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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.
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Blue Cross Blue Shield of Tennessee (BCBST) has agreed to pay the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) $1.5 million to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. The enforcement action is the first resulting from a breach report required by the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act Breach Notification Rule.
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Sexual abuse cases have torn through institutions such as The Pennsylvania State University in recent years, and the state of Delaware is grappling with what is being called the most heinous case of sexual exploitation in healthcare in history. A pediatrician is serving 14 life sentences plus 164 years, and the hospital is facing multiple lawsuits, including a class action lawsuit that could involve as many as 7,000 patients.
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The investigative report of Earl Bradley, MD, by Linda Ammons, JD, associate provost and dean of the Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, DE, cites many instances in which his sexual abuse of children could have been stopped. It also alleges that Beebe Medical Center in Lewes, DE, failed to act properly when Bradley's behavior was questioned.
