Healthcare Risk Management – November 1, 2007
November 1, 2007
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Fake CPR certificates show need to check credentials for more than MDs
When the University of California, Irvine (UCI) Medical Center discovered that 22 health care workers had used bogus certificates in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to prove they were current with required training, leaders at the hospital were shocked. -
Exaggeration can be falsification, attorney says
Verifying the qualifications of staff can sometimes mean trying to decide when embellishment crosses the line into falsification, says A. Kevin Troutman, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Fisher & Phillips in New Orleans, who assists hospitals with risk management projects. -
No shortage of lies on job applications
Once you start checking applicants' qualifications diligently, you may be surprised at just how much people lie and exaggerate, says Robert Mather, CEO of Pre-Employ.com, a company in Redding, CA, that conducts background checks for health care providers and other employers. -
Adverse events rise, but meaning debated
A new study shows the number of drug therapy-related deaths and injuries reported to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) nearly tripled between 1998 and 2005, but exactly what those numbers mean is the subject of some dispute. -
Study finds growing risk from drug errors
The recent research from Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC, showing an increase in reported drug errors, was based on data in the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA's) Adverse Event Reporting System, which has been in place since 1998. -
Watch new biotech and high-alert meds
New biotechnology drugs are the culprit in many adverse drug events, and that means risk managers may want to implement stricter controls and require more pharmacist oversight for them, as well as encouraging more education about how to use these often powerful medications. -
Acute pain emerging as new area of liability
Malpractice defense attorneys and anesthesiology professionals are warning about an increase in malpractice claims related to acute pain management, particularly in the postoperative period. -
Closed claim review shows common risks
Mariko Bird, MD, an anesthesiologist at the University of Washington in Seattle, recently studied the malpractice claims related to acute pain management and found 150 cases in the American Society of Anesthesiologists Closed Claims Project database, which has a total of 7,328 closed claims. -
Police investigating suspicious insulin deaths
The Chicago Police Department and the patient safety team at the University of Chicago Medical Center are investigating suspiciously high levels of insulin that left two elderly female hospital patients dead and a third in a coma earlier this summer. -
Leapfrog Top Hospitals raise bar on safety
Forty-one U.S. hospitals have been named 2007 Leapfrog Top Hospitals, based on results from the Leapfrog Hospital Quality and Safety Survey, a rating system that assesses a hospital's quality and safety. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Should HIPAA's privacy rule be revised for today's technology? It depends on who you ask
Does the HIPAA privacy rule need to be revised to meet the needs of the current changing health care environment involving health information exchange? The answer depends on who you ask. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIPAA should trump other privacy laws
The American Hospital Association says the multiplicity of privacy rules from local, state, and federal governments, accrediting bodies, and other organizations makes compliance difficult and can interfere with patient care. -
HIPAA Regulatory Alert: HIMSS backs development of interoperable ePHRs
The Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society (HIMSS) says it supports development of interoperable electronic personal health records (ePHR) that are interactive and use a common data set of electronic health information and e-health tools. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Shoulder dystocia during delivery
A pregnant woman with a fetus weighing nearly 10 pounds was admitted to the hospital for induction of labor even though she was never told of her baby's large size or given the option of a cesarean. During delivery, a shoulder dystocia occurred, and the baby suffered permanent Erb's palsy on his left side. -
Legal Review & Commentary: Ectopic pregnancy goes undiagnosed, patient dies
A woman who had an ectopic pregnancy and suffered from paranoid schizophrenia went to the hospital complaining of a two-week history of vaginal bleeding. Unable to detect any fetal heart tones or recognize a fetus in utero, an on-call obstetrician/gynecologist discharged the woman. The woman returned to the hospital a couple of days later, but again was discharged when she said she had started to feel better. The woman was subsequently found dead at home. -
2007 Salary Survey Results
Health care risk management continues to be a promising career field even as the industry faces challenges.