-
Valuable patient feedback often is ignored or disregarded in hectic EDs to the detriment of safety.
-
A team of nurses at Massachusetts General Hospital developed a way to improve communication between nurses and patient care associates that helped reduce falls and infections. The effort decreased falls by 25%, catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 50%, and hospital-acquired pressure injuries by 33%.
-
Employers often focus on avoiding discrimination charges from employees. But healthcare organizations must remember patients also can allege discriminatory conduct. The consequences can be significant.
-
The U.S. Department of Justice recently announced it recovered more than $5.6 billion under the False Claims Act in fiscal year 2021, more than double the $2.3 billion recovered in fiscal year 2020. Healthcare-related recoveries accounted for almost 90% of the 2021 settlements and judgments.
-
Healthcare organizations encourage and sometimes require staff to file safety incident reports after any kind of mishap. But many of those reports include improper accusations of wrongdoing and blaming individuals. This undermines the value of the incident reports.
-
A propofol disposal initiative at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, reduced the number of full propofol bottles in an ICU waste bin to zero, successfully addressing drug diversion at the facility.
-
Drug diversion is a perennial problem for healthcare organizations. Risk managers should know there is substantial liability risk from the possible effects on patient safety. This problem is not improving, industry sources say — and some things are getting worse.
-
HHS recently issued guidance about HIPAA compliance when information must be released in conjunction with an extreme risk protection order. The guidance will be useful for risk managers and compliance officers, but may present some challenges when trying to adhere to HIPAA restrictions.
-
The HR 7898 HIPAA Safe Harbor Law, enacted in 2021, created a “safe harbor” for HIPAA-covered entities and their business associates when potentially facing fines and other penalties under HIPAA. But there are nuances to the law that risk managers and compliance officers must consider.
-
This case shows the importance of expert testimony in reporting the standard of care. However, the legal requirements for expert witnesses are fairly minimal.
