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Risk managers must mitigate the natural human temptation to snoop and gossip, because the potential legal ramifications can be huge, says Robert Wolin, JD, a partner with the law firm Baker Hostetler in Houston.
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General surgeons have become scarcer in hospitals across the country, many of them beaten down by diminishing payments and grueling work hours, and some lured away by specialized surgery niches that offer more money and a better lifestyle. That means hospitals are increasingly dependent on surgeons-for-hire.
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Extending temporary privileges to a traveling surgeon can be risky business, says Leilani Kicklighter, RN, ARM, MBA, CPHRM, LHRM, a patient safety and risk management consultant with The Kicklighter Group in Tamarac, FL, and a past president of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) in Chicago.
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Photographs of ED patients' clinical findings are being taken more frequently, due to the ubiquity of digital cameras, increasing use of electronic medical records, and their recognized value in medical education.
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When the Obama administration announced its goals for revamping health care, it proposed cutting reimbursement to hospitals that readmit a large number of patients within 30 days of discharge.
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A community case management program for clients with complex conditions has significantly reduced emergency department (ED) visits and inpatient admissions at Poudre Valley Hospital, resulting in a savings of nearly $1.4 million for a sampling of clients in just six months for the Fort Collins, CO, health system.
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When an elderly woman continued to have elevated blood pressure after her physician prescribed a medication regimen, the doctor assumed the patient was confused and not taking her medication properly.
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A new emergency department (ED) triage system at Baptist Hospital in Pensacola, FL, decreased the time that elapses between when patients arrive and when they are treated by 33%, slashed the number of patients who left without treatment by 50%, and cut 20 minutes off the total turnaround time from when patients arrive at the ED and when they are discharged or admitted.
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Hospitals still need to be vigilant about issuing the Important Message from Medicare (IM), notifying Medicare patients of their right to appeal their discharge, their financial responsibilities, and how to appeal their discharge, warns Jackie Birmingham, RN, MS, CMAC.
