Healthcare Risk Management – June 1, 2010
June 1, 2010
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Large pill theft shows challenge of securing hospital drugs
Drug theft is a vexing problem for any health care provider, but a health system in Texas is finding that the thefts can be on such a scale that federal investigators become interested and the community starts asking how the provider could have let the thieves continue for so long. -
Hospital details drug thefts
The theft ring at Parkland Hospital in Dallas was discovered and self-reported to all appropriate agencies by Parkland's director of pharmacy services, Vivian Johnson, according to a letter the hospital sent to the State Board of Pharmacy. -
Wandering patients need response plan
Resident elopement and wandering can be extremely dangerous for patients and costly to the facility if the patient is injured or dies, but many health care providers do not have a formal plan in place to prevent the problem or respond effectively once staff realize a patient is missing. -
Many patients at risk for wandering, elopement
Wandering and elopement exist in all health care facilities, but long-term care facilities are at most risk because of the nature of the residents' conditions. Patients with Alzheimer's disease, dementia, autism, and others who cannot help themselves pose a high risk, no matter the setting. -
Background checks protect patients
Background checks for criminal records or other questionable behavior should be a standard risk management strategy for all health care providers, and meeting minimum requirements is not the best way to go, say providers and experts in background screens. -
Tips for improving background checks
Pernille Ostberg, president of Matrix Home Care in West Palm Beach, FL, offers these tips for improving background checks on health care workers: -
HIEs create privacy issues for providers
Health information exchanges (HIEs), which support secure electronic sharing of patient health information among caregivers, patients, public health authorities, and health care and payment services providers across different setting and geographical areas, are among the most promising initiatives in health care, but there are privacy and security issues that should concern risk managers. -
Work early to gain consent of patients
Gaining patient consent and provider adoption for health information exchanges (HIEs) is important for the success of the effort, and patients must be adequately educated about the HIE or they may not give their permission, says Jared Rhoads, senior research analyst with CSC, a technology consulting company based in Falls Church, VA. -
Health worker gets prison for peeking at records
A former University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Healthcare System employee who says he had no idea it was a crime to look at patient records will have four months in prison to think about it. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Alleged Failure to Properly Monitor Newborn's Glucose Levels Leads to Hypoglycemia and Brain Damage; $9.6M Arbitration Award in C
A pregnant woman at full term presented to the hospital for the birth of her son. The baby was delivered via Caesarean section. Normal tests were conducted on the newborn, and all seemed to be in order. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Failure to Safeguard Patient Leads to Plaintiff Verdict in Indiana
A 57-year-old nursing home resident with a history of dementia climbed out the open window in her room, falling 30feet to the ground below. The woman suffered severe injury as a result of the fall, and a jury awarded the plaintiff $276,164 in damages.