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Risk managers might find themselves in difficult situations if they think fraud is not being corrected, particularly if they are also the compliance officers at their facilities, notes John Banja, PhD, medical ethicist at the Center for Ethics at Emory University in Atlanta.
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Another complicating factor when a risk manager considers blowing the whistle is the possibility of the risk manager being rewarded for turning in the employer, such as receiving 10% or 25% of the damages in a qui tam case.
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Even well-designed patient sitter programs cannot prevent every patient fall, but the research by Michelle Feil, MSN, RN, senior patient safety analyst with the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority in Harrisburg identified particular shortcomings that are most likely to allow falls.
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In what is believed to the first case of its kind, a former risk manager has filed a $50 million lawsuit against the health system that employed her and accused it of defrauding Medicare at 14 health centers.
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Patient safety is a top priority for every healthcare organization, but knowing where to direct initiatives can be daunting. To help organizations decide where to focus their efforts, ECRI Institute has compiled its first annual list of the Top 10 Patient Safety Concerns for Healthcare Organizations.
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The patient, a 55-year-old woman, underwent surgery to have polyps removed from her vocal cords. The procedure took place at a hospital and was supposed to take only about 10 minutes, with the patient able to return home the same day.
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Seeking to lower healthcare costs and improve patient care by reducing medical lawsuit abuse and using evidence-based guidelines developed by doctors, medical liability reform legislation is being sponsored by Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA) and Andy Barr (R-KY).
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A risk managers allegations of fraud regarding her former employer are raising questions about the ethics of a risk manager becoming a whistleblower. Experts say the risk manager must exhaust all other remedies before reporting malfeasance to regulators.
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Patient sitters can be effective in reducing falls, and the savings can exceed the cost of the sitters. Hospitals should follow specific guidelines for a sitter program.
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In the national reports on patient harm, many indicators have seen marked improvement in the last decade. Several hospital infections have become much rarer, with many hospital units going years without seeing a single case.