Healthcare Risk Management articles from January 2004

Healthcare Risk Management archives from January 2004

Lower the risk of ED malpractice claims by addressing five underlying conditions: ED produces high percentage of claims, but strategies can help.
January 1, 2004... Risk managers often look at the emergency department (ED) as "a little like a container of potato salad left out in the sun. It's a Petri dish for all the terrible things that can happen in your hospital," says one expert. That attitude...

Here are five strategies to reduce your ED's risk.
January 1, 2004... In addition to concentrating on the five conditions that lead to most ED malpractice claims, there are specific strategies you can employ to reduce the overall liability risk in that department, says Andrew S. Kaufman, JD, a partner with...

Make sure hospital security doesn't stray from its role.
January 1, 2004... Hospital security often suffers from complacency and poorly defined roles for the security staff, says a specialist who helps health care providers improve their programs. One of the best ways to improve your security is to make sure your...

In a crisis, be prepared: it's OK to say that you're sorry.
January 1, 2004... If your institution is the lead story on the evening news, chances are good that it won't be for all the right reasons. Rather, you'll find that the risk management department is suddenly faced with the challenge of saving the institution's...

CMS shines light into the gray areas of EMTALA rule.
January 1, 2004... Everyone in health care still is sorting through exactly what the final Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) rule means, and apparently the surveyors working for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are no...

Communication failure blamed for sentinel events.
January 1, 2004... Sentinel events at Children's Hospital Boston have been traced to poor communication between residents and attending physicians, prompting a federal investigation and a plan by the hospital to overhaul how the two groups interact. The...

$50,000 awarded to woman stuck by a used needle.
January 1, 2004... The U.S. District Court in Cheyenne, WY, has awarded $50,000 to a woman stuck by a used needle while visiting a patient at one of Banner Health System's hospitals in that state. A hospital employee had left the needle lodged in a heat register....

Hospital pays $2.3M in lawsuit alleging favoritism.
January 1, 2004... The University of Illinois Hospital has paid $2.3 million to settle a lawsuit that charged it and two other school-affiliated hospitals with manipulating patients' diagnoses to get them new livers. The whistle-blower suit, originally...

Error reporting increases, as does the risk to seniors.
January 1, 2004... More than one-third of hospital medication errors that reach the patient involve seniors, making them an especially vulnerable population in U.S. health care facilities, according to the most recent data on adverse events collected by the...

Doctors' alma maters may help predict malpractice.
January 1, 2004... Graduates of certain U.S. medical schools are more likely to be sued than others, according to a recent report in a safety journal (Quality and Safety in Health Care 2003; 12:330-336). Researchers merged data on malpractice claims from...

Smallpox immunity may persist from childhood.
January 1, 2004... Health care workers who were vaccinated as children may be protected against fatal smallpox infection even if they declined to participate in recent immunization efforts, according to a recent study. Researchers report that more than 90% of...

CE questions.
January 1, 2004... 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...

Pediatrics program just the beginning of safety overhaul: adverse events at Duke University triggered response from CMS.
January 1, 2004... Duke University Health System, in Durham, NC, is taking the opportunity to learn from the errors that may have led to several recent adverse events in its pediatrics department and to use those lessons learned to improve patient safety across...

Duke identifies corrective plan of action for patient safety.
January 1, 2004... In a letter to CMS dated Sept. 21, 2003, William J. Fulkerson, MD, chief executive officer of the Duke University Health System, outlined Duke's corrective plan of action for improving patient safety. The following enumerates actions Duke's...

Patient suffers from debilitating decubitus ulcers: a $694,000 verdict in Missouri.
January 1, 2004... News: While recovering from emergency surgery, a 71-year old patient developed decubitus ulcers acute enough to cause nerve damage and necessitate plastic surgery. The hospital staff and two attending physicians failed to closely monitor the...

Teen's undetected spinal fracture leads to paralysis.
January 1, 2004... News: A 16-year-old high school football star was in the back seat of a car when the driver lost control and ran off the road. He underwent emergency surgery at a hospital for a ruptured stomach. However, the treating physicians and staff...