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An initiative aimed at standardizing interventions related to the rapid diagnosis and treatment of severe sepsis has significantly improved patient safety at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.
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News: A man exhibiting tuberculosis-like symptoms went to a clinic for treatment. Tests were ordered, including an analysis by the state health department, after which it was determined that the man was suffering from a disease related to tuberculosis called Mycobacterium avium. Several months later, the man presented to the emergency department with ear pain and an upper respiratory infection.ï
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News: An obese, middle-aged woman suffering from pancreatitis and gallstones underwent gallbladder removal surgery at a hospital. Over the next two weeks, she continued to experience abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. Although doctors suspected that the woman might have gallstones floating freely in her bile duct, they were unable to perform the necessary procedures to confirm that suspicion due to the patient's size. The woman subsequently died.
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Addicted physicians must overcome significant fears about the impact on their careers and personal lives before they are willing to ask for help, so risk managers can help by assuring them the process will be about rehabilitation and not punishment, according to two experts in the field.
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Nearly every health care facility has a patient safety brochure these days, and they almost always come out of some department other than risk management. So do you really know what is in your organization's patient safety brochure?
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Civil rights attorneys are suing Hollywood (CA) Presbyterian Medical Center in connection with the "dumping" of a paraplegic man on Skid Row in 2006 that sparked nationwide outrage after media reports of the man falling out of a van and then crawling in the gutter.
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Nineteen deaths over the past two years at a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital in southern Illinois may be linked to substandard care, according to a an investigation that prompted an impassioned apology from a VA official.
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News: A man exhibiting tuberculosis-like symptoms went to a clinic for treatment. Tests were ordered, including an analysis by the state health department, after which it was determined that the man was suffering from a disease related to tuberculosis called Mycobacterium avium. Several months later, the man presented to the emergency department with ear pain and an upper respiratory infection. He died two weeks later.
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Heparin continues to pose a significant risk of dosage errors, and the recent tragedy involving actor Dennis Quaid's two young children has brought concern that hospitals have not taken the necessary steps to avoid this mistake even health care providers were warned about the risk a year ago. Risk managers must act now to avoid the same type of error, say medication safety experts.
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The health care community has been urging staff and patients to "speak up" when necessary to protect patient safety, but how do you know if your staff truly will make a stand in a difficult situation? After all, it's easy to say you will do the right thing, but in the heat of the moment, a staff member can be intimidated by superiors and fearful of rocking the boat.
