Healthcare Risk Management 2004-01-01

Lower the risk of ED malpractice claims by addressing five underlying conditions

Risk managers often look at the emergency department as a little like a container of potato salad left out in the sun. Its a Petri dish for all the terrible things that can happen in your hospital, says one expert. That attitude has some basis in fact, she says, but there are specific actions you can take to reduce the risk.

Here are five strategies to reduce your ED’s risk

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 Kaufman, Borgeest & Ryan in New York City.

Make sure hospital security doesn’t stray from its role

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 officers arent misused as impromptu assistants for all manner of scut work, he says.

In a crisis, be prepared: It’s OK to say that you’re sorry

If your institution is the lead story on the evening news, chances are good that it wont be for all the right reasons. Rather, youll find that the risk management department is suddenly faced with the challenge of saving the institutions reputation by saying the right thing in the right way.

CMS shines light into the gray areas of EMTALA rule

Everyone in health care still is sorting through exactly what the final Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act rule means, and apparently the surveyors working for the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are no different.

Communication failure blamed for sentinel events

Sentinel events at Childrens 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 hospital is responding to the tragedies with a plan designed to make sure that attending physicians dont leave the younger physicians with too much responsibility by poorly communicating.

$50,000 awarded to woman stuck by a used needle

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 Systems hospitals in that state. A hospital employee had left the needle lodged in a heat register.

Hospital pays $2.3M in lawsuit alleging favoritism

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.

Error reporting increases, as does the risk to seniors

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 United States Pharmacopeia, a nonprofit organization in Rockville, MD.

Doctors’ alma maters may help predict malpractice

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).

Smallpox immunity may persist from childhood

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.

Legal Review & Commentary: Patient suffers from debilitating decubitus ulcers: A $694,000 verdict in Missouri

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 elderly patient during recovery despite his known underlying complications, which included alcohol dependency and heavy smoking.

Legal Review & Commentary: Teen’s undetected spinal fracture leads to paralysis

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 failed to diagnose and treat his fractured spine. The delay in treatment and failure to immobilize the patient resulted in the teen-ager being permanently paralyzed.

Patient Safety Alert Supplement

Pediatrics program just the beginning of safety overhaul; Duke identifies corrective plan of action for patient safety

Healthcare Risk Management – January 1, 2004

January 1, 2004