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Staff disciplined, investigations launched when patient ejected after discharge
A Florida hospital is under investigation and has reassigned three staff members who were involved with an incident in which a patient was removed from the facility against her will and then died outside the hospital.
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Frontline safety issues are not always heard by hospital and health system leaders
When hospital leaders conduct safety rounds at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and Health System in Baltimore, MD, they don’t rely on just friendly chat and a checklist of policies and procedures.
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Malpractice can begin at the front desk with simple errors by admissions staff
Seemingly simple errors at the front desk can have devastating effects on patient safety and may expose the hospital to litigation that is more damaging than malpractice lawsuits, warns a lawyer who has studied the issue.
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Accidental phone call creates HIPAA quandary for employees
The typical requests for patient information are easy to understand for compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, but staff members will face unusual situations that test their confidence and prompt them to play it safe by not disclosing.
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Denying Release of PHI can be a HIPAA Violation
For 20 years now, risk managers have drilled into their staffs the importance of HIPAA compliance. But has that message been oversold?
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Strategies for Prescribing Opioids Appropriately
Prescription opiate abuse and misuse has become a growing epidemic recently, and the problem seems to be propagating without an immediate end in sight. It is known that prescription opiate abuse has clear links to heroin abuse (which also has become increasingly more prevalent), and, in some instances, primary care physicians may be adding fuel to the proverbial fire.
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Is Sodium Restriction Detrimental in Chronic Heart Failure?
In an observational study of outpatients with NYHA class II or III heart failure, dietary sodium restriction (< 2500 mg/day) was associated with increased risk of death or heart failure hospitalization.
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Fecal Microbiota Transplantation: Patients Need No Convincing
Relapsing and refractory Clostridium difficile infection has become a real challenge for clinicians and affected patients alike. Some patients wind up in a seemingly never-ending cycle of illness, gradual improvement, followed by a prolonged vancomycin taper, and eventual relapse.
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Intracerebral Hemorrhages Associated with Non-vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants Appear to Be Smaller than Those Associated with Warfarin
This small prospective observational study suggests that warfarin-associated intracerebral hemorrhages may be larger and have worse clinical outcomes then hemorrhages associated with the newer anticoagulant agents.
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Blood Transfusion in Cardiac Disease Patients
An observational study confirms the hypothesis that ischemic heart disease patients may do better with higher hemoglobin levels as compared to ICU patients without heart disease.