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This is the second of a two-part series about the hidden risks and liabilities of medical helicopters. In last month's Healthcare Risk Management, we explored the risks and reviewed recent crashes. This month, we compile advice on lowering those risks and take a closer look at one hospital that has revamped its medical helicopter system after experiencing two crashes.
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The recent high-profile conviction of a hospital CEO involved in kickbacks and providing unnecessary care to homeless patients shows that risk managers always must be on alert for illegal activities that may be hidden behind the doors of an executive suite.
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News: Following an elective thyroidectomy, a woman was diagnosed with hypocalcemia. Although calcium was ordered, it was never administered to the woman, despite persistent symptoms of the calcium deficiency. The woman eventually went into cardiac arrest and sustained anoxic encephalopathy, becoming comatose.
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News: A man sustained lacerations to his right index finger and middle finger and was immediately taken to the emergency department (ED) of a local hospital, where a physician's assistant sutured the wound. The man returned to the hospital on three occasions, where hospital officials noted decreased extension in the man's long finger of his right hand.
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The ACC/AHA guidelines recommend perioperative beta blockers for those already on them, patients undergoing vascular surgery, or those having intermediate- to high-risk surgery with established coronary heart disease, or at high risk of having it. However, recent studies have shown no beneficial effect of perioperative beta blockers and potential for harm.
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Optimal management of transmural myocardial infarction (MI) depends on rapid reperfusion of the occluded infarct artery. Therefore, accurate early diagnosis is the cornerstone of initial patient assessment in the emergency department.
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In this large epidemiology study using a previous survey and 2004 Medicare data focusing on serious infections in the ICU, hospitals with dedicated ICU clinical pharmacists had lower ICU mortality rates, shorter ICU stays, and reduced charges.
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This open-label, multicenter trial showed that treatment of MRSA ventilator-associated pneumonia with linezolid was associated with non-statistically significant improvements in microbiologic cure, clinical cure, survival, duration of mechanical ventilation, and ICU length of stay when compared to therapy with vancomycin.
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With the largest cohort and longest follow-up yet reported, this prospective single-center study found that implementing a rapid response team reduced codes outside the ICU but had no effect on either hospital-wide code rates or overall patient mortality.
