EMR ‘Nudging’ Could Curtail Opioid Prescribing
Emergency Departments prescribe fewer opioid pills to their patients when the EMR default setting was set to 10 tablets.
Rights and Restraints: The Need For Good Restraint and Seclusion Policies
The misuse of restraints has led to death by asphyxiation, as well as complications such as nerve injuries, incontinence, pneumonia, and pressure ulcers. But despite the dangers, CMS says it’s documented over 1,400 related deficiencies between 2011 and 2015.
How The Shutdown Might Affect Your Health
For some federal health programs, a shuttered government means business as usual. But the congressional impasse over funding will hit others hard.
‘Explainable AI’ Could Reduce Readmissions (and Win Clinicians’ Trust)
This article first appeared January 16, 2018 on HealthLeaders Media. This technology can accurately predict 30-day readmissions and clarify the AI process for clinicians. Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to change the healthcare industry, but gaining the trust of clinicians to use it can be a barrier to adoption. “A lot of the resistance … Continued
Judge Orders New Olympus Trial Over Superbug Death
At the initial Bigler trial last year, jurors rejected claims that the design of the company’s top-selling gastrointestinal scope hampered cleaning and declined to award punitive damages to the family. Instead, the jury ordered Olympus to pay the Seattle hospital involved $6.6 million in damages. In turn, the hospital, Virginia Mason Medical Center, had to pay the family $1 million.
The Tale of The Flying Gurney, and Other Events That Should Never Happen, But Still Do
While hospitals do their best to limit the number of so-called “never events” that happen to their patients, recent events show that there is still work to be done.
In patient safety circles, “never events” are mistakes that should simply never happen—seemingly commonsense mistakes such as a surgeon accidentally leaving a scalpel inside a patient, a newborn infant given to the wrong parents, or any death of a patient due to the gross negligence of a caregiver.
Study: Community-Based Organizations Do Not Impact Patient Hospitalization
Connecting patients with community-based organization often has little impact on the frequency with which a patient is seen in the emergency department (ED) or hospitalized.
What Patients Really Want to Hear (and See)
Communication is the cornerstone of good healthcare. Despite all the external challenges we face with the system in which we work, those few minutes we spend with patients and their families are precious — and are what we will be remembered for.
De-escalation: Mitigating Violence in Healthcare
The International Association for Healthcare Security & Safety Foundation (IAHSS) in August 2017 released a report to address strategies to prevent workplace violence in healthcare. Those familiar with the healthcare industry won’t be surprised by its conclusion: Healthcare facilities need to take steps now to mitigate violent incidents.
Joint Commission to Roll Out New Maternal Care and Infectious Disease Requirements
The elements of performane are intended to reduce the risk of diseases like HIV and syphilis being passed from mother to child during birth.