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Hospitals are boosting incentives for wellness programs, with the hopes that healthier employees will have lower medical claims and better productivity. That push for greater incentives is likely to continue despite a recent advisory notice cautioning employers not to penalize employees who choose not to participate.
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A woman presented at the emergency department (ED) complaining of dehydration. She was noticeably confused and had difficulty keeping her balance. The staff determined that she suffered from chronic low sodium. A physician ordered the woman be administered 125 cc sodium every hour. A nurse administered a liter of sodium in less than an hour, causing the woman's serum sodium to increase by 23 mEqs.
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A California hospital's recent settlement of a whistle-blower lawsuit reinforces the need for risk managers to be vigilant about preventing and seeking out sweetheart deals for physicians that may violate Medicare's anti-kickback statute, say attorneys familiar with the case.
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Risk managers have accepted, if not always embraced, the idea of admitting errors and apologizing after an adverse event, but figuring out exactly what to say can be a challenge.
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A 58-year-old man presented at the hospital for a heart transplant. His heart was removed and discarded, and a donor heart was transplanted into the man. The man never awoke from the surgery and died three days later. The man's estate sued the hospital and the physician who harvested the heart.
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What is a hospital to do when it has already invested in care for an undocumented, uninsured immigrant who has a traumatic brain injury?
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Planning for the discharge of a patient as soon as that person enters the emergency department is not heartless or an effort to push patients out the door as a cost-saving tool...
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Patrick J. Hurd, JD, an attorney with LeclairRyan in Norfolk, VA, has seen cases in which hospitals struggled to discharge illegal immigrants, and he says the keys to success are proceeding cautiously and prudently, documenting the choices made and the rationale behind each.
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The allegations of Medicare fraud at the Tulare (CA) Regional Medical Center and its parent, the Tulare District Healthcare System, show how whistle-blower cases can go beyond the classic type of kickbacks...
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Let people apologize when appropriate, but remember that what you say in private may not be suitable for the public.
