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Every risk manager worries about the obstetrics unit, where the number of adverse events may be small but the scope of the tragedy and liability can be huge.
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One of the most common threats to patient safety in obstetrics is the inability, or hesitation, of staff to clearly state their concern about a patient's status, says Edmund F. Funai, MD, associate professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT. Too often, one clinician is concerned about a patient but does not effectively communicate that concern to others.
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If you allow a live surgery broadcast, you should include some requirements for the company doing the broadcast, says Stacy Gulick, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Garfunkel in Great Neck, NY, and a former hospital risk manager.
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An infant abduction was quickly solved in part because the hospital used an infant alarm that quickly alerted staff to the kidnapping, according to hospital and police officials in Sanford, FL.
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An elderly woman was admitted to the hospital complaining of constipation and suffering from septic shock. She subsequently suffered an interruption in her gastrointestinal (GI) motor activity, after which she was medicated and transferred to a second hospital for further treatment.
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Once a privacy breach occurs with a patient's medical records, the risk manager must act quickly and decisively, says Layna Cook, JD, an attorney specializing in health care risk management with the law firm McGlinchey Stafford in Baton Rouge, LA. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires mitigation when a violation occurs, Cook notes.
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The availability of genetic testing is expanding rapidly so rapidly that information is available before there are safeguards in place concerning how it can be used. In recent months, home test kits, with which users are told they can determine genetic predisposition to bipolar disorders or determine paternity, have come on the market.
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Nearly 47 million Americans lack health insurance, leaving them without regular access to health care and making them a potentially vulnerable population in health care research.
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'Dr. Death' seeks to become Rep. Kevorkian, Antibiotics and end-of-life in dementia patients
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When the first psychiatric advance directives (PADs) began to appear in state legislation more than 20 years ago, they were largely considered to be an end-of-life tool, much like general advance directives. But as more states have passed PAD laws 25 states now have laws specifically providing for PADs their usefulness has expanded.
