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Feds Offer Best Practices Response to Ransomware

After a spate of attacks in which hospital computer systems were seized and held for ransom, the departments of Homeland Security, Justice, and Health and Human Services have issued technical guidance summarizing existing “best practices” to prevent and respond to ransomware incidents.

CANDOR Toolkit Helps After Adverse Events

After an adverse event, prompt and honest communication with the patient and family members has become the best practice in healthcare over the past decade, and the federal government is supporting that effort with a new toolkit from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Ask the Hard Questions After an Adverse Event

Even when the cause of the adverse event is identified, investigators should drill down further to identify other factors that may have played a role, says Edwin G. Foulke Jr., JD, partner with the law firm of Fisher Phillips in Atlanta and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

Tips on Interviewing Witnesses, Debriefing

In addition, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) offers advice on how to debrief clinicians involved with adverse events. AHRQ notes that all forms of debriefing have a shared structure that involves setting the stage followed by three phases, including description or reactions, analysis, and application. The following is some of the advice from AHRQ:

Protect Privileged Information in Adverse Events

Carefully consider the role of privilege in an adverse event investigation, says Amy Hampton, JD, partner with the law firm of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Nashville, TN.

‘Perfect Compliance’ Impossible, Attorneys Argue

Perfection is unattainable when it comes to the myriad regulations that healthcare organizations must follow, according to an amicus brief in the case of Universal Health Services Inc. v. United States et al. ex rel. Escobar et al, on behalf of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.

Supreme Court Rules on Implied False Certification

In Universal Health Services Inc. v. United States et al. ex rel. Escobar et al, the U.S. Supreme Court addressed a case involving Yarushka Rivera, a teenage beneficiary of Massachusetts’ Medicaid program who received counseling services for several years at Arbour Counseling Services, a satellite mental health facility owned and operated by a subsidiary of petitioner Universal Health Services.

Ruling from the Supreme Court Raises Stakes on False Claims

In a decision that increases the risk of violating the False Claims Act (FCA), the U.S. Supreme Court ruled recently that an organization can violate the law if it relied on “implied false certification” when billing the government for services. The hospital or health system may have provided the services, but those services were rendered invalid because the organization — by not stating that it was noncompliant — falsely implied that it was in compliance.

Improper Administration of a Drug Yields Verdict of $44.1 Million From Jury

In 2011, a 57-year-old woman was transferred to a hospital to treat a benign brain tumor. The hospital removed the tumor and prescribed heparin, an anticoagulant medication. However, staff failed to follow proper procedures in the administration of heparin over nine days.

Jury Awards $6 Million to Woman Due to Mislabeled CT Scan

A woman arrived at the ED of a hospital and was complaining of abdominal pain. ED staff ordered a CT scan of the woman’s lower abdomen. The radiology department reported that the woman’s CT scan indicated a perforated bowel and/or appendix. However, the CT scan that the radiology department reported actually was that of another patient and had been incorrectly labeled as the woman’s CT scan.