Healthcare Risk Management – November 1, 2014
November 1, 2014
View Issues
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Confirmation bias threatens patient safety, but can be overcome
Is confirmation bias lurking in your hospital, waiting to cause havoc for even the most skilled, well-intentioned clinicians? -
Surgeon looks at dye label, ‘sees’ what he expects
Caroline Carcerano underwent spinal surgery at Tufts Medical Center in Boston in hopes that the procedure would resolve pain from a back injury. During the procedure, her neurosurgeon requested a special dye to test the location of tubing threaded into her spine. -
Confirmation bias is pitfall for all clinicians
Confirmation bias has been known in healthcare for years, but clinicians still are learning how to avoid this pitfall. Emergency physicians are particularly susceptible, according to the study that most often is cited in explaining the problem. -
Personal communication improves handoffs
These are some of the primary changes made to improve the safety of patient handoffs at Akron (OH) Children’s Hospital:
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1 in 4 handoffs threaten patient safety
The researchers who studied patient handoffs at 23 children’s hospitals found an alarmingly high baseline rate of handoff failure: 25.8% of the handoffs were insufficient or inaccurate.
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Tailor HIPAA training of your staff to your needs, and avoid generics
There was a time when risk managers and regulators were just happy to see that hospital staff had been trained in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance, and they assumed that what worked for one facility would be fine for the next. That’s not the case anymore. -
How to customize HIPAA training
Whether you use an outside consultant or do it yourself, training staff in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance should be customized to your own needs and situation. Consider this advice on how to provide the training that is right for your organization.
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Corporate negligence can complicate med mal
Claims of corporate negligence can increase the stakes in a malpractice case, as plaintiffs seek the deeper pockets of the employer who hired and allowed a supposedly deficient healthcare provider to injure a patient. -
Free vaccine app speeds process, documentation
A free app offered by Underwriters Laboratory, based in Franklin, TN, can help risk managers improve their employee vaccination programs. -
ONC: Electronic health records improve patient safety
Electronic health records (EHRs) can improve patient safety, raise care quality, and reduce potentially serious medical errors, according to a statement from the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for healthcare technology. -
Move to ICD-10 could compromise safety data
Transitioning to ICD-10 coding could negatively affect patient safety reporting and perceptions of hospital quality because of inaccurate comparisons between the new codes and those used under the ICD-9 system, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. -
Obstetricians’ negligence leads to cerebral palsy, $9.6 million verdict for mother and child
The patient, an adult woman, was admitted to a medical center while 39 weeks pregnant in March 2002. On the day of delivery, the patient -
State supreme court affirms $4.4 million verdict based on lack of informed consent
The male patient fell from a ladder and suffered multiple non-displaced rib fractures, among other injuries.