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Escaped prisoner tests hospital security plans

When a prisoner escaped from guards recently at Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, VA, staff and others in the facility were in jeopardy. The hospital’s security plan was activated and proved the value of planning for such an incident.

Shootings, other violence on the rise and pose major liability risks

Shootings and other violence in healthcare facilities are increasing, which is prompting administrators to take another look at their security. Experts caution that priorities sometimes are misplaced and that failing to protect employees can lead to significant liability.

Complications post-thyroid surgery lead to patient death, $1.3 million verdict

News: A patient undergoing thyroid surgery was accompanied to the hospital by her sister and daughter. After surgery, the patient began to struggle with her breathing. The patient’s sister and daughter observed the surgeon and nurses work on the patient for more than 30 minutes, during which time the patient’s condition deteriorated until the patient stopped breathing and lost her pulse, which led to permanent brain injury. The patient died 10 days later.

Failure to diagnose cauda equina syndrome results in $2.5 million verdict from jury

News: A 19-year-old woman sought treatment at a local hospital ED for severe lower back pain and pelvic numbness. A nurse practitioner quickly discharged her and attributed the symptoms to common back pain. The ED physician failed to consult with the patient, but subsequently approved the nurse’s actions. Two days later, the patient was diagnosed with cauda equine syndrome but had suffered serious and permanent injuries.

HHS targets opioid-drug related overdose, death

Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced an initiative aimed at reducing prescription opioid- and heroin-related overdose, death, and dependence.

System pays $10M to settle FCA allegations

Robinson Health System has agreed to pay $10 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act (FCA), the Anti-Kickback Statute, and the Stark Statute by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring physicians, the Justice Department announced recently.

EHR failures create havoc for hospitals

The wide adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and other electronic systems inevitably means that healthcare facilities will have to cope with outages. Several facilities recently have experienced how much the failure of one of those systems can cripple a hospital.

Medical malpractice payout amounts increase

For the second consecutive year, medical malpractice payouts increased more than 4% from the previous year, according to an analysis Diederich Healthcare conducted of the medical malpractice payout data provided by the National Practitioner Data Bank.

Triple Aim pursues higher quality, lower costs

The possibility is high that you will be hearing more about Triple Aim as hospitals adopt this approach to quality improvement. The Triple Aim is a framework developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) that describes an approach to optimizing health system performance.

Hospital meets Triple Aim goal, improves safety

Improved monitoring has helped Lafayette General Health improve outcomes. The effort was part of the hospital’s goal to achieve the Triple Aim.