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As part of the workup for a young woman with abdominal pain, the emergency physician (EP) ordered radiographic studies of the patients abdomen, and general surgery and OB/GYN consults. The on-call radiologist first read the studies as unremarkable.
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he courts dont always agree with or follow the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services interpretation that EMTALA ends once an emergency department patient with an emergency condition is admitted to the hospital in good faith for stabilizing treatment.
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Medical liability reforms that include specific protections for physicians who provide services to fulfill the requirements of the Emergency Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) has passed the U.S. House of Representatives.
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The case of Earl B. Bradley, MD, is so sickening that no one wants even the most remote association with it. After Bradley was arrested and convicted of abusing children, the property housing his pediatric clinic, which was the scene of the crimes, couldn't be sold even for a pittance. The city demolished it and hoped to wipe away a terrible reminder.
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As promised by the Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and mandated by the HITECH Act, HIPAA compliance audits have begun, and 20 organizations were visited during the pilot phase of the program.
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As useful as peer review protection is in keeping potentially harmful information out of malpractice litigation, risk managers should keep in mind the limits and not become overly dependent on peer review privilege, attorneys say.
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For further analysis and discussion of topics important to hospital professionals, check out Hospital Report, AHC Media's new free blog at http://hospitalreport.blogs.reliasmedia.com.
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A well-prepared team that understands roles and responsibilities when a notice of a HIPAA compliance audit is received is essential for every organization and should be established long before a notice is received, suggests Chris Apgar, CISSP, president of Apgar & Associates, a Portland, OR-based consulting firm. Educate them about the purpose of the audit, and give each person specific responsibilities, he says.
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Risk managers should remind employees that calling the police can be the right thing to do, says Grena Porto, RN, MS, ARM, CPHRM, principal with QRS Healthcare Consulting in Hockessin, DE, and former president of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) in Chicago.