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Risk managers must investigate potential exposures with a critical eye, especially when the area in question is a new acquisition for the organization, says Donna Young, CPHRM, FASHRM, vice president of risk management services with Mutual Insurance Co. of Arizona in Phoenix.
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Self-assessments can be used to address known problems within the organization and also to promote a risk managers stature, says Kenneth W. Felton, RN, MS, FASHRM, senior vice president and health care practice leader with Webster Insurance in Waterbury, CT, and a former hospital risk manager.
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Insurers continue to exert pressure on risk managers, and industry leaders say you should be getting a closer look from underwriters
than you have ever had before.
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A poll released in March by the Health Coalition on Liability and Access reveals that Americans believe a growing crisis in health care liability is pushing health care costs up and forcing good doctors out of medical practice.
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A Dallas County, TX, jury has awarded an $8 million verdict to a woman and her husband after a group of doctors and other medical professionals failed to diagnose the womans breast cancer for more than a year after she discovered a lump in her breast.
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A health care attorney cautions that you should not rush to use liability waivers until you have confirmed that your informed consent processes are the best they can be.
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A patient alleged that an equipment technician sexually assaulted her. After reporting the situation to several nurses, the patient was given medication to calm her, and she was discharged quickly thereafter. A Texas jury awarded the patient $300,000 based on the hospitals failure to provide treatment.
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A woman having an asthma attack presented at the emergency department. After she was hospitalized for three days, her daughter came to visit and found her non-responsive and blue. The patient was resuscitated; however, she was left brain damaged. The patients daughter brought suit against the hospital and attending physician. The jury returned a $5 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff.
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Question: Ive heard that the final Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act states that the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will not sanction hospitals for inappropriate transfers during a national emergency if the hospital is the area affected by the emergency. Does a large-scale disaster in our community, such as an airliner crash, qualify?
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The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP) in Huntington Valley, PA, has issued a special alert about lookalike packaging of two drugs that can lead to serious adverse events.
