphis, TN, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would prevent an ED physician from discussing a patient's HIV status with any other person, even if that person could be potentially exposed to an infectious disease.
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Oftentimes HIPAA standards are not as straightforward as a hospital leader might hope or expect — but that's by design, says Beth Hjort, RHIA, CHPS, professional practice resource manager for the American Health Information Management Association (AHIMA).
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Washington, DC-based URAC, an independent, nonprofit accreditation organization, has unveiled significant revisions to its health information technology standards. The changes affect health web site accreditation and URAC's HIPAA Privacy and Security standards.
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With the advent of pay for performance (P4P), what quality improvement professionals track and trend now could affect hospital reimbursement more than ever.
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Although EDstat, a new eight-bed area that was added to the ED at Reston (VA) Hospital Center about a year ago, is only open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., it has helped to improve the performance of the entire ED. For example, in early spring 2007, before the new area opened, the percentage of patients who left the ED before treatment ranged from 2%-2.5% (statistics were measured monthly). Today, that has been reduced to 0.3%-0.4%.
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An elderly man comes to your ED and is admitted to the hospital with severe dehydration and fever of unknown origin. Two days later, an X-ray reveals pneumonia.
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Earlier intervention, a second pair of hands, and nurses love them these are all reasons why experts Hospital Peer Review spoke with are in favor of continuing the use of rapid response teams.
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A pilot program that allows EDs and health care systems across Milwaukee to share patient information is expected to save thousands of dollars by eliminating redundant testing, while improving patient care.
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A recent article in The Seattle Times tells the tale of a woman who inadvertently learned she had methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) while in the hospital from a nurse making an offhand comment. Since then, that woman, Jeanine Thomas, has been pushing for further disclosure from hospitals on MRSA.
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With high scores on Hospital Compare to back her up, Indun Whetsell, RN, CPHQ, director of quality management at The Regional Medical Center (TRMC) in Orangeburg, SC, says her surgical antibiotic prophylaxis initiatives have paid off in a big way.