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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which is the single largest payer for healthcare in the United States, is creating a hospital inspection program focused specifically on infection control.
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A Texas hospital, its parent company, two surgical nurses, a nurse anesthetist, and a surgical tech are facing a lawsuit charging them with assault and intentional infliction of emotional distress after what the plaintiff says was a prank played on him while he was anesthetized for surgery. An appeals court recently ruled that the defendants should stand trial.
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Managers at surgery centers have learned that, similar to a Code Blue, you must react quickly when you have a water leak to prevention serious damage, including mold.
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In this study of a large administrative database, the incidence of selected complications in patients diagnosed with sleep apnea (SA) was compared to that in patients undergoing similar surgical procedures who were not diagnosed with SA.
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Educators often talk about "teachable moments," those times when the patient is ready to learn. This moment might be in a waiting area, exam room, or a hospital bed. To take advantage of these times, staff members in the Section of Patient Education at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, look for new ways to deliver patient education.
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Disclosing a medical error is never easy, but it can become especially complicated when you need to tell the patient that a previous provider was in the wrong. This delicate situation often requires communication with the other provider before you tell the patient anything.
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A patient arrived from an assisted living facility with a documented allergy on the chart. Despite this safeguard, the patient still received an incorrect medication prior to the procedure. Fortunately, in this case, there was no lasting harm to the patient.
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A $3.3 million verdict against a surgeon who apologized to his patient's family for her death is leading some outpatient surgery professionals to wonder if the push for apologies and transparency has a dark side. Are managers encouraging physicians to say something that actually will work against them in court?
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Seemingly, no one is happy with his or her block schedule at the hospital or the surgery center. After spending too much time on this issue with our own centers and hearing about others concerns, it is, quite honestly, irritating that such a simple process can be such a conundrum for most everyone.
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A major vein was torn during a Whipple procedure at a hospital that performs the procedure a few times a year, according to a case reported on The Law Med Blog.
