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If you dont already have a patient safety officer in your institution, it might just be a matter of time before you do. But should you be the person who fills that role? And if youre not, how does that new position fit in with your role in the organization?
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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?
