Healthcare Risk Management articles from December 2003

Healthcare Risk Management archives from December 2003

EMTALA: it's here, it's new, and it's still prompting questions for risk managers: ASHRM hot topic is on the minds of many.
December 1, 2003... One of the hottest sessions at the recent meeting of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) in Nashville, TN, addressed the recently issued final rule for the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). Questions...

Plenty questions remain about EMTALA's final rule.
December 1, 2003... Risk managers have struggled for a long time to interpret the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), but the recent release of the final rule promised to clear up a great deal of disagreement and differing takes on what the law...

Don't get cute with EMTALA; do the right thing.
December 1, 2003... Just because the final Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) eased some of the prior burden on hospitals doesn't mean you should go overboard in trying to divine exactly what is and isn't allowed, says Mark Cohen, ARM, RPLU, CPHQ,...

11 mistakes that cripple your root-cause analysis.
December 1, 2003... You might think you've done enough root-cause analyses (RCAs) that they re old hat by now and you can just cruise through the process. If so, you're probably making common mistakes that create inconclusive analyses that fall short of...

Incentives, lifting devices cut back injuries to nurses.
December 1, 2003... One of the best methods for eliminating costly back injuries in health care settings is to stop lifting patients. No lifting equals no back injuries, the experts say. But how do you go about it? Isn't lifting an unavoidable job for health...

Post-op infections most costly and deadly injuries.
December 1, 2003... Medical injuries during hospitalization result in longer hospital stays, higher costs, and a high number of deaths, according to a study from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) in Rockville, MD. Postoperative bloodstream...

CE questions.
December 1, 2003... Nurses participate in this continuing education program by reading the issue, using the provided references for further research, and studying the questions at the end of the issue. Participants should select what they believe to be the correct...

Incomes looking up, but so are the hours you spend at work; field still changing rapidly, demands improved skills.
December 1, 2003... Incomes are up slightly for health care risk managers this year, but you may be staying much later at the office. Health care risk management is a rapidly evolving field, the experts say, and you must take the initiative to pursue the right...

A delay of nine months leads to a spread of cancer and a $2.8 million judgment.
December 1, 2003... News: A 70-year-old man went to the emergency department (ED) complaining of shortness of breath. Although chest X-rays showed a suspicious mass in the patient's left lung, physicians did not notify the patient or his primary care doctor. Nine...

An employee, hepatitis C, and a $3.5 million verdict.
December 1, 2003... News: A floor nurse discovered she had hepatitis C six years after testing positive for the disease. The nurse and her former spouse sued the nurse's employer for withholding the information and were awarded $2.9 million and $575,000,...