Case Analysis Examines Vulnerabilities in Diagnostic Process
Understanding a problem is prerequisite to fixing it. For a newly released report, CRICO Strategies analyzed more than 4,700 malpractice cases related to diagnosis to determine patterns of error, where problems are most likely to occur, and how to most effectively improve diagnosis.
Ultrasound Gel and Infections: Researchers Propose Guidelines to Reduce Risk
In the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, guidelines have been proposed by epidemiologists from Beaumont Health System to reduce the risk of infection from contaminated gels.
Emergency Department Pearls Focus on Risk Management
The updated Risk Management Pearls for the Emergency Department from the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) is packed with practical tips on how to minimize liability exposures inherit in this high-risk environment.
PIH Expands Surgery Solution, Improves Operational Efficiencies
Surgical Information Systems (SIS), a leader in perioperative information systems, has announced that Presbyterian Intercommunity Hospital (PIH) has added the company’s anesthesia information management system (AIMS) to its Sunrise Surgery powered by SIS solution from Allscripts.
ASHRM Marks Healthcare Risk Management Week: June 18-22
The American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) hosts its annual campaign to raise awareness about the critical role risk management and patient safety professionals play in helping to eliminate preventable serious safety events. Throughout HRM Week, June 18-22, ASHRM is offering solutions that risk managers and patient safety experts can employ to help prevent some of the most common serious safety events, many of which are aligned with the Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) Initiative.
The Risk of Workarounds
In April, Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare published an article summarizing a recent webinar presented through ourCenter for Safety and Clinical Excellence. The article is titled “Smart Pump Workarounds – What’s the Legal Risk?”, and it focuses on personal accountability on the part of caregivers in safely operating Smart IV pumps.
Caregiver accountability has been a hot topic in recent months. As it relates to IV medication safety, it’s a critical issue and worth paying attention to. It’s been shown that clinicians often implement process workarounds, including not utilizing the drug library, overriding soft dose and concentration alerts, reprogramming infusions as rate in ml/hr following hard limits, and occasionally removing IV tubing from pumps and delivering medication boluses by gravity to avoid a high dose alert.
Study Shows Nurses Exposed to Risks During Insertion and Removal of Peripheral IV Catheter
Sandy, Utah—About one in two nurses experience blood exposure, other than from a needlestick, on their skin or in their eyes, nose or mouth at least once a month when inserting a peripheral intravenous (IV) catheter, according to a new study by the International Healthcare Worker Safety Center at the University of Virginia.[1] Exposure to blood carries the risk of infection from pathogens such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV) and MRSA.
Northwest Michigan Surgery Center Selects RTLS from Versus
Traverse City, Michigan—Michigan’s largest surgery center, Northwest Michigan Surgery Center recently selected the Versus Advantages™ Real-time Locating System (RTLS) to help improve the patient care experience. Key focus areas include relaying patient status information to families in the waiting room and automated process flow management for clinical staff.
Wander-Risk Patients: Best Practices for Hospitals and Assisted-Living Facilities
Wander-Risk Patients: Best Practices for Hospitals and Assisted-Living Facilities
Older adults and senior citizens with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia are at elevated risk of wandering away from their medical care facility, which poses unique challenges for the hospitals and specialized care facilities that house these patients. Wandering puts them in harm’s way; they could fall, get into an accident, become a crime victim, or suffer from exposure to the elements.
AED Failures Connected to Deaths from Cardiac Arrest
Aug. 30, 2011—A study published online last week in Annals of Emergency Medicine reports that more than 1,000 cardiac arrest deaths over 15 years were connected to the failure of automated external defibrillators (AEDs); battery failure accounted for almost one-quarter of the failures.