Healthcare Risk Management articles from April 2003

Healthcare Risk Management archives from April 2003

Duke transplant error spurs hospitals, risk managers to reassess programs; transplant trouble reveals shared weaknesses.
April 1, 2003... Hospitals across the country are taking a hard look at their processes to spot weaknesses similar to those at Duke University Hospital, where a patient died because of a lack of redundancy in the system for matching donated organs. The...

Error occurred when confirming blood type.
April 1, 2003... Sentinel events like the transplant error at Duke University Hospital in Durham, NC, often can be traced to a simple human failing by one individual, but risk managers look beyond that to ask how the system allowed the error to go undiscovered....

Asking permission when permission isn't required.
April 1, 2003... Physicians acted appropriately when they removed Jesica Santillan from life support without the consent of her parents, according to advice offered by an attorney who says such situations can be difficult for risk managers to handle. ...

When it comes to choosing counsel, give it some push.
April 1, 2003... Choosing legal counsel for your organization is a big responsibility, whether you're entirely responsible for the decision or just one of several people with input. A great deal of money rides on the decision, along with the outcome of future...

Falls are an RM's business, not the custodial staff's. (Reader Questions).(risk management)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... Question: How much should our risk management department take responsibility for preventing slips and falls in the facility, as opposed to letting environmental services handle that issue? I know we re responsible for any resulting litigation,...

HHS: litigation crisis worse, many lawsuits unfounded. (Reader Questions).
April 1, 2003... Problems associated with medical litigation have significantly worsened in the past year, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which says the spiraling cost of insurance for health care providers is impairing...

Twenty percent of hand surgeons admit to error. (Reader Questions).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2003... One-fifth of hand surgeons admit they have operated on the wrong site at least once in their careers, according to a new survey. But at the same time, they report that a campaign begun in 1998 by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons...

Smallpox vaccination: is your plan in place? (Reader Questions).
April 1, 2003... With the escalating threat of biological warfare against the United States, hospitals must be prepared to treat victims of such attacks while protecting employees and patients. To respond to this need, American Health Consultants offers...

Physicians are practicing more defensive medicine. (Reader Questions).
April 1, 2003... A new survey of physicians, nurses, and hospital administrators suggests that malpractice concerns are leading to the practice of more and more defensive medicine. Large numbers of medical doctors report that they order more tests, refer more...

CE questions.
April 1, 2003... Please review the text, answer the following questions, check your answers against the key below, and then review the materials again regarding any questions answered incorrectly. To receive credit for this activity, you must return the...

Retained instruments: rare error or safety concern? Establish a strategy to make such errors less likely.
April 1, 2003... A Paper in the Jan. 16, 2003, New England Journal of Medicine has the safety community abuzz; are too many instruments and sponges being left inside patients after surgery? The paper, widely regarded as the largest and most reliable to date...

Pfizer to bar code drugs to reduce dispensing errors; codes can be read by bar code readers.
April 1, 2003... New York City-based Pharma company Pfizer, Inc. will use a new bar code technology on its hospital unit-dose products in an effort to help reduce dispensing errors at hospitals and pharmacies nationwide. The bar code system--developed in...

AHRQ unveils web-based medical journal; focus on medical errors in blame-free environment.(the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality)
April 1, 2003... The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has launched a monthly peer-reviewed, web-based medical journal that showcases patient safety lessons drawn from actual cases of medical errors. Called AHRQ WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality...

Resident performs negligent biopsy and $2.5 million is awarded.(the family of a woman who died following a liver biopsy performed by an inexperienced resident physician is awarded $2.5 million)
April 1, 2003... News: A woman died following a liver biopsy performed at an outpatient facility by a resident physician. The resident was inexperienced and punctured her lung. Unaware of the injury, the resident and supervising physician left the patient's...

Negligent hire, supervision: $850,000 verdict reached.(a hospital must be careful when hiring employees with criminal backgrounds, as seen by a lawsuit)
April 1, 2003... News: After a hospital hired a patient care technician who had a rape conviction, suit was brought against the hospital by a patient alleging sexual assault by the hospital employee. The patient was recovering from surgery when the patient care...