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Healthcare Risk Management – June 1, 2008

June 1, 2008

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  • Joint Commission warns of pediatric medication errors, urges action

    The Joint Commission is ringing the alarm bell on pediatric medication errors, saying the health care community has not responded aggressively enough to the increased risk children face when a health care provider administers drugs to them.
  • Training, standardized procedures are key

    The Joint Commission's April 11, 2008, Sentinel Event Alert offers a number of risk reduction strategies for pediatric medication errors.
  • Patient safety can help your bottom line

    When it comes to patient safety, everyone says they want to do the right thing for patients. But that noble intention sometimes isn't enough when it comes time to look at the budget and decide which good intentions get funded this year.
  • Ethics guidelines need risk manager input

    Health care providers are taking a hard look at how to restrict the free gifts, meals, and travel from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers that have become a standard part of the health care business, and risk managers have a major role to play.
  • Group says all gifts should be banned

    While many health care providers wrangle with exactly how to monitor and restrict gifts from vendors, an influential college association has come up with a direct solution: Ban all drug and medical device companies from offering free food, gifts, travel and ghost-writing services to doctors, staff members and students in all 129 of the nation's medical colleges.
  • All types of vendors need guidelines

    When discussing industry relations guidelines, most of the emphasis falls on pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers, because they are the most prominent when it comes to gifting and buying meals. But good industry relations guidelines should cover all aspects of a health care provider's operation, not just the physicians.
  • NY jury rejects rectal exam lawsuit

    A New York City jury has decided that a hospital did nothing wrong when it tried to examine the rectum of a construction worker who had been hit on the head by a falling wooden beam. The man had sued the hospital, claiming that he was examined against his will after being sedated and restrained.
  • Med-mal rates may not mean fewer doctors

    The common wisdom is that states with high rates of medical malpractice cases, or those considered plaintiff-friendly, will see declining numbers of physicians and specialists in particular. But a new report suggests that might not be the case.
  • PA med-mal suits decline for third year

    The number of medical malpractice lawsuits filed in Pennsylvania declined for a third consecutive year in 2007, according to figures released recently by the state Supreme Court.
  • HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Computer hackers step up attacks on health care records

    An 85% increase in the number of Internet hacker attacks on its health care clients has been reported by SecureWorks, a security-as-a-service provider. The company says attempted attacks have increased from an average of 11,146 per client per day in the first half of 2007 to an average of 20,630 per client per day in the last half of 2007 through January 2008.
  • HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Tennessee sets up medical info exchange

    The State of Tennessee has expanded an existing contract with AT&T to provide the country's first statewide system to electronically exchange patient medical information.
  • HIPAA Regulatory Alert: NCVHS: Individuals should have control over disclosure

    The National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS) says the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) should adopt a policy for the Nationwide Health Information Network (NHIN) to allow individuals to have limited control, in a uniform manner, over disclosure of certain sensitive health information for purposes of treatment.
  • HIPAA Regulatory Alert: Health IT national strategy still missing

    The Government Accountability Office says that even though the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is undertaking a number of activities to pursue President Bush's goal for nationwide implementation of health information technology, it still has not developed a national strategy that defines plans, milestones, and performance measures for reaching the goal of interoperable electronic health records by 2014.
  • Legal Review & Commentary: Failure to perform emergency C-section leads to $38.5 million verdict in Connecticut

    A woman pregnant with twins delivered her first baby without incident, but then experienced complications as she was in the process of delivering the second baby. The second baby was experiencing cord prolapse, and his heart rate plummeted. The physician continued to attempt to deliver the second baby vaginally for 10 minutes, but she eventually called for a cesarean. Fifteen minutes later, the baby was born and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.