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Often neglected, the world of pediatric security can morph into a major risk

Have you made your labor and delivery unit a veritable fortress with high-tech equipment and strict policies to prevent infant abductions, while leaving the back door wide open? Children in the pediatrics unit can be just as vulnerable as infants, experts say, but risk managers too often put all their focus on protecting the newborns while devoting relatively few resources to other young patients.

Most abductions don’t happen in mother’s room

The labor and delivery department may be where the risk of infant abductions is greatest, but it is far from the only area of the hospital needing a risk managers attention. Children are often taken from other areas of the hospital that may not receive as much attention.

Root causes of infant abductions identified

All the hospitals where infant abductions have occurred identified unmonitored elevator or stairwell access to the postpartum and nursery areas as a root cause, according to information from the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations.

Patient safety often is about more than errors

A recent incident in which a surgeon allegedly arrived drunk for a procedure illustrates an important lesson about how broadly risk managers should educate staff about the concept of patient safety, says one expert.

A nightmare situation yields valuable lessons

Imagine a scenario in which a patient dies from a medication error and then things just go downhill from there. As things get worse, the only good thing is that youre bound to learn something useful from the experience.

Jury awards remain level over past three years

Jury awards for medical malpractice have remained level for the past three years, according to an analysis released recently by Jury Verdict Research, a company in Horsham, PA, that maintains a national database of verdicts and settlements.

Study: Fetal monitors do not predict brain injury

Fetal heart monitoring does not identify babies who are diagnosed with white matter brain injury after birth, according to a new study by researchers at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

Suicide prevention is important in all settings

Question: How much do we need to worry about the liability risk of patients committing suicide, as long were not treating them for a psychiatric problem? Cant we argue that we had no duty to detect their suicidal tendencies when treating them for something completely unrelated?

Legal Review & Commentary: Premature discharge of baby leads to $1.77 million Texas verdict

News: A newborn boy exhibited extremely low blood-sugar levels and was diagnosed with intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR). Neither a CT scan nor an MRI were ordered, and the baby was discharged within 24 hours of his birth. Three days later, the parents realized something was wrong with their child. A CT scan and MRI showed that the baby had intercranial bleeding and brain damage.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Latest HIMSS survey shows slow compliance

The latest survey of 631 providers, payers, companies, and clearinghouses by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) indicates that as of mid-January, only half had completed testing for the Transaction and Code Standards (TCS), which standardized what information must be contained in electronic claims and how it should be transmitted.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Workgroup urges patience on HIPAA compliance

The Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI), which advises the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on issues related to administrative simplification under HIPAA, says the agency should show continued patience as covered entities continue to make progress in implementation of the HIPAA transactions and code sets (TCS) requirements.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Researchers: HIPAA may hurt outcomes studies

University of Michigan (UM) researchers said at the annual scientific session of the American College of Cardiology held March 7-10 in New Orleans that HIPAA has significantly affected their ability to study heart attack patients after they are discharged from the hospital.

HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Possible incentive for physician compliance

A security consulting firm that is providing security risk assessment and compliance review services for small health care related businesses says one way to increase incentives for physicians to come into compliance with HIPAA requirements would be for malpractice insurers to offer reduced premiums to those who have done a risk assessment and are moving forward on implementation.

Healthcare Risk Management – May 1, 2004

May 1, 2004