Browse Healthcare Risk Management Articles by Topic

Nursing Claims More Severe, Defense More Expensive

Claims involving nursing care are becoming more severe, with treatment or care allegations remaining the top concern, according to the Nurse Professional Liability Claim Report, 5th edition from Nurses Service Organization (NSO) in Fort Washington, PA.

States Passing New Restrictions on Health Data Sharing

There is a rapidly expanding wave of state consumer-health-privacy laws reshaping how retailers, wellness brands, e-commerce companies, and digital platforms must handle data that can reveal or infer a person’s health status. These laws reach far beyond HIPAA and apply even when a business provides no medical services.

How to Investigate an Adverse Event

How you investigate adverse events can determine how valuable your efforts are in the end. Paying attention to best practices for these investigations can increase your chances of finding useful information that leads to meaningful change.

Documentation Do’s and Don’ts: Know What Really Matters

“Document, document, document!” is the mantra of healthcare risk management. If it was not documented, did it really happen? If it was documented, was it documented properly? Knowing the right and wrong ways to document can make the difference when defending a malpractice claim or conducting a root cause investigation.

Patient Photos in Marketing Materials Pose HIPAA Risks

The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently announced a settlement with five healthcare providers in a case that illustrates the dangers of using patient photos in marketing materials. HIPAA violations are possible even when the patient photos seem innocuous and do not reveal medical information.

Virginia Appeals Court Vacates $2.5 Million Verdict Over Omitted Jury Instruction

A Virginia appellate court has overturned a $2.5 million medical malpractice verdict after finding that the trial judge erred by refusing to instruct the jury on the doctrine of superseding cause. The opinion underscores how critical jury instructions are in shaping negligence cases and highlights the continuing importance of foreseeability in determining legal causation.

NJ Appeals Court Affirms Full Liability for Surgeon Despite Shared Fault

A New Jersey appellate court has affirmed a trial court’s ruling that a surgeon found 60% at fault in a patient’s death must pay the entire $1.6 million verdict. The decision underscores how the state’s Comparative Negligence Act imposes full responsibility on defendants whose share of fault meets or exceeds 60%, even when other medical professionals are partly to blame.

Data Breaches on the Rise

Data breaches continue to increase in number, and healthcare organizations still are a top target. The attacks are becoming more sophisticated as they focus on healthcare employees’ private devices used away from work.

Nurse Fraud Crackdown Shows Risk to Hospitals

The latest federal crackdown on fraudulent nursing degrees shows the risk posed to patient safety by employees who were hired without the proper credentials. Healthcare organizations employing them face substantial liability risk.

Secret Recordings Pose Risk to Clinicians and the Facility

Secret recordings in a healthcare setting can pose a number of liability risks, so healthcare organizations should have clear policies that control various types of recording. The problem of secret recordings has grown exponentially now that nearly everyone has a smart phone and is comfortable recording all aspects of their lives.