Browse Hospital Articles by Topic

Compliance Requirements Continue to Change, Need Close Attention

Healthcare compliance is a never-ending challenge, and the expectations change constantly. Staying abreast of new developments is essential. Some of the latest involve the False Claims Act, Medicare risk adjustments, and HIPAA enforcement.

Attorney-Client Privilege Is Vital, but Know Limitations

Attorney/client privilege can be vital in defending malpractice cases and managing other risk management issues. But sometimes, it is misunderstood by risk managers in healthcare, and missteps can have significant implications. Understanding attorney-client privilege is the first step to taking advantage of this important protection.

‘I Need My Brain!’: Horrors of Long COVID in HCWs

A systematic review of studies on healthcare workers who experienced long COVID in the United Kingdom revealed that many struggled to separate their clinical identity from that of a patient. Healthcare workers with various symptoms of long COVID endured over different lengths of time recognized the uncertainty of their symptoms of this poorly understood syndrome and feared they would be perceived as a burden.

An Old Pro Stays in the Fight Against Needlesticks

At age 78, with more than 50 years of clinical consultation and research on needlesticks, sharps injuries, and medical waste, Terry Grimmond, FASM, BAgrSc, GrDpAdEdTr, says he retired at the end of 2023 but is still winding his career down with a few final projects.

Is Measles Elimination Status at Risk? Antivaxers Attack MMR Vaccine

As the number of measles cases in the United States already has outstripped total cases for last year, employee health professionals should prepare for incoming cases that can wreak havoc in a hospital if undetected. Even if staff are fully immunized, all bets are off if an undiagnosed case of measles gets into a healthcare facility.

Healthcare Workers, CDC at Odds Over COVID Precautions

Inundated with criticism from healthcare workers, highly vulnerable patients, and those with long COVID, advisors to the CDC must make a Solomonic decision. At a time when the CDC is trying to simplify and normalize community precautions for SARS-CoV-2, initial efforts to do so in the hospital have backfired spectacularly.

Addressing Food Insecurity in the ED

Screening ED patients for food insecurity is not particularly difficult or time-consuming, but intervening to address the problem can be complicated by various factors.

Monthly Calls Dramatically Cut ED Visits by Super-Users

Researchers at a Virginia hospital conducted a quality improvement project to get frequent ED visitors the care they needed and keep them out of the ED. The researchers identified the 50 top super-utilizing patients at Sentara Norfolk General Hospital’s ED in 2020 and contacted them about enrolling in a chronic care management program.

Solo Agers Are a Growing Demographic in Health Systems Nationwide

A rising proportion of older patients are solo agers — adults who live alone. This phenomenon leads to challenges for case managers as they try to find safe places to transition patients who lack caregivers and family support. A Pew Research Center study in 2020 found that 27% of U.S. adults older than age 60 years live solo.

Ways to Reduce Medication Issues During Care Transitions

Medication management services and coordination tops the list of essential interventions needed during transitions of care, according to the National Transition of Care Coalition. Care transitions can falter when patients’ medication assessment and management are not handled well, which is why case managers should follow some basic standards.