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Health care-associated infections (HAIs) are clearly on the radar of Kathleen Sebelius, the new Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). She recently called for action to prevent HAIs in praising two new HHS reports on the quality of health care in America.
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News: A woman suffered cardiac arrest while at home. Hospital paramedics arrived, but attempts to resuscitate her with a Lifepak 11 monitor and defibrillator failed. Forty minutes later, the woman was pronounced dead. The decedent's estate sued the hospital and was awarded $5.3 million in damages.
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Illustrating the potential liability when a test result falls through the cracks, a Philadelphia jury recently awarded a widow $2.19 million in a malpractice suit against St. Joseph's Hospital and two ED physicians.
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Every risk manager wants to believe that the credentialing process has properly vetted all the organization's health care professionals to ensure that they are qualified and have no known criminal record. But that is not always the case. Too often, risk managers get a phone call alerting them that one of their staff or physicians has a problem that did not show up in the credentialing process.
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Testifying before a crowded hearing in Washington, DC, on the oversight of helicopter medical services, the head of a leading air ambulance organization recently promised lawmakers that the dismal safety record of the industry can be improved.
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News: A woman presented at a hospital emergency department (ED) with abdominal pain. X-rays and a CT scan were performed. The emergency physician discussed the findings with a radiologist who noted the findings in his report. The emergency physician noted the CT as negative and ordered the woman to take morphine and fentanyl. Twelve hours later, the woman was seen by a different physician, who reviewed the previous record but did not mention the X-rays or the CT scan.
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The number of claims denials was always an important metric for patient access, but now it's front and center, in more ways than one.
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"With layoffs now hitting hospitals and legislation and government bodies reducing payments, health care facilities cannot afford not to automate," says Katherine Murphy, CHAM, director of access services for Nebo Systems, a subsidiary of Passport Health Communications in Oakbrook Terrace, IL. Murphy also is a delegate to the National Associate of Healthcare Access Management and the president of the Illinois Access Association.
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To really motivate your staff, you'll need to do more than simply check a "meets expectation" box on their annual reviews.
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Training and education costs often are the first items on the chopping block when it's time for budget cuts. By offering education online, costs can be cut while quality is maintained.
