Healthcare Risk Management – August 1, 2011
August 1, 2011
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Risk managers/compliance officers: Is it possible for us to get along?
Compliance officers have taken on increasingly important and visible roles in healthcare organizations, and that role can lead to ruffled feathers when that person and the risk manager disagree on their authority and responsibilities. The result, too often, is an internal spat that prevents either party from doing their jobs well and exposes the provider to liability. -
Turf wars can create liability for hospitals
A poor working relationship with the compliance officer can lead to more than just frustration and the occasional argument, cautions George B. Breen, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Epstein Becker Green in New York City. It also could lead to substantial liability for the healthcare provider. -
Working well together is good for your career
A good working relationship with the compliance officer will not only avoid squabbles over turf but actually enhance the productivity of both offices, says Timothy E.J. Folk, a producer with The Graham Co., a healthcare consulting company in Philadelphia. -
Joplin tornado shows EHR value in disaster
When an EF-5 tornado, among the biggest ever recorded, hit St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO, the damage was so severe that all the patients had to be evacuated and taken to other hospitals outside the community. Their medical records were accessible, however, and the hospital was providing care again within a week, all because the hospital had adopted electronic health records (EHRs) only weeks before the disaster. -
Wireless, laptops can work after disaster
The experience at St. John's Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO, after the tornado is an excellent example of how electronic health records (EHRs) can improve disaster response if the system is structured correctly, says Elliot Davis, internet security officer and director of information technology at Beaumont Health System in Grosse Pointe, MI. The key is to have the data accessible from a distant location, as St. John's did, or on "the cloud," in which data is stored on another company's servers or spread through the Internet, Davis says. -
Remote access, backup key for disaster recovery
Cloud computing can be a lifesaver for healthcare providers recovering from a disaster, says Bassam Tabbara, PhD, chief technology officer and co-founder of Symform, a data storage provider based in Seattle. -
Quick data recovery as standard of care
Improved technology is creating an obligation for healthcare providers to recover patient data soon after a disaster, says Gary L. Kaplan, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Thorp Reed & Armstrong in Pittsburgh. -
Wrong-site surgery still happens 40x/week
The news from the Joint Commission Center for Transforming Healthcare is not good: No matter how much healthcare providers and regulatory bodies stress the need to avoid wrong-site surgery, this sentinel event still occurs about 40 times a week. -
Fetal distress a common OB claim
Miscommunication among the clinical team and substandard clinical judgment are among the most common causes of patient injury leading to obstetrics (OB) claims, according to "2010: Annual Benchmarking Report, Malpractice Risks in Obstetrics" released recently by Crico Strategies, the medical malpractice company owned by and serving the Harvard medical community in Cambridge, MA. -
Data: OB payment is twice the average
The report on obstetrics claim from Crico Strategies reinforces some of the facts that make risk managers worry about their OB units. -
Early warning system promotes OB safety
Crico Strategies, the medical malpractice company owned by and serving the Harvard medical community in Cambridge, MA, recommends these remedies for the common causes of obstetrics (OB) claims: -
HRA: Proposed rule allows patients to view details of health record access
Compliance and regulatory officers have until Aug. 1 to comment on a proposed rule that includes a new accounting of disclosures provision that gives individuals the right to receive a report on who has electronically accessed their protected health information (PHI). -
HRA: Know specifics of proposed rule
Unlike the current privacy rule which identifies purposes that might be omitted from disclosure accounting reports, the proposed rule published on May 31, 2011, identifies those purposes for which disclosures must be tracked and reported. -
Free tool assesses privacy risks
Frequent news stories and headlines about the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights' (OCR) crackdown on covered entities that have reported data breaches or other privacy rule violations increase the importance of continually assessing compliance with privacy and security rules. -
HRA: Survey shows security is not improving
In spite of increased focus on regulatory compliance, a survey of more than 100 information technology (IT) administrators, managers and executives of healthcare organizations reports ongoing data breaches. -
HRA: Doctors may not be ready for 5010
As the January 2012 deadline for hospitals to convert to HIPAA Version 5010 quickly approaches, a survey conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has found that medical practices are lagging in the race to meet 5010 deadlines. In fact, 45.2% of practices report that they have not yet started implementation or software upgrades. -
Standards in place for electronic transmission
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued an interim final rule to adopt the first two in a series of "operating rules" that will standardize the HIPAA standards for electronic administrative/financial transactions. -
LRC: Failed coiling procedure and inadequate follow-up leads to partial paralysis, $23 million verdict
A 34-year-old nursing student complaining of headaches presented at a local university hospital. Diagnostic testing showed a small aneurysm. During a procedure intended to repair the aneurysm, the woman's brain was pierced. -
LRC: Diagnosis delay leads to permanent blindness
A 56-year-old man with complaints of impaired balance and light headedness presented to his local hospital. A resident and attending radiologist interpreted the man's CT scan and read the scan to show old lesions. A physician assistant at the hospital diagnosed the man with vertigo and discharged him with medication. As the symptoms became more severe, the man approached his primary care physician, who completed a more thorough workup. Ultimately, a brain biopsy revealed an intravascular lymphoma.